The Life of Shivabalayogi: God-Realization in a Modern World Paperback – October 24, 2024

On August 7 of 1949, God in the form of a yogi manifested to fourteen-year-old Sathyaraju near a small South Indian village named Adivarapupeta, made him sit, touched him between the eyebrows, and tapped him on the head. Sathyaraju immediately experienced samadhi, a state of pure consciousness in which there is little or no awareness of one’s own body, physical surroundings, or time. Sathyaraju experienced enlightenment.He meditated in samadhi twenty-three hours every day for eight years, then at least twelve hours daily for another four years, a spiritual austerity to attain God-realization that is tapas. There were periods of months at a time when he did not return to ordinary consciousness. He successfully completed his twelve-year tapas and emerged God-realized on August 7 of 1961. He assumed the name to “Shivabalayogi” but he typically referred to himself simply as “Swamiji.”For three decades Shivabalayogi traveled throughout India, Sri Lanka, England and the USA. He never gave any lecture. He taught in silence through his mere presence (darshan) conducting public programs that consisted of an hour of meditation (dhyana) and an hour of spiritual song (bhajans) during which his presence evoked states of ecstatic spiritual trance (bhava samadhi).The Life of Shivabalayogi is a detailed account of Swamiji’s twelve-year tapas, his travels, and the experiences and physical and mental healings he evoked. It also contains the record of informal conversations with Swamiji in which he answered questions on a wide variety of topics: meditation, divine trance, soul connections, the importance of foundations in life, accidents and fate, Jesus and other yogis, religion and spiritual leaders, divine beings, spirit worlds, and the dangers of nuclear and environmental pollution. Read more