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| Masters |
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Our Masters
Masters are those rare beings who have realized their oneness with the
Supreme, - the highest transcendental Consciousness. They have not only
realized their true self but also work selflessly to inspire humanity
to seek the divinity within them.
A Master is able to expedite the progress of his/her disciples through
their close connection to the supreme. They taught the timeless
spiritual truths in a variety of ways, their teachings reflect the
environment and period in which they live. Masters may have offered
their own unique path towards the highest Truth. However although the
outer forms may differ, the ultimate realization is the same.
Adi Shankaracharya
 Adi
Shankaracharya was born around 788 AD in Kaladi village of Kerala. Adi
Shankaracharya was the first philosopher who consolidated Advaita
Vedanta, one of the sub-schools of Vedanta. He believed in the
greatness of the holy Vedas and was a major proponent of the same. Not
only did he infuse a new life into the Vedas, but also advocated
against the Vedic religious practices of ritualistic excesses. He
founded four Shankaracharya Peethas in the four corners of India, which
continue to promote his philosophy and teachings. Adi Sankaracharya
biography reveals that he was also the founder of Dashanami monastic
order and the Shanmata tradition of worship.
The Four Adi Shankaracharya Peethas
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Vedanta Jnana Peetha, Sringeri (South India)
- Govardhana Peetha in Jagannath Puri (East India)
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Kalika Peetha, Dwaraka (West India)
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Jyotih Peetha, Badrikashrama (North India)
Swami Vivekananda
 Swami
Vivekananda was born in Calcutta, in 1863. From his childhood, he
showed inclination towards spirituality and God realization. While
searching for a man who could directly demonstrate the reality of God,
he came to Ramakrishna and became his disciple. As a guru Ramakrishna
taught him Advaita Vedanta and that all religions are true, and service
to man was the most effective worship of God, in 1897 he founded the
Ramakrishna Math and Mission.
He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga
in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith
awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during
the end of the 19th Century. He is best known for his inspiring speech
beginning with "sisters and brothers of America", through which he
introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at
Chicago in 1893.
Swami Kuvalayananda
 Swami
Kuvalayananda was born in 1883, at a time when the national resurgence
was slowly awakening the spirit of Mother India. In his college days he
came under the influence of Sri Aurobindo. Awaiting on this path to
guide him, was the great Yogi from Bengal, Paramahamsa Madhavdasji, who
had settled at Malsar, near Baroda, on the banks of Narmada.
The insight in Yogic discipline under the guidance of Madhavdasji, gave
Swami Kuvalayananda's career a sharp turn. He ventured into a new field
using entirely a new approach. He tried to investigate the effects of
some of the Yogic practices on the human body with the help of some of
his students, in the laboratory of Baroda Hospital, in 1920-21. His
subjective experience coupled with the excellent results of these
scientific experiments convinced him once for all that the age-old
system of Yoga, if understood through the modern scientific
experimental approach, would help greatly in the spiritual and material
resurgence of the human society. This became his life's mission. He
established the kaivalayadhama institute of Yoga in lonavala pune. 
Swami Sivananda Saraswati
Swami Sivananda Saraswati was born at Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, in 1887.
After serving as a medical Doctor, he renounced, came to Rishikesh and
was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa in 1924 by Swami Vishwananda
Saraswati. He toured extensively through out India, inspiring people to
practice Yoga and lead a divine life. He founded the Divine Life
Society at Rishikesh in 1936.
Swami Chidananda Saraswati
Swami Chidanada Saraswati was born in 1916 in Tamil Nadu. He took to a
life of renunciation in 1936, and joined the ashram run by Swami
Sivananda in Rishikesh, in 1943. He succeeded as President of the
Divine Life Society in 1963, after the mahasamadhi of his predecessor,
Swami Sivananda, who founded the Society.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born at Almora, Uttar Pradesh, in 1923.
He was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in
Rishikesh in 1943 later he founded Bihar School of Yoga in 1963. He is
one of the pioneer in Yoga and its related practices.
Swami Rama
 Swami
Rama was born at small village called Toli in the Garhwal Himalayas in
1925. He became the lineage holder of the Sankhya Yoga tradition of the
Himalayan Masters. From an early age he was raised in the Himalayas by
his Master Madhavanada Saraswati, and, under the guidance of his
Master, traveled from monastery to monastery and studied with a variety
of Himalayan saints and sages, including his grandmaster who was living
in a remote region of Tibet.
He is especially notable as one of the first Yogi, allowed himself to
be studied by Western scientists. In the 1960s, examined by scientists
at the Menninger Clinic who studied his ability to voluntary control
bodily processes (such as heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature,
etc.), that are normally considered to be non-voluntary. Later he
founded Himalayan Institute in US and in India.
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