As mentioned in my previous two posts, my mother attended a learn to meditate course run by Siddha Yoga in the hopes that it may help her deal with the stress and anxiety she was experiencing due to my brothers behaviour and myself getting narcolepsy. This was in the period immediately after the founder of Siddha Yoga had passed away, and the organisation he founded was run by his successors Swami Chidvilasananda (Gurumayi)and her brother Swami Nityananda.

Mymother was spiritually smitten as soon as she saw Gurumayi during her visit to the new Sydney ashram. After attending the evening program on the first night, my mother was in a profound ecstatic state, and my father, who usually never saw spiritual energies even commented that that the room was full of glittering blue light. This blue light is a core part of Siddha Yoga, and is often described as the inner Self when seen in visions as a tiny blue dot, or “blue pearl”. My mother had intense experience of what is known as shaktipat, which is a form of initiation described as the descent of grace “shakti”. In Siddha Yoga this was through the medium of their “Intensives”, a two day program where people are introduced to the practices of Siddha Yoga and the guru.

The main focus in Siddha Yoga is on the guru. The Guru is everything. The grace of the Guru is considered to be the source of spiritual connection. Great Being a bhakti tradition, Siddha Yoga focuses on devotion to the Guru as the centrpiece of a person’s sadhana. The main hall at eh Sydney ashram (and all centres around the world) had a “throne” in the centre of the hall againt the wall. On it sat a large colour photo of the Guru and flowers and such were carefully placed next to it. This was literally the seat of the Guru energetically. The central isle leading to the throne was kept free, so people could approach and pranam, bow down with their head touching the floor in front of the Guru’s photo. Then people would sit down, men on the right and women on the left.

The main practice was chanting, which is a devotional practice done in a call and response fashion. The musicians at the front would call a verse, which was then repeated by everyone in the hall. It begun slowly and sped up becoming more and more lively, ending with a lot of clapping and swaying. Then there would be a period of silent meditation, where you were to repeat the central mantra ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, which is commonly interpreted to be saying “I bow to the God/Shiva within me”. After the program everyone would go to have something to eat at the small cafe they had, where they served masala chai tea and a variety of snacks baked or made just hours beforehand.

My parents and I became regular attendees at such programs at the Sydney ashram, usually once or twice a week. In the early stages, I didn’t go into the adult program in the hall. I joined a bunch of other kids and we had more kid friendly activities such as games, movies, with some Siddha Yoga stuff mixed in. I was initially very shy but soon came to look forward to the nights when I could catch up with my new Siddha Yoga friends, while my parents went to the evening program.

I thought that I should include a bit of background about Siddha Yoga, and below is the info that AI comes up with about this:

The Historical Development of Siddha Yoga: Swami Muktananda and the Concept of Shaktipat

Siddha Yoga is a contemporary spiritual movement that emphasizes meditation, mantra recitation, and the transmission of spiritual energy from teacher to student. It draws primarily from non-dual Shaiva traditions, particularly elements of Kashmir Shaivism, while incorporating practices rooted in broader Indian yogic and tantric frameworks. The movement, in its modern organized form, emerged in the mid-20th century through the efforts of Swami Muktananda (1908–1982), who established its institutional structures and popularized its core initiation process known as shaktipat.

Swami Muktananda’s Life and Role in Founding Siddha Yoga

Swami Muktananda was born Krishna Rai in 1908 near Mangalore (then in the Madras Presidency, now Karnataka), India, into a prosperous family. From adolescence, he displayed a strong inclination toward spiritual pursuits. At approximately age 15, he encountered the ascetic figure Bhagavan Nityananda, a wandering saint whose influence prompted Muktananda to leave home and adopt the life of a mendicant monk.

For the next two decades, Muktananda traveled extensively across India, studying yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic texts, and martial arts while training under various teachers. During this period, he acquired knowledge of diverse spiritual disciplines and gained some recognition for his yogic abilities. However, he later described this phase as preparatory rather than fully transformative.

In 1947, Muktananda returned to Bhagavan Nityananda in Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra. There, Nityananda conferred shaktipat initiation, an event Muktananda regarded as the true commencement of his deeper spiritual development. He spent the following nine years in intensive practice under Nityananda’s guidance. In 1956, Nityananda designated Muktananda as a Siddha (a realized or perfected being) and provided land for the establishment of an ashram in Ganeshpuri, which became known as Gurudev Siddha Peeth.

Following Nityananda’s death in 1961, Muktananda assumed leadership of the lineage. He formalized a daily regimen of practices—including meditation, chanting, and service—while stressing that spiritual progress is primarily driven by the awakened inner energy rather than solely by individual discipline. In the 1970s, Muktananda undertook international tours, introducing shaktipat to Western audiences through large-scale group events called Intensives. These gatherings contributed to the rapid expansion of the movement.

He founded the SYDA Foundation in the United States to oversee global activities and established major centers, including the prominent ashram in South Fallsburg, New York. Muktananda authored several works, including his autobiographical account Play of Consciousness, which details his experiences of spiritual awakening. He passed away in Ganeshpuri in 1982, naming Swami Chidvilasananda (Gurumayi) as his successor. The tradition continues today under her guidance, with a network of centers and online resources.

Shaktipat in Historical and Philosophical Context

Shaktipat, meaning “descent of power” or “transmission of energy,” is the central initiatory mechanism in Siddha Yoga. It involves the conveyance of spiritual energy (Shakti) from a realized teacher to a practitioner, with the aim of awakening Kundalini—the latent spiritual force coiled at the base of the spine—and initiating an ongoing process of inner transformation.

The concept originates in tantric traditions, particularly Kashmir Shaivism (also known as Trika Shaivism), a non-dual monistic system that developed in Kashmir from around the 9th century CE. In this framework, Shakti represents the dynamic, creative aspect of ultimate reality (Shiva, pure consciousness). Shaktipat is understood as the descent of this divine power, which removes obstacles to self-recognition and facilitates realization of one’s identity with the absolute.

Transmission occurs through various means: physical touch (sparsha), gaze (drishti), mantra recitation, or the teacher’s intention (sankalpa). In some cases, it arises spontaneously without apparent external cause.

Upon reception, practitioners may experience a range of phenomena as Kundalini ascends through the subtle energy channels: spontaneous bodily movements (kriyas), emotional releases, sensory alterations (e.g., inner sounds or lights), and states of expanded awareness or bliss. These are interpreted as the energy purifying the system and leading toward stabilization in non-dual consciousness.

In Siddha Yoga, shaktipat is presented as accessible through the guru’s grace during Intensives or other settings, with subsequent practices (meditation, chanting, selfless service) intended to integrate and sustain the process.

So I included that so there is some historical context for any other posts I make about my time in Siddha Yoga. It was a powerful influence on my life, and provided a spiritual framework that I grew within for about ten years. I became a part of the community, and played a role in many of the evening programs as a musician. I will talk about this in future posts.

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