Mahavatar Babaji

Mahavatar Babaji
Mahavatar Babaji
	Mahavatar Babaji meditating in the lotus position – a drawing from Autobiography of a Yogi, commissioned by Paramahansa Yogananda and based on his own meeting with Babaji
Personal life
Known for	Kriya Yoga
Religious life
Religion	Hinduism
School	Yoga
Religious career
	Disciples Lahiri Mahasaya;
	Influenced George Harrison, Paramahansa Yogananda, Rajinikanth, Roger Hodgson, Steve Jobs, The Beatles, Yukteswar Giri, Vishwananda;

Mahavatar Babaji (IAST: Mahāvatāra Bābājī; lit. 'Great Avatar (Revered) Father') is the Himalayan yogi and guru who taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895).^[2]^[3]^[a] Babaji first became recognized through the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who devoted a chapter of his Autobiography of a Yogi to Babaji and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, a modern yoga movement that Babaji is associated with.^[3] The cave where Babaji met Lahiri Mahasaya, located near Ranikhet, is now a tourist attraction and place of pilgrimage in India.^[4]^: 170

Quick Facts Personal life, Known for ...

Close

Mahavatar Babaji was on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.^[5]^[1]^[6] He can also be seen on the cover of George Harrison's 1974 album Dark Horse. Songwriter Roger Hodgson of English rock band Supertramp composed a song called "Babaji" in reference to Mahavatar Babaji. This song was recorded and released on their 1977 album Even in the Quietest Moments...^[7] In Book 3 of Conversations with God (1998), by Neale Donald Walsch, it is mentioned that Babaji may at one time have resurrected himself from the dead, like Jesus.^[8]

The 2002 film Baba featured a fictional encounter with Mahavatar Babaji.^[4]^{: 235, 314} The film was produced by Rajinikanth, a devotee of Babaji.^[9]

List of Hindu gurus and saints
Haidakhan Babaji – a teacher who appeared in northern India and taught publicly from 1970 to 1984
Yogoda Satsanga Society of India – founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917

Babaji's other names include Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj (Supreme Ecstatic Master), Maha Yogi (Great Yogi), and Trambak Baba or Shiva Baba (incarnations of Shiva).^[3]

[1]
cnn.com "How the 'Sgt. Pepper' cover might have looked today". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
[2]
Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Internet Archive. Albany : State University of New York Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
[3]
Jones, Constance (2008). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Internet Archive. New York : Checkmark Books, an imprint of Infobase Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8160-7336-8.
[4]
Virk, Rizwan (2023). Wisdom of a Yogi. Bayview Books. ISBN 978-1-954872-10-3.
[5]
Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. Quest. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5.
[6]
"Who Are All Those People in SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Spacious Planet". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
[7]
Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Omnibus Press. pp. 124–126. ISBN 0-7119-0787-0.
[8]
Walsch, Neale Donald, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialog (Book #3), page 95.
[9]
Chaubey, Santosh (16 March 2018). "Here's how Rajinikanth became a devotee of Mahavatar Babaji". India Today.

Autobiography of a Yogi on Wikisource

[4] Babaji's other names include Mahamuni Babaji Maharaj (Supreme Ecstatic Master), Maha Yogi (Great Yogi), and Trambak Baba or Shiva Baba (incarnations of Shiva).^[3]

[beatles-1] [1]
cnn.com "How the 'Sgt. Pepper' cover might have looked today". Retrieved 31 August 2017.

[:1-2] [2]
Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Internet Archive. Albany : State University of New York Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.

[:0-3] [3]
Jones, Constance (2008). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Internet Archive. New York : Checkmark Books, an imprint of Infobase Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8160-7336-8.

[:2-5] [4]
Virk, Rizwan (2023). Wisdom of a Yogi. Bayview Books. ISBN 978-1-954872-10-3.

[6] [5]
Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. Quest. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5.

[7] [6]
"Who Are All Those People in SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Spacious Planet". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.

[supertramp-8] [7]
Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Omnibus Press. pp. 124–126. ISBN 0-7119-0787-0.

[9] [8]
Walsch, Neale Donald, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialog (Book #3), page 95.

[10] [9]
Chaubey, Santosh (16 March 2018). "Here's how Rajinikanth became a devotee of Mahavatar Babaji". India Today.

[2]

[3]

[a]

[4]

[1]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Wikiwand in your browser!

Mahavatar Babaji

Wikiwand in your browser!

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

External links