Shree Devi Mayi Ma’s Lineage and the Ultimate Source of Yoga and Kriya Yoga

Statue of Shiva in Rishikesh, India

Statue of Shiva in Rishikesh, India

The yogic tradition began some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago or so, when Shiva—the first yogi, the first guru; dispeller of darkness and phenomenal being of light—transmitted the science of yoga to his seven disciples.

We do not know exactly how many thousands of years ago for sure. That is still a debate. These disciples, the Saptarishis, came to be known as seven great sages, including the well-known Agyasta Muni, who went south. In this time that predates religion, Shiva taught his disciples 112 ways of realizing union with the Divine and experiencing pure cosmic consciousness—in other words, to be in yoga with the Source of creation.

Shiva’s transmission included the ultimate science of yoga —-the spiritual knowledge that opened the gateway to a perfect harmonic marriage, within which all human beings can transcend their limitations and realize their ultimate potential by experiencing their true nature and Divine presence. Shiva, known by many as the lord of the yogi and yogini and whom we lovingly and reverentially call the Adi yogi and Adi guru, transmitted powerful and effective tools for individual transformation, self-realization, and liberation.Shiva sent the seven Saptarishis to seven different parts of the world to carry this supreme knowledge and with it, the awareness that individuals can evolve beyond their present compulsions and human nature. They became known as the limbs of Shiva.

Wherever you are now at this stage of cosmic conscious evolution, you can go beyond the physicality of this realm too. Shiva clearly demonstrated we human beings can evolve beyond our present limitations if we do the necessary work on ourselves with diligence, perseverance, and focus. That is the significance of Shiva’s legacy and his phenomenal gift to humanity. Thus, personal transformation is the only way to transform the whole—to expand the collective consciousness on earth.
Throughout the ages, many masters, siddhas, yogi, and yogini have said that a being of great magnitude, a Maha Avatar, has come to earth many times to help when our planet was near disaster and in trouble. People know this being by many names, and yet Shiv-Goraksha Babaji—the Nameless One—has been recognized as the reincarnation of Shiva, the Adi guru himself. Little was known of Mahavatar Babaji Gorakshanath in the Western hemisphere until the famous book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda was published in 1946. 

 

 

Shree Ananda Mayi Ma
(a female saint of India)

Maha Avatar Shiv-Goraksha Babaji

One who is self-created, self-born

There are no historical records relating to the life of Shiva. In the yogic tradition, he is considered a “Swayambhu” (Svayambhu- Sanskrit: स्वयम्भू, romanized: Svayambhū, literally “self-born”), a Sanskrit word that means one who is self-created, self-born. Paramahansa Yogananda’s book claims that the immortal avatar has resided for untold years in the remote Himalayas of India. 

Regardless of his past incarnation or name, Shiva’s pure essence, his cosmic consciousness, permeates over from eternity to infinity. Earth shall pass away, but he shall always be in this existential moment, eternally living within our hearts, souls, and spirits. It is even challenging for many sages, Siddhas, yogini, and yogi to fathom his transcendental, magnificent, and majestic nature. His spiritual and Divine stature is incomprehensible to the logical mind. You can only experience his supreme pure consciousness when you are in either a state of Bhava samadhi (devotional state ofequanimity and unity consciousness), or other type of samadhi such as Nirvakalpa.

Shree Devi Mayi Ma has experienced these Bhava Samadhis (and other types) many times when Shiva comes to her being either in her sadhana, or at numerous other occasions when she closes her eyes at various temples. Siddhanath Yogiraj Gurunath (Nath lineage), her first guru on this physical plane in this lifetime, said, “Maha Avatar Shiv-Goraksha Babaji is regarded as a manifestation of lord Shiva himself and the founder of the Nath tradition.”

Shree Devi Mayi Ma (affectionately called Devi Ma) has traveled throughout numerous lifetimes and cultures on the spiritual path with various spiritual masters from different traditions. It is in this lifetime she experienced the remembrance of some of her past lives. In her acclaimed spiritual memoir, Becoming the Light: Realize Your True Enlightened Nature, Devi Ma shares the story of having a direct experience of pure consciousness and receiving a transmission of shakipat ( spiritual cosmic energy) from Shree Ananda Mayi Ma (a female saint of India). Since that mystical experience, Devi Ma has the inner knowing of being with Ananda Mayi Ma as her guru in a previous life.

In this lifetime, Devi Ma has experienced phenomenal blessings. She’s been showered with abundant flowing grace, received transmissions, and been initiated in various powerful yogic practices, kriya, and meditation techniques. Devi Ma has walked the path with several noted spiritual masters over the many decades, including Paramahansa Yogananda, Siddhanath Yogiraj Gurunath (Nath lineage), Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen master), and Jaggi Vasudev Sadhguru. Each one of them impacted her evolutionary ascension and self-realization with their influence, energy, and state of enlightenment. Devi Ma has performed sadhana (Sanskrit: Sādhanā ,राधरा —”spiritual practice”) over many lifetimes, which set in motion this unimaginable and mystical kundalini ascension that unfolded over the last decade. That is why she spent almost ten years to bring to the world her riveting spiritual memoir, Becoming the Light: Realize Your True Enlightened Nature, and to share with humanity that it is indeed possible for everyone to evolve—from the grossest to the subtlest; from compulsion to liberation; from untruth to truth, darkness to light, and ignorance to enlightenment.

Mount Kailash is also considered the peak of the abode of Shiva, and known by many siddhas, yogi, yogini and sincere seekers as a powerful sacred pilgrimage site on earth.

Krishna, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar, Jesus Christ ,Maha Avatar Shiv-Goraksha Babaji and Paramahansa Yogananda ( from left side)

This book can be a gateway to help unleash your genuine blissful nature. Filled with timeless wisdom, spiritual knowledge, and guidance, it is a narrative of duality and transcendence expressed in all their nuances, and an exploration of the colorful spectrum of the human condition, from the deepest suffering to the highest state—the blissful and ecstatic Samadhi.

Becoming the Light tells the true story of Devi Ma’s journey, starting from the profound cry of one who desperately longed to go beyond the physical dimension and find existential truth, which set her on the path to liberation. Shree Devi Mayi Ma’s odyssey is more than just a moving, daring, and provocative spiritual memoir; it is also a fascinating journey into the beyond. It intimately chronicles her life’s quest to overcome a battered childhood, survive major depression, overcome advanced breast cancer, go through a near-death experience, and reach different states of Samadhi. Devi Ma seeks in the mystical land of India, and walks the spiritual path with such spiritual masters as: Paramahansa Yogananda, Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (Sadhguru).

In addition, Devi Ma has a very profound energetic connection with Jesus Christ. She called upon him when she nearly died due to a severe anaphylactic shock reaction to intense chemotherapy; she experienced a miracle and survived.

Shree Devi Mayi Ma in a deep state of Samadhi in front of Shivlinga at Lord Murugan temple (Lord Karthikeya is another name for Murugan) in Tamilnadu. (Lord Muruga is considered Shiva’s first son). This photo was taken by her husband, Prashant, in the South of India on a pilgrimage in 2019.

Kedarnath Temple, located in the Himalayas over 3,500 m above sea level in Uttarakhand, India, was built by Adi Shankar over 1,200 years ago. This temple is considered one of the most important abodes of Shiva.

For Devi Ma, it is Sadhgurudev who ultimately opened up the direct gate to Shiva. For over twelve intense years with him rekindled her parampara straight to Shiva, going back to many past lifetimes (lineage teacher-discipline), and her deep-rooted devotional love for Shiva.

We cannot pinpoint exactly Devi Ma’s lineage, since it seems uncharted. Though, Devi Ma says she knows herself as unchangeable, immortal, and eternal. She says, ”Knowing God is knowing yourself; knowing yourself is knowing God. There is nothing else to know.” Ma’s profound teachings and wisdom about self-realization, powerful spiritual & yogic processes and personal experiences are helping many seekers to alleviate suffering by directly reconnecting to their Divine presence, experiencing their true nature, joy, bliss, ease, inner peace, well-being and happiness.

In profound homage, deep reverence, and infinite Divine love, Shree Devi Mayi Ma bows down to Shiva, the nameless one, that which that is not, and to all the Maha avatars, Jesus Christ, Ananda Mayi Ma, all the buddhas (awakened beings); and to all the lineages of ascended masters, and all her previous spiritual masters/gurus, and especially to Sadhguru who have so gracefully assisted her in unbelievable ways on her journey to return to our infinite eternal home, and now to fulfill her dharma before she goes.

Shree Devi Mayi Ma with Sadhguru on November 4 in 2018 in San Francisco Bay Area, after offering a copy of her riveting acclaimed book, Becoming The Light; Realize Your True Enlightened Nature. Visit Devi Ma for more detailed Information 

AUM Namah Shivaya AUM

© All international copyrights 2023 Vivianne Nantel

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