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Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj

Bhakti and devotion

  • 1935–1994
  • taught in Andhra Pradesh / Bengaluru, India
  • Video ↗
Portrait of Shivabalayogi

Seattle, 4 December 1988

Photo: Tpalotas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Teaching

Silent meditation (dhyana) together with devotion and service. In the Jangama Dhyana method he taught, one closes the eyes and keeps the attention between the eyebrows, without repeating any mantra or name. 1

Who it is for

For people who want a practical, historical approach through silent meditation and devotion. The sources checked are in English.

Life and places
  • He was born Sathyaraju on 24 January 1935 in Adivarapupeta, a village in the Godavari delta in Andhra Pradesh. 2
  • According to the trust, he meditated for about twenty hours a day for twelve years, from August 1949 to 7 August 1961. 2
  • From 1963 to 1987 he travelled throughout India and then Sri Lanka, and from 1987 to 1991 to the UK, the USA and Italy, giving public programmes with initiation into meditation. 1
  • He died in Kakinada in March 1994; his body is interred in Adivarapupeta. 2, 3

Where to start

  • Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj: Life & Spiritual Ministration, the biography by Hanut Singh first published in 1981, contains a detailed section on the practice of dhyana meditation and can be read free on shivabalayogi.org. 4
Public context
  • His disciple Srinivasa Dikshitar, called Seenu, later became known as Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj. 1, 2

Works

  • Tapas Shakti: Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj

    Book · 1992 · Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust, Bangalore · About this teacher

    A book he asked to be written in 1991, combining the 1981 biography with questions and answers collected mostly in the United States and with devotees' experiences; it was presented in January 1992.

    openlibrary.org

  • Divine Play: The Silent Teaching of Shivabala Yogi

    Book · 2005 · Handloom Publishing, Langley, Washington · About this teacher

    According to his devotees' website the first book on him written for and published in the West: an account of his tapas, travels and blessings with his answers to questions on many subjects.

    openlibrary.org

The short summaries are ours.

More works of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj in the library

In their own words

Short passages in the words of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.

  • Know truth through meditation, then you yourself will know who you are, your religion, your purpose in life and your nature. Do not believe what others say and become a slave to religious prejudices. Meditation is your religion. Meditation is your purpose. Meditation is your path.

    His Teachings, words with which his message 'was often summarised' · shivabalayogitrust.org Recorded: Attributed to him by the Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust; who recorded or translated the words is not named.

  • Everyone is in some sort of bhava of the guru because of their attachment to the guru. The mind’s attachment and devotion is the true bhava.

    His Teachings, on bhava samadhi · shivabalayogitrust.org Recorded: Attributed to him by the Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust; who recorded or translated the words is not named.

  • “Read the Yoga Vasistha”, he says, “Swamiji’s philosophy is fully expounded in that Scripture.”

    Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj: Life & Spiritual Ministration · Chapter 7 'Mission and Upadesa', section 'The Yoga Vasistha Ramayana' · shivabalayogi.org Recorded: Recorded in English by his disciple Hanut Singh, who noted down his answers (preface).

  • Do more and more dhyana.

    Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj: Life & Spiritual Ministration · Chapter 7 'Mission and Upadesa', section 'Mowna Upadesa (Silent Instruction)': his answer to most problems · shivabalayogi.org Recorded: Recorded in English by his disciple Hanut Singh, who noted down his answers (preface).

Documented teaching relationships

  • Personal encounter with Anandamayi Ma

    According to an account of Shivabalayogi's devotees, Anandamayi Ma invited him by a handwritten letter to her ashram in Dehradun during his first tour of North India and received him there; the account calls it their only visit, and a devotee dates her first darshan there to about 6 June 1966.

    Biographical tradition · shivabalayogi.org

Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.

Sources
  1. His Teachings · Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust The tradition's own account of the meditation practice and of sayings attributed to him; read. accessed 12 Oct 2026
  2. His Life · Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj Trust His own institution's admiring biography; spiritual states and numbers not independently checked. accessed 12 Oct 2026
  3. Shivabalayogi, His Life · shivabalayogi.org Devotees' website (Shivabalayogi Seva Foundation); devotional account accessed 12 Oct 2026
  4. Shivabalayogi Library · shivabalayogi.org Devotees' website listing and offering biographies and articles about him accessed 12 Oct 2026

Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 13 Oct 2026.

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This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.