September 26 marks the Mahasamadhi Divas of Sri Sri Lahiri Mahasaya (1828—1895), a peerless saint of India, credited with the revival and dissemination of the ancient science of Kriya Yoga—a divinely ordained technique of liberation.

Revered as Yogavatar, an incarnation of yoga, Lahiri Mahasaya is the ideal yogi-householder who exemplified that communion with God is dependent on inner rather than outer renunciation. A disciple of Mahavatar Babaji, Guru to Sri Yukteswar, Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya demystified the long-lost teachings of the sacred Kriya, hitherto privy only to the spiritually evolved, and made it available to householders.

Born as Shyama Charan Lahiri in a pious family in Ghurni, Bengal, he lived a modest life as an accountant, and was father to two sons and three daughters. It was at the age of thirty-three that he first encountered his Guru, the deathless Mahavatar Babaji near Ranikhet in the Himalayan foothills and was initiated by him into Kriya Yoga. Their meeting was, in fact, a reunion – proof of the eternal bond between the guru and disciple that spans many lifetimes. Babaji then sent him forth with a special dispensation to bestow Kriya Yoga on all sincere seekers.

A spiritual renaissance soon began from his humble abode in Varanasi where Lahiri Mahasaya gave Kriya initiation to scores of followers, regardless of caste or creed. To quote an excerpt from the Autobiography of a Yogi, “Just as the fragrance of flowers cannot be suppressed, so Lahiri Mahasaya, quietly living as an ideal householder, could not hide his innate glory. Slowly, from every part of India, the devotee-bees sought the divine nectar of the liberated master.”

Visitors would often find Lahiri Mahasaya seated in the lotus posture, in a state of transcendental calm exhibiting breathlessness, cessation of pulse, and an enveloping aura of peace. Amongst his disciples were eminent saints, members of royalty, other influential persons, and also the parents of Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda. As the story goes, when Yogananda was but a babe in his mother’s arms, he was blessed by Lahiri Mahasaya who foretold, “Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom.” And so it was.

Although Lahiri Mahasaya preferred partial seclusion and refused to have any organization centered on him or his teachings, he did predict that his life story will be published fifty years after his passing.

"About fifty years after my passing,” he had said, “an account of my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga that will arise in the West. The message of yoga will encircle the globe. It will aid in establishing the brotherhood of man: a unity based on humanity's direct perception of the One Father.”

This came true in 1946, with the publication of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, wherein a detailed account of Lahiri Mahasaya’s life was published for the first time in English language. Through this book, which is celebrating 75 years of continuous publication as a perennial bestseller, millions were introduced to the sublime life of this Yogavatar and to his teaching of Kriya Yoga. Under the tutelage of Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda had blossomed into a God-realized master who raised the spiritual stature of his disciples. He founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India and the Self-Realization Fellowship in the United States to spread the message of India’s philosophy of yoga worldwide. Yogananda’s modern-day spiritual classic evoked great interest in Kriya Yoga in the West and intrigued readers who sought to know more about the Kriya technique which enables one to consciously control life processes and become one with Spirit.

“Reflect that someday you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world—so make the acquaintanceship of God now,” are the immortal words of Lahiri Mahasaya who promised that, “I am ever with those who practice Kriya Yoga.” Lahiri Mahasaya’s legacy is in tune with our modern times where divine union depends on self-effort and not on dogmatic beliefs. His harmoniously balanced life in which he fulfilled all family, business, social, and spiritual obligations, serves as a guide for truth seekers to this day.

For more details on Kriya Yoga and teachings of Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, please visit: www.yssofindia.org