The Yoga Teachers
of Mahaswami Medhirananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swamiji says he first met Swami Vivekanadaji through his classical book "Raja Yoga" in 1953.  A few years later he read Vivekananda's "Jnana Yoga" and forged a deeper relationship with this yogi's yogi.  Though he never met the great meditation master in the flesh, Swamiji feels a very close connection to Vivekanada during meditation and when teaching either Raja or Jnana Yoga.    Often in meditation Mahaswami sees the master Vivekanandaji as he appears in this photograph.

Swami Vivekananda

He says his favorite picture is the one above, but the most beautiful picture of the Master is this color photograph.  From the writings of his students, this is a very good rendition of how the great master Vivekanada appeared during his teaching years in America.

Swami Vivekanada

Swami Vivekanadaji in meditation is the most popular picture of this great master.  It can be found on many websites of the Vedanta Society members.

Those students who want to follow the path of Raja Yoga and/or Jnana Yoga are referred to the Vivekanada-Vedanta Center where Mahaswamiji studied part-time during 1966-1968.
 

Swami Muktananda

The piercing eyes that look into your soul were Muktanandaji's trademark and it is the logo for the many schools of Siddha Yoga he started throughout the world.  Mahaswamiji says that when he sees Master Muktanandaji like this during his meditations, it's a sure sign he needs to get back to work on his own spiritual path.  There are no recriminations and no fault finding according to Mahaswamiji, but the message is very clear and always on the mark.

Swami Muktananda

This picture of Swami Muktanandaji is Mahaswami's favorite.  Often during his lectures, this great Siddha Meditation master would enter this contemplative state and then share deep and wonderful teachings that have touched the hearts of millions. 

Those students desiring to make a deeper study of Siddha Yoga are referred to the Siddha Yoga Meditation Community.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi was a wonderful teacher of an ancient form of yoga known as Mantra Yoga.  Both the Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi and the Siddha Yoga of Muktanandaji came from this same root.  Mahaswamiji makes it very clear he embraces the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogiji but not the Transcendental Yoga movement as it has evolved.

Those students desiring to learn more about Transcendental Meditation are referred to the Power Meditation first.  At the end of these lessons the student will be guided further.

Goswami Kriyananda (2009)

The ultimate step is to choose, not to learn through pain. We can choose what we see, what we hear, what we think and what we do. What we do not consciously choose, we choose subconsciously. That's not the best plan. Our choices bring us happiness and wisdom or they bring us pain.

The purpose of life is to attain happiness. Happiness is a result of being enlightened. To be enlightened you must remove all darkness within yourself. To remove all darkness you must serve. To serve you must teach. We teach by what we say, what we write, what we think, what we do and who we are. The more we teach, the more we learn. The more we learn, the more we study and the more we discipline ourselves. Then we are content living a life of joy.

The purpose of life is to attain wisdom. To attain wisdom you need to learn to see those souls who lead a spiritual life and are happy; and those souls who desparately need to find their spiritual life. Study the opposites of life and seek the truth about yourself. Do not seek the truth about others because their truth is not your truth. Your truth will make you free, free from all fear, anxiety and panic. Their truth will bind you up in this material world because you will fear you are not good enough, you do not know enough and you are flawed. When you know the truth about yourself, you will know everything. That's what people call enlightenment.

These are the teachings of the great spiritual teacher Goswami Kriyananda who in 1994 ordained a spiritual seeker named John Gilbert as a swami named Medhirananda. These teachings have had a profound effect on Mahaswami Medhirananda and they permeate his own teachings.

Goswami Gnanananda (no picture available)

During one of his rare visits to North America in 2001, Goswami Gnanananda sought out Swami Medhirananda at the Temple of Christian Yoga in Boulder, Colorado and recognized him as Mahaswami Medhirananda and gave him the mission of simplifying the teachings of the Western Mystery Schools making them available to all spiritual seekers.

Mahaswami has since moved to North Carolina where he continues to teach for the Gnostic Yoga Fellowship.

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