Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
Encyclopedia
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda is the commonly used name of Malti Shetty (Mumbai
, India
, June 24, 1955), who is the current guru
of the Siddha Yoga
lineage. She is formally known as Swami Chidvilasananda or more casually as Gurumayi (the word translates to Guru Mother). The Siddha Yoga lineage (parampara
) was established by Bhagawan Nityananda
, whose disciple Swami Muktananda was Gurumayi's guru
.
restaurateur
; he and his wife were devotees of Swami Muktananda in the 1950s. Malti was brought the first time to the Gurudev Siddha Peeth
ashram
at Ganeshpuri when she was five years old. During her childhood, her parents brought her, her sister, and two brothers to the ashram on weekends.
After she had been initiated by Muktananda through shaktipat
at age fourteen, Malti moved to the ashram as a formal disciple and yoga
student.
At age fifteen, Muktananda made her his official English language translator and she accompanied him on his world tours.
On May 3, 1982, Malti Shetty was initiated as a sannyasin into the Saraswati order
, taking vows of poverty, celibacy
and obedience, and acquiring the title and monastic name of Swami
Chidvilasananda, (literally, "bliss of the play of consciousness"). At this time Muktananda formally designated her as one of his successors, along with her brother Subhash Shetty, now known by his monastic name of Mahamandaleshwar Nityananda.
Muktananda died in October 1982.
The two co-gurus disagreed in 1985. According to his 1986 interview in Hinduism Today, Nityananda left by his own choice, deciding to cease to be a Siddha Yoga Sannyasin but wishing his sister well as sole guru. In 1987, Nityananda founded the Shanti Mandir ('Temple of Peace'), a separate organization which "continues the spiritual work of his Guru, the renowned sage Baba Muktananda, whom he succeeded in 1982." Shanti Mandir runs two Ashram
s in India, and - like Gurumayi - one in New York State.
In 1992 she incorporated the PRASAD Project in the United States. The PRASAD project is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nation.
In 1997 she founded the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute with its own publishing imprint
, Agama Press.
Chidvilasananda "is a superb singer", with a "deep, resonant contralto" voice which she uses to great effect when leading her devotees in chanting. She has recorded several CDs of chanting, including the mantra "Om Namah Shivaya".
Salon.com
and The New York Post have each speculated that Chidvilasananda was the guru featured in Elizabeth Gilbert
's memoir Eat, Pray, Love and its film adaptation. Gilbert has not identified by name the real-life ashram and guru featured in the book.
The New York Times, New Yorker
and Salon.com have all claimed that Chidvilasananda’s ashrams have attracted celebrities, including Meg Ryan
, Melanie Griffith
, Isabella Rossellini
, Diana Ross
and Don Johnson
. The Telegraph
states that Scottish
pop singer Lulu
met Gurumayi.
In 1994, Lis Harris noted that Gurumayi's ashram in New York State is "sleekly modernized, in country-club-glitz style" from three prewar Catskill hotels "in neatly landscaped grounds" of 550 acres, and had "an estimated market value of fifteen to seventeen million dollars" in 1994. The ashram was able to earn "well over four million dollars" in 1989 selling books and other merchandise, and by running workshops (called intensives).
Her critics believe that she associates with celebrities and runs opulent ashrams. They believe that behavior contradicts what is expected of a renunciate. Linda Johnsen observed the appearance of wealth at the ashram and took it positively. She noted that the ascetic traditions of yoga are only one type and that others exist. She quotes a brahmin priest who told her "The Goddess is beauty and wealth. Prosperity is a gift of the Mother."
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, June 24, 1955), who is the current guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
of the Siddha Yoga
Siddha Yoga
Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path based on the Hindu spiritual traditions of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism. The Siddha Yoga path was founded by Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa . The present spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path is Gurumayi Chidvilasananda...
lineage. She is formally known as Swami Chidvilasananda or more casually as Gurumayi (the word translates to Guru Mother). The Siddha Yoga lineage (parampara
Parampara
Parampara denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and Indian religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism...
) was established by Bhagawan Nityananda
Bhagawan Nityananda
Bhagawan Nityananda was an Indian guru. His teachings are published in the "Chidakash Gita". Nityananda was born in Quilandy , Kerala, South India.- Early life :...
, whose disciple Swami Muktananda was Gurumayi's guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
.
Biography
Malti Shetty was the oldest child of a MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
; he and his wife were devotees of Swami Muktananda in the 1950s. Malti was brought the first time to the Gurudev Siddha Peeth
Gurudev Siddha Peeth
Gurudev Siddha Peeth is an Indian ashram belonging to the Siddha Yoga organization. It is situated between the villages of Ganeshpuri and Vajreshwari, seventy miles north-east of Mumbai...
ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
at Ganeshpuri when she was five years old. During her childhood, her parents brought her, her sister, and two brothers to the ashram on weekends.
After she had been initiated by Muktananda through shaktipat
Shaktipat
Shaktipat or Śaktipāta refers in Hinduism to the conferring of spiritual "energy" upon one person by another...
at age fourteen, Malti moved to the ashram as a formal disciple and yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
student.
At age fifteen, Muktananda made her his official English language translator and she accompanied him on his world tours.
On May 3, 1982, Malti Shetty was initiated as a sannyasin into the Saraswati order
Dashanami Sampradaya
Dashanami Sampradaya is a Hindu monastic tradition of Ekadandisannyasins [1][5][7] generally associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition...
, taking vows of poverty, celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
and obedience, and acquiring the title and monastic name of Swami
Swami
A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...
Chidvilasananda, (literally, "bliss of the play of consciousness"). At this time Muktananda formally designated her as one of his successors, along with her brother Subhash Shetty, now known by his monastic name of Mahamandaleshwar Nityananda.
Muktananda died in October 1982.
The two co-gurus disagreed in 1985. According to his 1986 interview in Hinduism Today, Nityananda left by his own choice, deciding to cease to be a Siddha Yoga Sannyasin but wishing his sister well as sole guru. In 1987, Nityananda founded the Shanti Mandir ('Temple of Peace'), a separate organization which "continues the spiritual work of his Guru, the renowned sage Baba Muktananda, whom he succeeded in 1982." Shanti Mandir runs two Ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
s in India, and - like Gurumayi - one in New York State.
In 1992 she incorporated the PRASAD Project in the United States. The PRASAD project is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nation.
In 1997 she founded the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute with its own publishing imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
, Agama Press.
Chidvilasananda "is a superb singer", with a "deep, resonant contralto" voice which she uses to great effect when leading her devotees in chanting. She has recorded several CDs of chanting, including the mantra "Om Namah Shivaya".
Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
and The New York Post have each speculated that Chidvilasananda was the guru featured in Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth M. Gilbert is an American author, essayist, short story writer, biographer, novelist and memoirist. She is best known for her 2006 memoirs, Eat, Pray, Love, which as of December 2010, has spent 199 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was also made into a film by the same...
's memoir Eat, Pray, Love and its film adaptation. Gilbert has not identified by name the real-life ashram and guru featured in the book.
The New York Times, New Yorker
New Yorker
New Yorker may refer to:* A resident of New York City * A resident of New York state * The New Yorker, a magazine* A predecessor newspaper to Horace Greeley's New York Tribune...
and Salon.com have all claimed that Chidvilasananda’s ashrams have attracted celebrities, including Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
, Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
and Don Johnson
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne "Don" Johnson is an American actor known for his work in television and film. He played the lead role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s TV cop series, Miami Vice, which led him to huge success. He also played the lead role in the 1990s cop series, Nash Bridges...
. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
states that Scottish
Scottish
Scottish may refer to something of, from, or related to Scotland, a country in northern Europe, part of the United Kingdom since 1707.Scottish may also refer to:-Languages:*Scottish English, the varieties of English spoken in Scotland...
pop singer Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
met Gurumayi.
In 1994, Lis Harris noted that Gurumayi's ashram in New York State is "sleekly modernized, in country-club-glitz style" from three prewar Catskill hotels "in neatly landscaped grounds" of 550 acres, and had "an estimated market value of fifteen to seventeen million dollars" in 1994. The ashram was able to earn "well over four million dollars" in 1989 selling books and other merchandise, and by running workshops (called intensives).
Her critics believe that she associates with celebrities and runs opulent ashrams. They believe that behavior contradicts what is expected of a renunciate. Linda Johnsen observed the appearance of wealth at the ashram and took it positively. She noted that the ascetic traditions of yoga are only one type and that others exist. She quotes a brahmin priest who told her "The Goddess is beauty and wealth. Prosperity is a gift of the Mother."
By Chidvilasananda
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1990). Ashes At My Guru's Feet. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1991). Siddha Yoga Diksha (in Hindi). SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1994). My Lord Loves A Pure Heart. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1995). Blaze The Trail Of Equipoise. SYDA Foundation.
- Muktananda, Swami & Chidvilasananda, Swami (1995). Resonate With Stillness. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1996). The Yoga Of Discipline. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1996). The Magic Of The Heart. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Swami (1997). Enthusiasm. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Gurumayi (1998). Remembrance. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Gurumayi (1999). Courage and Contentment. SYDA Foundation.
- Chidvilasananda, Gurumayi (2006). Sadhana of the Heart - Siddha Yoga Messages for the Year Volume 1: 1995-1999. SYDA Foundation.