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Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 First Encounters with the Masters ..............................................................................................................10 Swami Sivananda and Paramahamsa Viswananda Saraswati .......................................................10 Swami Vishnudevananda and Swami Sivananda .................................................................................11 Swami Muktananda and Bhagawan Nithyananda ...............................................................................13 Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa ..............................................................18 Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Totapuri .......................................................................................21 Sri Ramana Maharshi and Arunachala ....................................................................................................23 Sivaprakasam Pillai and Sri Ramana Maharshi .....................................................................................24 Ganapathi Sastri and Sri Ramana Maharshi............................................................................................24 Ragavachariar and Sri Ramana Maharshi ................................................................................................25 Suddhananda Bharati and Sri Ramana Maharshi ................................................................................25 Yogi Ramiah and Sri Ramana Maharshi ....................................................................................................26 Natesa Mudaliar and Sri Ramana Maharshi ............................................................................................26 Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Sri Ramana Maharshi .................................................................................27 Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Ramdas ..............................................................................................28 Swami Ramdas and Sri Ramana Maharshi ..............................................................................................31 Swami Gnanananda Giri and Swami Sivaratna Giri ............................................................................33 Adi Sankara and Lord Shiva ............................................................................................................................34 Paramahamsa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar .......................................................................................35 Lahiri Mahasaya and Babaji ............................................................................................................................37 Lama Surya Das and Lama Yeshe .................................................................................................................39 First Encounters with My Guru .....................................................................................................................40 Tavatiru Rengaraja Desigar ............................................................................................................................40 Supramania Swami .............................................................................................................................................42 Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal........................................................................................................................48 Epilogue ....................................................................................................................................................................60
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Introduction
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First Encounters with the Masters
Swami Sivananda and Paramahamsa Viswananda Saraswati
Photo 1 Stamp released on Swami Sivananda’s Birth Centenary 1986 Photo courtesy of www.indiapicks.com
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Swami Vishnudevananda and Swami Sivananda
Photo 2 Swami Vishnudevananda (Right) and Swami Sivananda Photo courtesy of http://www.maasyoga.nl
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Swami Muktananda and Bhagawan Nithyananda
Photo 3 Muktananda with his guru Bhagawan Nithyananda Photo courtesy of www.cosmicharmony.com
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Photo 4 Bhagawan Nithyananda. Photo Courtesy of ‘The Chidakasha Gita of Bhagawan Nithyananda of Ganeshpuri’
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Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Photo 5 Ramakrishna and Vivekananda Ramakrishna Photo courtesy of www.himalayanacademy.com, Vivekananda Photo courtesy of www.rkmvu.ac.in
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Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Totapuri
Photo 6 Totapuri Photo courtesy of www.gurusfeet.com
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Sri Ramana Maharshi and Arunachala
Photo 7 Stamp of Sri Ramana released in 1971 Photo courtesy of www.indiapicks.com
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Sivaprakasam Pillai and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Photo 8 Sivaprakasam Pillai Photo courtesy of www.sriramanamaharshi.org
Ganapathi Sastri and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Photo 9 Ganapathi Sastri with Sri Ramana Photo courtesy of http://arunachalamaharshi.blogspot.com
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Ragavachariar and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Suddhananda Bharati and Sri Ramana Maharshi
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Yogi Ramiah and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Photo 10 Yogi Ramiah (sitting on the ground) with Sri Ramana, B. V. Narasimha Swami with pencil and paper. Photo courtesy of http://forum.yogananda.net
Natesa Mudaliar and Sri Ramana Maharshi
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Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Photo 11 Yogi Ramsuratkumar Photo courtesy of http://www.lifepositive.com
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Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Ramdas
Photo 12 Ramdas Photo courtesy of www.urbanhindu.com
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Swami Ramdas and Sri Ramana Maharshi
Photo 13 Swami Ramdas Photo courtesy of http://sudheeptnair.blogspot.com
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Swami Gnanananda Giri and Swami Sivaratna Giri
Photo 14 Swami Gnanananda Giri Photo courtesy of http://srignananandansmm.org/
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Adi Sankara and Lord Shiva
Photo 15 Sankara with his disciples Photo courtesy of http://www.vanamaliashram.org
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Paramahamsa Yogananda and Sri Yukteswar
Photo 16 Yogananda with Yukteswar Photo courtesy of www.myspace.com/anahatasacredsound
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Lahiri Mahasaya and Babaji
Photo 17 Lahiri and Babaji Photo courtesy of http://vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com
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Lama Surya Das and Lama Yeshe
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First Encounters with My Guru
Tavatiru Rengaraja Desigar
Photo 18 Rengaraja Desigar Photo courtesy of Ganesen & Maran, Malaysia
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Supramania Swami
Photo 19 Supramania Swami poses for me the first time I meet him in 2003
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Photo 20 Clockwise: Supramania Swami at his altar in his Kudil; Swami’s Kudil in Tiruvannamalai; Swami at his village home in Nachananthal.
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Photo 21 Supramania Swami with Yogi Ramsuratkumar in a digitally edited photo
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Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal
Photo 22 Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005 Photo courtesy of the New Straits Times Malaysia.
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Photo 23 Clockwise: Feeding the poor at Tavayogi’s ashram; Tavayogi at the banks of the river that passes through his ashram; at the entrance to the Peedham; inside the Peedham; outside Tavayogi’s ashram.
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Photo 24 The 1 leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: Sivanmalai; Deserted temple in Kangayam; Punakeeswarar Samadhi at Chennimalai; Murugan temple in the jungles of Kangayam; Tavayogi in his Cave at Kangayam; Tavayogi squeezing through an opening into Konganar’s Cave; Inside Konganar’s Cave; On the steps towards Konganar’s Cave.
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Photo 25 The 2 leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: In Sargurunathar’s Cave & Ashram, Outside Sargurunathar’s Cave & Ashram, Mettupalayam - Ooti Road; at the Mariamman temple in Ooti; With Dayananda Swami in Ooti; at Tavatiru Suyanjhothi Swami’s Satguru Sathya Raja Yoga Seva Gnana Ashram in Kasolai.
Photo 26 Jeganathar; Tavayogi performing Abhisegam to the granite Peedham at his ashram; Chitramuthu Adigal
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Photo 27 The 3 leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: Tavayogi at Breehadeshwar temple; Agathiyar opens his eyes; At Karuvurar temple; Outside Agasthiyar’s temple at Agasthiyampalli; Tavayogi with Agathiyar.
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Photo 28 The 4 leg of the pilgrimage. Clockwise: At Kalyana Theertam at the foothills of Pothigai; Shiva temple at Kalyana Theertam; Agathiyar’s temple at the foothills of Pothigai; Agathiyar’s temple at Kalyana Theertam in Pothigai.
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Photo 29 The 5 leg of the pilgrimage. Clockwise: Outside Agathiyar’s Cave at Courtallam; At Shenbaga Devi Amman’s temple; Outside Agathiyar’s Cave; Inside Agathiyar’s Cave; Tavayogi at the inner chamber of Agathiyar’s Cave.
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Photo 30 The final leg of my pilgrimage with Tavayogi. Clockwise: With a sadhu outside Dhakshinamurthi’s Cave in Courtallam; Paintings at Chitrasabai in Courtallam; Inside Dhakshinamurthi’s Cave; Chitrasabai; Inside the inner chamber of Vallalar’s Cave; Chitrasabai; Outside Vallalar’s Cave
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Epilogue
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Photo 31 Tavayogi demonstrating Asanas and Pranayama to students in Malaysia. Still photos retrieved from video footages by Muralitharan Saminathan, Sathiswaran Arumugam and Thayalan Arumugam, Malaysia
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