The Living Yogi
Shivabalayogi
Shivabalayogi
If you close your eyes and concentrate between the eyes, you will get a wonderful bliss. Slowly you will lose yourself in that bliss and you get in the state of samadhi. If you remain in samadhi for twenty-three hours a day, or for days, months or years at a time, that is called tapas
The Balayogi had been doing japa of the sun mantra for two hours daily for almost two years since his guru corrected the mantra Tapaswiji taught him. One night in the month of Kartika (October), 1954, the divine guru appeared on one of his periodic visits. He told the Balayogi that his japa of the surya mantra would soon bear fruit and that the god Surya would manifest before him in ten days. It was on the Kartika Poornima of 1954 that the Balayogi had sakshatkara of Surya and thereby gained siddhi of the world of the sun.
The divine guru appeared again the next night and, as he usually did, the Balayogi told him all that had happened the night before. Suddenly and on impulse, the Balayogi asked his guru to take him to the world of the sun as he wanted to see what it was like. The guru agreed and instructed the yogi to keep his eyes closed until he was told to open them. The Balayogi closed his eyes.
In no time at all the guru told him to open his eyes. The Balayogi found himself looking down upon a landscape very similar to that on earth. He saw mountains clothed in forests and cut by river valleys. He saw mountain peaks covered with snow. Soon he asked to be taken back and he was allowed to keep his eyes open for the return journey. The divine guru made the Balayogi sit in the palm of his hand, and they shot back towards earth with almost the speed of thought.
They had to pass through the blazing orb of the Sun. It was so intense that the Balayogi thought he would have been reduced to a cinder had it not been for the protection of his divine guru. Even with this protection, and even though the exposure to the fiery orb of the sun was for the briefest possible time, the Balayogi suffered intensely from the heat. To give his disciple relief the divine guru allowed every river he happens to cross.
After he completed his tapas, Swamiji described his experience of traveling to the sun and said, “It is possible in the state of samadhi to travel to the world of the sun and return alive. This is my own experience. Those who wish to accomplish this can do so by practicing dhyana.” But he cautioned those who seek only such experiences. “People should strive for atma jnana (wisdom of the soul). They should strive to know themselves and their true nature, which alone will bring peace to the world.”
We all know about several saints from the days of yore who merged with God by virtue of their devotion and penance (tapas). Shivabalayogi is however unique even in this respect as it was the Gods – Parvathi and Parameshwara – who merged with him. At the early age of 26, this young man by the name of Sathyaraju, completed an intense twelve-year ‘tapas’ under their guidance. Being convinced that he had attained the absolute egoless state, satisfied that he is totally unselfish, and having tested and confirmed that he is qualified to carry out their divine mission in this ‘Kaliyuga’ – the dark age of ‘Kali’, they bestowed upon him the title of ‘Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogeeshwara’ meaning the best amongst Yogis, who is dedicated to Lord Shiva and ‘Baala’ – Goddess Paarvathi Devi.
There are still other websites using the name Shivabalayogi, which may or may not be about the original Shivabalayogi. For clarification, you are welcome to contact info@shiva.org with any questions you may have.
Also please see www.shivabalayogi.org for more information.