What seekers ask

Shaktipat means “descent of energy”. It is the act by which an authorised Guru, exercising their free will, reverses for ever the direction of rotation of the disciple's Kundalini. It is not an independent system of Yoga, but the highest technique, the one in which the cosmic power itself is used as the technique. Afterwards, there is no more effort to make: it is Shakti who carries the transformation.

The other paths are paths of effort; they all have their merit, and it is likely that your years of practice, in this life or in others, have led you here. Siddha Maha Yoga embraces and transcends them: the awakened Kundalini herself directs the practice. It is a high-speed train, with no intermediate stops.

Nothing. It is free of any financial cost and always has been in our lineage. It is neither sold, nor conditional on a donation, nor offered in successive levels. Whoever claims to sell spiritual awakening has gone astray. Baba Narayan Dev Tirtha coldly turned away the kings who came to buy grace, and initiated sincere beggars on the spot.

No. Swami Shivom Tirtha initiated Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jews, Parsis, Buddhists and Jains, regarding all traditions as flowers on the single garland of Divine Love. You may continue to go to church or to the temple if you wish; nothing is required, nothing is forbidden. The Guru-Tattva has no religion.

The cosmic energy emanates from the Guru, awakens the Kundalini of the aspirant wherever they live, and returns to the Guru. This process defies rational explanation, but it has been proven for generations. In person or at a distance, the initiation unfolds in the same way, over three days, with the Mantra, the prayers and the shared meditation.

Sit, at a fixed time if possible, in a comfortable posture. Invoke the Gurus of the lineage, visualise your Guru, let the Mantra turn in your mind without counting it, then surrender completely, in the attitude of the witness, to whatever Shakti manifests. Seek nothing, force nothing, stop nothing. Then get up and live your life: it too has become a Kriya.

Paramguruji himself had no physical Kriya for two years after his Deeksha. Silence and deep meditation are also Kriyas; the absence of movement is not the absence of work. The more one waits for “it” to happen, the more one is disappointed: it is the waiting that must be laid down. The Deeksha is never repeated, and it does not fail.

If the aspirant is a father or a mother, the Guru regulates the physical Kriyas so that daily life is not disrupted. You will renounce neither your loved ones nor your duties; you will love them more, in freedom. Sri Yogananda, Paramguruji, Sadguru Hagi and I myself live in society. Yoga must never serve as an escape from one's obligations.

Nothing is imposed after the Deeksha, with the exception of a vegetarian diet in the Indian sense during the three days of initiation. With time, dispassion settles in of its own accord: certain tastes fall away, without effort or frustration. Continence, required in preparatory schools in order to gather energy, is not necessary here: the awakening has already been conferred by Grace.

No, and I myself have been there. You may continue these practices. Simply know that Siddha Maha Yoga is not undertaken in order to become a better healer or to develop powers: it would not work. With time, some practices may lose their appeal; that will be right.

Write to me and tell me who the Guru is and what the lineage is. When Shaktipat is conferred on a person whose Kundalini is already active, it settles at a safe level. The final decision always rests with the Guru, who exercises their free will.

Beware of the signs: powers, eloquence, crowds, robes and studio-polished gentleness can be imitated and sold. What is hard to fake: equanimity tested over years, the freedom they leave around them, naturalness, and what happens within you in their presence. The Guru is recognised by the lamps that light up, not by the light they display. And they never charge for awakening.

In the West, “guru” has acquired a whiff of manipulation that our lineage does not deserve. We use “Guru”: the one who dispels darkness, the name of a function, not of a power. The Guru is a servant, a crutch, a mirror. One day, the disciple must be able to do without them and become established in the Guru-Tattva, within themselves. Whoever can speak to their Guru as a friend, or do without them, makes them very happy.

Know first of all that this is thanks to your good Karmas. Once activated, Kundalini remains so for this life and the ones to follow; the experience can be tumultuous, and guidance is sometimes welcome: a Guru who gives you a Mantra and who is there for you. Write to me. My door is always open.