GURUDEV SRI RAJARSHI RAGHABANANDA
Rajarshi (Brahmarshi) Raghabananda, also known as little Lahiri Mahasaya, was a householder yogi and an enlightened disciple of Paramahamsa Hariharananda. He was born on August 28, 1938, in Fatepur Village, Bhadrak District, Odisha, India. He received a D. Litt. from Utkal University in Odisha. He was appointed as a faculty member at Vishwa Bharati University in 1960.
In early 1964, he encountered Paramahamsa Hariharananda, who subsequently initiated him into the secrets of Kriyayoga in 1965. On the day of his initiation, the great master’s faultless love and grace enabled him to reach the pinnacle of a yogic discipline known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi. A similar incident occurred precisely once before, when Mahavatar Babaji initiated Yogiraj Sri Shyamacharan Lahiri Mahasaya into Kriyayoga.
In that instant, he was able to perceive the future of Kriyayoga and his obligation as a global propagator of this yogic discipline. Subsequently, he initiated the great revolution by systematizing the entire structure of Kriyayoga with Swami Premananda Giri, Paramahamsa Hariharananda’s first sannyasi disciple. The Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, USA, selected him as a study subject and analyzed alpha waves in the state of meditation, thereby establishing him as the “Prince of Peace.”
He was formally empowered as an Acharya in 1974, despite the fact that he did not require any techniques for his personal spiritual development. He acquired all of the higher kriyas from Paramahamsa Hariharananda at Karar Ashram, Swargadwar, Puri. He subsequently trained a large number of students, specifically as Acharyas of the Kriyayoga Order, and initiated and directed hundreds of spiritually motivated individuals in anticipation of a global revolution.
In his final days on Earth, he frequently reminded those around him that he would soon be leaving his body, which he was finding increasingly difficult to maintain. Consequently, on November 1, 2016, he achieved Mahasamadhi.