: Biography

“And a question came into my mind: what is death, what is life and what happens when a person dies? This question became so prominent in my mind, that I abandoned my thoughts about any career in the Army and began to search. And during my search I came across yoga system and this lineage. There was some information that by practicing this you can understand what happens after death. And then the question of immortal soul emerged”.

“That happened on the morning of 28th of April, 1984. My life changed completely. People began to come to me just on their own. I never advertised myself and I never told them that I was a guru. But somehow people began to come to me and ask certain things. I became eloquent as I was now able

to give answers to different questions. But also came a huge responsibility, because when you initiate somebody, you are supposed to be responsible for whatever he does and what he makes of his life”. Soon in 1984 Shailendra experienced his first samadhi, the confluence of individual consciousness and the cosmic absolute. Then Babaji appeared and taught him certain breathing techniques, pranayamas.

“Now you do understand why I had to run away from Gwalior! Becoming famous like that is a real disturbance. Everybody could come and knock at my door — that was a simple one room cottage. At last I put some gatemen to control this flow of people. But it was very difficult for me to go out in the city: people gathered around me. I remember very well that from the childhood I knew that I would write some books, live in a palace-like building and create a temple of Shiva. Lots of people thought I was crazy. I had no job, no business – and people used to laugh at me: “He has no money. But he thinks like a king”.