User:Svechu/Swami Budhpuri Ji

Swami Budhpuri Ji is a monk, belonging to the Puri order of Sanyasis which is one amongst the ten orders of monks (Dashanami Sampradaya) established by Adi Shankara. Prior to Swami’s monastic initiation he completed a Masters degree in Technology (M.Tech) from IIT Delhi and worked as a lecturer at Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College (MNREC), Allahabad. Swami’s current work is in the field of yoga and meditation. He is the inventor of yogic practices like Surya Kriya Yoga, Agni Kriya Yoga, Sanjeevani Kriya and has authored books on the same. Further, his running commentary on Japji Sahib - the seminal text of Sikhism – has been appearing in a Punjabi daily Jagbani for the past 10 years.

Life
Swami Buddhpuri Ji was born in the Punjab state of India. His parents were devoted practitioners of the Indian spiritual tradition. Swami was a silent, obedient child but questioned things that crossed his path. He loved reading from the very beginning. The first books that caught his eyes were Ramayana, works of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Theosophy – all which were readily available in the religious environ of his home. About these times the Swami reminiscences, that alongside his outer growth, an inner meditative state was also “blossoming with a natural ease.” After school, Swami took admission at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. Around this time he came into contact with Swami Dyalu Puri Ji –an accepted authority on Indian scriptures who had taught at Kashi. The new disciple wanted to renounce instantly, but the guru asked him to complete his studies first. Thereafter, Swami moved to IIT Delhi for his Master’s degree, after completion of which, he also worked as a lecturer for two years at MNREC, Allahabad. Swami then joined his guru at the latter’s residing ashram at Qila Raipur, Punjab. There he studied the Vedas, Upanishads, and Sanskrit from him. Of these days, Swami’s image is that of a very quiet individual, who was always seen serving in one or the other chore of the ashram. During the last days of the guru, Swami served him tirelessly. About ten months before his last, the guru announced Swami’s monastic name and gave him sannyasa. According to Swami he was more interested in meditation than administering an ashram. He therefore moved to the Himalayas (primarily in caves near Badrinath region and Uttarkashi) to intensify his practice. In 1994, the followers of the Swami had built an ashram in Moga, Punjab and urged him to move there. Swami yielded, assuming the role of a spiritual friend for all those who would come to learn and practice. However, his innate liking to solitude and meditation continued. He began holding, group meditation camps twice a year, otherwise he remained in his cell, practicing and writing. At times, he would also conduct group meditations in remote regions of Himalayas like Satopanth.

Basic Philosophy
Apart from the Vedas and the Upanishads, Swami’s spiritual philosophy and practice seems to be inspired by the lives of Swami Ramalingam, Guru Gorakhnath and the writings of Sri Aurobindo. Swami Ramalingam was a saint who is said to have gained a deathless body and de-materialized it near the end of the 19th century. Guru Gorakhnath is another saint, believed to be deathless. Shri Aurobindo too believed in the possibility of transformation of the material body into a divine body and wrote, “A divine life in a divine body is the formula of the ideal that we envisage”. Swami’s own practice seems to combine kriya yogic techniques from the lives of Swami Ramalingam and Guru Gorakhnath with the philosophical musings of Shri Aurobindo, and he calls the end result of this transformation, a “superhuman”. Khecarī mudrā seems to find a central place in his kriya yoga practice.

Teaching
Over the last 10 years, Swami has formulated three spiritual techniques based on the Vedas and Upanishads, with a few customizations to suit the present times. Surya Kriya Yoga finds a semblance with Vedic Sandhyavandanam. It is a meditative technique performed facing the sun. . Another technique is Agni Kriya Yoga that is based on Vedic Yajna; the technique emphasis kriya yogic meditation in the company of fire. Sanjivani Kriya is a combination of some yogic asanas and vinyasas with a touch of pranayama.

Books

 * Surya Kriya: The Pathway to Immortality, Unicorn Books, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN 8178062410.
 * Surya Kriya Yoga (Hindi), Unicorn Books, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN 8178062305
 * Agni Kriya Yoga (Hindi), Unicorn Books, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN 8178062356
 * Sanjeevani Kriya (Hindi), Unicorn Books, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN 8178062208
 * Chingaar Ton Brahm Jyoti (Punjabi), Shabad Surat Sangam Ashram, 2001. ISBN 978-81-907146-9-3
 * Agamya Sadhana Sthal – Satopanth (Hindi), DK Publishers and Distributors, 2000.