The great Avatar Babaji Maharaj

An avatar is a great spiritual being beyond human limitations.  Babaji guides from a distance, is rarely seen and usually remains invisible.  He appeared one day as a man of some twenty years of age and is currently over 2000 years old.  He still looks the same as seen in the picture and is most frequently seen in the Himalayas.

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Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya

In 1861, in the Himalayas, Lahiri Mahasaya received Kriya Yoga initiation and guidance from Babaji. The story goes that his employer was inspired to transfer him to an office located in a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas.  While out walking one afternoon shortly after his arrival, he met Babaji on the road. He stayed with him for a while and was instructed in the scientific techniques of Kriya Yoga. Babaji instructed Lahiri Mahasaya to initiate any person who sincerely desired to learn and practice Kriya Yoga.  Shortly thereafter Lahiri Mahasaya's employer was inspired to transfer him back to his home town.  From that time on, Lahiri Mahasaya initiated and guided thousands of devotees.  For this reason, he is often thought of as the Father of Kriya Yoga.

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Shrimat Bhupendranath Sanyal

Shrimat Bhupendranath Sanyal, the renowned yogi and youngest disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya.  A householder, highly educated and advanced spiritually, he authored dozens of spiritual books.  He established ashrams in Puri, Orissa and Bhagalpur, Bihar.  Paramahamsa Hariharananda was directly initiated by Bhupendranath Sanyal, as he lived in Puri for a long period of time.

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Swami Shriyukteshwar

Swami Shriyukteshwar received instruction in Kriya Yoga from Lahiri Mahasaya and founded the well-known Karar Ashram in Puri, India.  Shri Yukteshwar was a highly realized yogi and initiated and guided many disciples in the Kriya Yoga technique during his life.  Paramahansa Yogananda was one of his chief disciples.

Swami Satyananda Giri

Swami Satyananda Giri, one of the foremost disciples of Swami Shri Yukteshwar and childhood friend of Paramahansa Yogananda.  He was the Acharya of Ranchi Brahmacharya Ashram and President of Karar Ashram.  He is one of the Kriya Masters of Paramahamsa Hariharananda

Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda, a chief disciple of Shri Yukteshwar.  He is widely known for his authoring of the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" and was the first Kriya Yoga master to come to the West in 1920.

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Paramahamsa Hariharananda

Paramahamsa Hariharananda, a fully God-realized and highly respected disciple of Shri Yukteshwar. One of  the great Kriya Yoga Master's and world teacher's,  he attained the pulseless, breathless state of meditation known as nirvikalpa samadhi - the highest attainment of a dedicated Yogi.

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda

PramahamsaPrajñanananda is the current head of the Kriya Yoga Institute ( www.kriya.org) founded by Pramahamsa Hariharandanda. Hariharanandaji had predicted long before he became a monk “whatever is started by me has to be completed by him”. Prajnananandaji is an advanced yogi and on the 10 th of August 1998, on his 39th birthday, the title of Paramahamsa, the highest title reserved for monks (who attains the summit of realization), was conferred on him by his master.

Paramahamsa Prajnanananda was born in 1960 in the state of Orissa in India. He is a former professor of economics, a prolific author and speaker, and a scholar of scriptures of the East and West. Paramahamsa Prajnanananda, who was appointed by Paramahamsa Hariharananda as his successor, to continue his mission as a world teacher disseminating the teachings of Kriya Yoga.  Paramahamsa Prajnanananda is the president of Kriya organizations started by Baba Hariharananda Maharaj and the current head of a great lineage of Kriya Yoga.

He is an advanced yogi, teacher and proponent of Kriya Yoga, a path of self-realization and a scientific technique of concentration, meditation and breath control. He helps spread the message of Kriya Yoga around the world through public lectures, media interviews, seminars and meditation classes.