Swami Brahmananda Saraswati is affectionately known
as "Guru Dev" or "great teacher". All teachers in India are warmly
referred to as "Guru Dev". The same is true of the title "Maharishi"
which means "great seer". These titles are used in India to denote the
greatness of a sage. They are bestowed on the teacher by the
disciples.
This was confirmed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in
his interview with CNN's Larry King on 12 May 2002.
Larry King asked: "Is "Maharishi" a title or a name?"
Maharishi replied: " Title. I think people begin to call - significant
of the characteristic of the word "Maharishi". "Maha" means great and "rishi"
is a seer. The seer of reality. The seer, that's what people called, and
it became a sort of name."
(From CNN's transcript
here.)
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati,
Guru Dev (1870 - 1953)
Guru Dev was born into a Brahmin
family in the village of Gana, near
Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, North India.
At the age of nine he left home to follow a spiritual path of
renunciation. At around the age of 14, he found his Master, Dandi Swami Krishnanand Saraswati,
in Uttar Kashi. Later, on his Master's
instructions, he retired to a cave, resolving not to emerge until he had
attained Enlightenment. In 1902, he was initiated into the order of "Sanyas"
(renunciant)
by his Master at the
Kumbh Mela, a spiritual celebration
held in India once every twelve years.
In 1941, after decades of silence, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati,
Guru Dev,
finally accepted an invitation to be the first
Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) in 150
years of
Jyotirmath in India.
Shankaracharya Swami Bhramananda Saraswati,
Guru Dev
Adi Shankara (circa 8th century
CE)
Jyotirmath is one of the four centers of Vedic knowledge established
by
Adi-Shankara, in the 8th century AD, in
the north of India. Adi Shankara was the great reviver of
Vedic knowledge. He had four principal
followers: Padma-Pada, Hasta-Malaka, Vartika-Kara and Trotaka.
Each of these disciples
established a seat of learning in the north, south, east and west of India.
Jyotirmath is the northern seat which
was revived by Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Guru Dev, in 1941.
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara's Master was Govinda Bhagavatpada, the
disciple of Gaudapada.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Guru Dev, was the
spiritual guru of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi was born on January
12, 1917 and is the founder of the worldwide Transcendental
MeditationŽ (TMŽ ) Movement. Maharishi is believed to have
been born near Jabalpur, India and graduated from Allahabad University
with a degree in physics. He was Guru Dev's Secretary for 13
years.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
In 1955, after spending two
years in silence in Uttar Kashi, in the Himalayan foothills, Maharishi
began teaching the Transcendental MeditationŽ program. He trained
thousands of teachers of the TM technique around the world like Farrokh
and Ruffina Anklesaria. More than five million people around the world
have been taught to meditate by these meditation instructors.
Farrokh K. Anklesaria, Barrister-at-law (left)
and Ruffina F. Anklesaria, M.A.,
Directors of the Transcendental Stress Management Organization (TSMO)
Farrokh & Ruffina Anklesaria
The
Anklesarias have a collective teaching experience of over 60 years
teaching the TMŽ technique around the world. They have established
their own organizations, the Transcendental Stress Management
Organization LLC, and
The Enlightened Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization,
to teaching the Transcendental Stress Management Program(SM).
The Anklesarias are not affiliated to the TMŽ organization.
Honoring Guru Dev,
Maharishi and the Vedic Tradition of Masters
We honor Guru Dev and Maharishi, and the long line of Vedic Masters
before them, for preserving and passing on the ancient knowledge of Veda
over the centuries, from Master to disciple. Because of this
august tradition of Vedic Masters, and the skill of the "great seer",
Maharishi, in training teachers of meditation all around the world,
millions of meditators in this great tradition have been created.
We express our appreciation in the simple way it is done in India, with
the words, "Jai Guru Dev", meaning, "Thanks to Guru Dev", "Thanks to the
Beloved Teacher".
