“When I am not in my body I am so much more available to you.
If I am in samadhi, I am very easily available.”
Shivabalayogi did not designate any successor or successors. Since he entered mahasamadhi and dropped his physical body in 1994, his presence remains with us. See Mahasamadhi.
Mahasamadhi does not mean Swamiji went anywhere. It means he is still here, only without his own body. Imagine Swamiji in his own body sitting on his dais in the Bangalore ashram, and you are in America. It’s like that.
He works directly, including through devotees, and in this very real sense, we are all his successors.
His mission, the work which he undertook for the sake of others, is to reduce tensions in the world and help awaken the spiritual consciousness that underlies all of creation.
Shivabalayogi’s presence is anchored in the places, objects and people that he blessed. Perhaps his most powerful and purest presence is in a samadhi. A samadhi refers to a physical place, typically a tomb, that is imbued with the presence of a saint, avatar or yogi. Shivabalayogi’s body is interred in the samadhi in Adivarapupeta. Additional samadhis have been consecrated in Bangalore and Doddaballur.
Shivabalayogi has no successor. All devotees are his successor.
Shivabalayogi repeatedly rejected any notion that yogis start
lineages or named successors.
Spiritual leaders, not yogis, talk in terms
of successors.
Shivabalayogi blessed tens of thousand of devotees. By his own count, he initiated over ten million into meditation. Some he initiated into the spiritual austerity of tapas, meditation in continuous samadhi for at least twelve hours each day. Others were blessed to sing bhajans, manage ashrams, give his initiation into meditation, prepare food for mass feedings, or simply meditate.