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{{Short description|Indian hindu yogi and guru}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name               = Shyama Charan Lahiri
| image              = Lahiri Mahasaya.jpg
| caption            = Lahiri Mahasaya in the [[lotus position]]
| religion           = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_name         = Shyama Charan Lahiri
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1828|9|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Ghurni]] village, [[Nadia district]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[Company Raj]] (Present day in [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1895|9|26|1828|9|30|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Varanasi|Benares]], [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]], [[British Raj]]
| school             = [[Kriya Yoga school|Kriya Yoga]]
| nationality        = [[India]]n
| guru               = [[Mahavatar Babaji]]
| honors             = Yogiraj, Kashi Baba
| disciples          = [[Yukteswar Giri]]<br />[[Panchanan Bhattacharya]]<br />[[Keshavananda Brahmachari]]
| philosophy         = [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]]
| signature          = [[File:Signature-Transparent-Lahiri-Mahasaya.png|180px]]
}}
'''<span lang="gu">Shyama</span> Charan Lahiri''' (30 September 1828 &ndash; 26 September 1895), best known as '''Lahiri Mahasaya''', was an Indian [[yoga|yogi]] and [[guru]] who founded the [[Kriya Yoga (Yoga school)|Kriya Yoga school]]. He was a disciple of [[Mahavatar Babaji]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance |url=http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhi0000jone_r9k7 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James |date=2008 |publisher=New York : Checkmark Books, an imprint of Infobase Publishing |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8160-7336-8 |pages=255–256}}</ref> Lahiri Mahasaya's life was described in [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]'s ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]]'' as a demonstration of the spiritual attainment that could be achieved by a householder "living fully in the world".<ref name=":1" /> A part of Lahiri Mahasaya's face is pictured on the cover of [[The Beatles]]' 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who Are All Those People in SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Spacious Planet |url=http://www.spaciousplanet.com/world/guide/who-are-all-those-people-in-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024180614/http://www.spaciousplanet.com/world/guide/who-are-all-those-people-in-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band |archive-date=24 October 2011 |access-date=16 September 2023 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Lahiri Mahasaya was born to [[Bengali Brahmin]] parents Gourmohan and Muktakeshi Lahiri on 30 September 1828, in the village of [[Ghurni]], [[Nadia district|Dist. Nadia]], [[West Bengal]], India, according to Yogananda.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yogananda |first=Paramahansa |title=[[Autobiography of a Yogi]] |publisher=[[Self-Realization Fellowship]] |year=1998 |edition=13th |pages=292 |author-link=Paramahansa Yogananda}}</ref> In 1832, a flood killed his mother and destroyed their home, after which his family moved to [[Varanasi]], where he received education in philosophy, Sanskrit, and English. His father arranged for him to be married to Kashimoni in 1846, and he taught her how to read. In 1851, he began working as a clerk and tutor.<ref name=":0" />

On 27 November 1861, Lahiri Mahasaya met Babaji in the mountains near [[Ranikhet]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Williamson |first=Lola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yX4VCgAAQBAJ |title=Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |year=2010 |isbn= |pages=66}}</ref> Babaji taught him a meditation technique called Kriya Yoga,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Timothy |url=http://archive.org/details/americasalternat00mill |title=America's alternative religions |date=1995 |publisher=State University of New York Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7914-2397-4 |location=Albany |pages=178}}</ref> which Lahiri Mahasaya then taught to many others, including his wife,<ref name=":0" /> Paramahansa Yogananda's parents, and [[Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri|Sri Yukteswar Giri]], guru of Yogananda.<ref name=":1" />

Hundreds of people sought [[Diksha|initiation]] from Lahiri Mahasaya, who would often gather his devotees for discussions on the [[Bhagavad Gita]]. Lahiri Mahasaya preferred to teach in secret and without forming an organisation, but he eventually allowed his disciples to form the Arya Mission in [[Kolkata]] to spread his teachings. Some disciples copied down his talks and compiled them into books. He died in 1895.<ref name=":2" />

== See also ==
*[[Guru–shishya tradition]]
*[[List of Hindu gurus and sants|List of Hindu gurus and saints]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Lahiri Mahasaya|display=Lahiri Mahasaya|wikt=no|v=no|voy=no|n=no|b=no|author=no|d=Q471036}}

*[[Wikisource:Autobiography of a Yogi|''Autobiography of a Yogi'']] on [[Wikisource]]


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahiri, Mahasaya}}
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu saints]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:19th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Hindu ascetics]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu yogis]]
[[Category:Hindu mystics]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian monks]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu monks]]
[[Category:Modern Indian yoga gurus]]
[[Category:Kriya yogis]]
[[Category:Paramahansa Yogananda]]
[[Category:People from Krishnagar]]
[[Category:Religious pluralism]]
[[Category:Scholars from Varanasi]]