Katia Mossin’s “Awakener” is the ‘authorised biography of a Yogi’ called Shailendra Sharma. Prima facie, ( either on the cover page and in pictures inside the 668 pages hardbound biography or on You Tube or in person), Sharma looks like a Bollywood Star or a stylish underworld don with his Dobermanns and Rottweilers in tow.
Moreover, in the current ‘spiritual market’, most individuals who have gained ‘‘some spiritual information or spiritual GK” and/ or learnt “some esoteric techniques” claim the status of “Baba’ and ‘Guru’.
Hence, the key concern for any genuine spiritual seeker today is to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’. So what does the Awakener talk about ? Is Shailendra Sharma just another ‘modern- day Sant’ or is he the ‘real deal’?
But before embarking on to answer this crucial question, it would be apt to trace the milestones in his journey.
Born in Bhopal on the 10th of July, 1957, Shailendra Sharma was the youngest child of Shri Himmat Bahadur Sharma and Gyani Devi Sharma, both of whom were ‘ satyagrahis’ in the Mahatma Gandhi led movement for India’s freedom. Later, Himmat Bahadur (who was a graduate of the Calcutta University) joined the judicial services and became a judge in Madhya Pradesh.
Was Shailendra a spiritually precocious child? Most likely no. While he did claim around the age of 5, that he would author several books when he would grow up ( something which he has indeed done with his commentaries on Srimad Bhagwat Gita, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gorakh Bodh, Yogsutra, Shivasutras and so on), that he would live in a palatial house consisting of three buildings and a pond ( which incidentally is his present abode in Govardhan near Mathura, Uttar Pradesh) and that he had déjà vu when he held a chillum for the first time at the age of 8 or 9 and likewise. However, all these could be attributed to his sanskaars or impressions stored in his subconscious mind.
Although a mediocre student in school, Sharma was a voracious reader ( Spiderman was his favourite) . By age 10, he had gone through many biblical stories and Indian religious tales. The Bible, Old Testament, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Jack London and Richard Bach’s novel “ Jonathan Livingston Seagull” were some of his ‘friends’.
He was physically very fit and by the age of 16, a top class snap shooter. Consequently, in 1973 he joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC), the ‘student-youth’ wing of the Indian Armed Forces. In 1975, while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in military science, economics and geography at the Maharani Laxmi Bai College in Gwalior, he joined a NCC training camp and won the first place for shooting in the Gwalior division. He qualified to a national- level competition in Delhi where he was the second runner-up in marching and snap shooting and went on to participate in the Republic Day Parade.
The NCC grind qualified him for the rank of second lieutenant by the Service Selection Board (SSB). After a rigorous screening process, Sharma qualified for the same.
But destiny had different plans for him. He returned home to Gwalior where he found that his family had left for Mumbai, where his elder brother had died of a heart attack. His brother’s death followed by successive deaths of his close relatives was traumatic for him.
The need to find answers to existential questions on life and death became so overwhelming for young Shailendra that he chucked a lucrative military career for the purpose.
Meanwhile, he had met a young Sikh boy, Harpal Singh Siyal during his SSB exams. A bookworm like Shailendra, Harpal had recommended “ Autobiography of a Yogi” as a must-read. The book proved to be game-changer for him . In December 1978, he purchased the book for Rs 16 from a store in Gwalior and stayed up all night reading it in one go.
Even after pursuing a masters’ degree in political science, Shailendra had made a clear choice for his life: Kriya Yoga or nothing else.
Then began an uncertain and frustrating search for a fitting Guru. On 30th September, 1982 he arrived in Benares ( on Lahiri Mahasaya’s birthday—a striking synchronicity) . The next day, Satyacharan Lahiri initiated him into Kriya Yoga.
What then makes Shailendra Sharma special and stand out among the surfeit of spiritual teachers today?
One, the mighty parampara or lineage of Sharma. The baton has passed on from the legendary Mahavatar Babaji to Lahiri Mahasaya; Tinkori Lahiri to Satya Charan Lahiri and to Shailendra Sharma.
Two, the events surrounding his Gurudom. On April 28, 1984, in Benares, Satyacharan Lahiri rushed out of the temple in his home, visibly shaken and breathing heavily and told Shailendra publicly “ You are the successor now! “ Everyone (of the lineage) agreed. Kriya Yoga is an immensely complex spiritual science and impossible to master in just about 18 months after initiation. The Fifth Guru of this impressive lineage was just 26 years old!
Three, Satyacharan Lahiri’s explicit mention in 1968 (14 years before meeting Shailendra Sharma) that Mahavatar Babaji Mission’s future spiritual heritor will be a ‘ young , well-educated, physically strong, intellectually capable being currently living in Gwalior’.
Four, Shailendra Sharma does not appear to be a ‘mike-holding baba’ organising mega discourses and events. He has also not commercialized Kriya Yoga and shares it without a price-tag.
Finally, the impeccable credentials of the biographer Katia Mossin also lends credibility to her guru. Born in Russia, Mossin holds a masters’ degree in architecture and has worked in numerous urban development projects in US, Eastern Europe and Asia. Besides that, she has travelled to more than 50 countries and writes short stories and poems too.
The writer is based in Bhopal and is actively associated with multiple fields of academia, media and politics.