Shri Dhyanyogi & Shri Anandi Ma – Hanuman Chalisa Circa 1978

The Hanuman Chalisa (Devanagari: हनुमान चालीसा; Hindi pronunciation: [ɦənʊmaːn tʃaːliːsaː]; literally Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) addressed to Hanuman.[1][2] It is traditionally believed to have been authored by 16th-century poet Tulsidas in the Awadhi language,[1] and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas.[3][4] The word “chālīsā” is derived from “chālīs”, which means the number forty in Hindi, as the Hanuman Chalisa has 40 verses (excluding the couplets at the beginning and at the end).[1]

Hanuman is a vanara (a monkey-like humanoid deity), a devotee of Rama, and one of the central characters in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. Folk tales increasingly eulogise the powers of Hanuman, and he is considered by many to be an avatar of the god Shiva.[5] The qualities of Hanuman – his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy, devotion to Rama and the many names by which he was known – are detailed in the Hanuman Chalisa.[5] There are more temples devoted to Hanuman than any other deity in India, and recitation or chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa is a common religious practice. The authorship of the Hanuman Chalisa is attributed to Tulsidas, a poet-saint who lived in the 16th century CE. He says in the last stanza of the Chalisa that whoever chants it with full devotion to Hanuman, will have Hanuman’s grace. Amongst the Hindus of Northern India, it is a very popular belief that chanting the Hanuman Chalisa invokes Hanuman’s divine intervention in grave problems, including those concerning evil spirits.
. Shri Dhyanyogi (1878-1994) was an enlightened yogi who became head of the lineage of Kundalini Maha Yoga in 1921, after forty-three years wandering across India, seeking God-realization.

After nearly forty more years living in near seclusion, Dhyanyogi had the intuition to begin offering public programs where he could teach meditation and give shaktipat to all spiritual seekers.

At that time in India, to receive such an initiation meant years of preparation to prove one’s worthiness.

But in his compassion, Dhyanyogi experienced that the only pre-requisite for this blessing was the sincere desire for spiritual evolution, and that people living ordinary lives should have the opportunity to evolve. He felt that his life mission was to share his spiritual power freely, saying, “My house is on fire. Loot what you can!” Shri Anandi Ma is the head of the lineage of Kundalini Maha Yoga.

In 1972, at age fourteen, Anandi Ma had a clear vision of the Divine Mother and experienced a merging with Her. Shortly afterwards, Shri Dhyanyogi met Anandi Ma and said that he had never met anyone so spiritually advanced at such a young age.

The ninety-year-old Dhyanyogi had been hoping to find an heir to continue His spiritual work. After meeting Anandi Ma, Dhyanyogi’s guru came to him in meditation and told him to “hand over the powers of this lineage to her.” He worked with her tirelessly for four years so that she would be in complete control of the Universal Spiritual Energy.

Dhyanyogi empowered her to perform shaktipat and to guide spiritual seekers. Since that time, Anandi Ma has been offering shaktipat and teaching meditation and advanced yogic practices throughout the world. .