Chidvilasananda

(b. Malti Shetty, 1955) Modern Hindu
teacher and successor to Swami
Muktananda. Muktananda taught a
type of spiritual discipline called siddha
yoga, the “discipline of the adepts,”
which stresses chanting, meditation,
learning, and above all, devotion to
one’s spiritual master. Chidvilasananda
is the current leader and preceptor of
SYDA (Siddha Yoga Dham America), the
organization founded by her teacher.
During her childhood, her parents and
other members of her family were
Muktananda’s disciples, and she spent
much of her life in his service, eventually serving as his translator during his visits to America. She and her brother,
Subhash (who later took the name
Nityananda), were both designated
by Muktananda as his successors, but
her brother left the organization a
few years after Muktananda’s death.
Chidvilasananda continues to travel
between an ashram in Ganeshpuri, near
Bombay, and ashrams and centers
around the world.