Baba Faqir Chand

Param Dayal Faqir Chand Ji Maharaj
Personal
Born
Faqir

(1886-11-18)18 November 1886
Panjhal, Hoshiarpur District, Punjab, India
Died11 September 1981(1981-09-11) (aged 94)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A
Resting placeManavta Mandir, Hoshiarpur
ReligionA true saint with no religion
LineageSant Mat
Notable work(s)Numerous books and lectures
Organization
TempleManavta Mandir
OrderRadha Soami Mat
Senior posting
TeacherData Dayal Maharishi Shiv Brat Lal Verman Ji Maharaj
Faqir Chand

Baba Faqir Chand, (18 November 1886 – 11 September 1981) was an Indian master of Surat Shabd Yoga, or consciously controlled near death experience.[1] He was one of the first saints or gurus of Sant Mat tradition to openly speak and write against the deceptive and harmful practices of modern guruism and religious intolerance. As a highly pragmatic individual, Faqir also strove to explain the various practices and principles of Sant Mat based on his own experiences and in the context of modern science and psychology. He was also the first Sant Mat guru to talk about the phenomena consisting of a believer experiencing a subjective projection of a sacred or holy form of a guru or idol without the conscious knowledge of the person at the center of the experience, i.e., the guru. This was termed the 'Chandian Effect', and described by researcher David C. Lane.[2][3] Faqir Chand claimed that he had no knowledge of his form manifesting before a person and helping them with their worldly or spiritual problems. He fervently expressed that in his experience, the real helper is one's own true self and faith. Mark Juergensmeyer, another researcher on new religious movements (including Radha Soami Mat), intrigued by the uniqueness of Faqir Chand's experiences, also interviewed him. This insightful interview was included in Faqir's autobiography.[4]

Faqir Chand near the end of 1918 upon returning to India from Baghdad (where he was posted during World War I)
  1. ^ http://elearn.mtsac.edu/dlane/The%20Unknowing%20SageMINI.pdf Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. p. 5. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  2. ^ David Christopher Lane (1993). The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Baba Faqir Chand. Mt. San Antonio College Press. ISBN 1-56543-022-0.
  3. ^ http://elearn.mtsac.edu/dlane/The%20Unknowing%20SageMINI.pdf Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. p. 20. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  4. ^ http://elearn.mtsac.edu/dlane/The%20Unknowing%20SageMINI.pdf Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. p. 69. Retrieved 2009-10-31.