Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda is from a lineage of spiritual teachers in India. While carrying the traditional teachings, he makes spirituality a practical part of modern daily reality, guided by the prayer "May all beings live in peace and contentment." Swami Nityananda was trained from childhood by Baba Muktananda and initiated into the mysterious path of the Siddha Gurus. He learned the various yogic practices, including meditation and
Sanskrit chanting, and studied the philosophies of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism. He was initiated into the Sarasvati order of monks in 1980, and in 1981, Baba Muktananda declared Swami Nityananda would succeed him to carry on the lineage. In 1987, Swami Nityananda founded Shanti Mandir as a vehicle for continuing his Guru's work. In 1995, at the age of 32, he was installed by the acharyas and saints of the Dashnam tradition as a Mahamandaleshwar of the Mahanirvani Akhara. Currently Swami Nityananda, also known as Gurudev, travels the world, sharing the spiritual practices in which he has been trained. Conversations with Gurudev features question and answer dialogues that occurred over the years between Gurudev and his students and that shed light on the philosophy and practices of yoga.