Sreelatha Menon/Trissur

Sri Mumtaz Ali, known to his followers as Sri M, was born a Muslim in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and is a spiritual teacher who guides millions of followers of different faiths and nationalities, making him one of the important spiritual mentors or gurus of the 20th century.

While growing up, he was inquisitive and read various theories of existence and realit, be it Hindu or Greek, or Christian.

As a teenager, he left home in search of someone who would help him find more about himself and his existence on earth.

His book Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master tells the story of his travels in the Himalayas and his meeting with Maheshwarnath Baba, a mystic in Badrinath.

Shri M

At Badrinath, Sri M offered himself to Babaji as a student and stayed with him for three years travelling in the hills and learning from him everything that was to be known on the supreme reality.

He seemed to recall things he had never actually read, and he calls his experiences connected to his past lives.

Sri M has been initiating people from different faiths in kriya yoga and other forms of meditation to help them in their spiritual journey.

Shri M

He asks people to continue with their beliefs and says the truth that every religion is trying to reach is the same.

He does discourses on Upanishads, Bhagwatam, the Gita, and other sacred texts of yore are travelling in different parts of the world.

Sri M heads the Satsang Foundation, which runs two schools in Andhra Pradesh: the Peepal Grove School and the Satsang Vidyalaya.

The Peepal Grove School, a boarding school, was inaugurated by former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006. Satsang Vidyalaya is a free school for children in the Madanapalle area, where Sri M lives.

The foundation launched Bharat Yoga Vidya Kendra, a training programme for yoga teachers, in 2020. A documentary film, The Modern Mystic: Sri M of Madanapalle, made on him was directed by Raja Chowdhary in 2011.

Shri M

Explaining the meaning of his name, he says M stands for Manav, and he was just that. M also stands for his real name, Mumtaz Ali, and also Madhu, which is the name by which his guru used to address him. 

He recalls himself as being a young Brahmin yogi named Madhu doing hard penance in the Himalayas guided by Mahavtar Baba, known as the deathless yogi mentioned also in the book by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Sri M, a recipient of Padma Bhushan, conducted a Walk of Hope Padyatra across the country starting from Kanyakumari and winding up in Srinagar in 2014.

Stopping in hamlets on the way during the walk, he would mingle with villagers and tell them briefly the key messages of that “the divine resides in every soul.”

He keeps reiterating the lines from the Bhagwad Gta about the qualities of the devotee who is dearest to Krishna: viz, the one who has control over his senses, who maintains calm in all circumstances, and those who act for the well-being of others.

Shri M

Sri M, now 75, travels across the world reinforcing messages of human brotherhood and the spiritual oneness of the universe. A mantra he

iterates at every given occasion: ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti, meaning truth is one, and the wise describe it in various ways.

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His messages of peace and communal amity have resonated with people of all religions. He, as an embodiment of two religions, Hindu and Muslim, with countless followers, has become a symbol of spiritual unity in the universe.