Vethathiri Maharishi ( 1911 – 2006)
an Indian yoga guru, philosopher and spiritual leader.He founded the World Community Service Centre (WCSC) in Chennai and established the Temple of Consciousness (Arivu Thirukkoil) at Aliyar near Coimbatore.
At the age of 12, he met A. Balakrishna, who introduced Vethathiri to spirituality, Advaita philosophy and devotion to God. S. Krishna Rao, trained him in traditional Siddha and Ayurveda medicine. seer Paranjyothi, initiated him into Kundalini Yoga and taught him philosophy and meditation techniques.
till his late 30s worked as a clerk with the postal department before embarking on a spiritual life. over the years, he was inspired by Ramalinga Swamigal, after which he was completely engrossed in spirituality
He promoted the practice of yoga and meditation as a means of achieving spiritual awareness and thereby the development of mankind for the furtherance of human brotherhood and world peace.
He evolved a simplified Kundalini Yoga combining yoga with meditation, simple exercises, and traditional medicinal practices which enabled him to teach it to the common people
He believed that the fundamental cause of human misery was the lack of self-awareness and awareness about the relationship with others. He emphasized proper education as it is the basis for physical and mental maturity. As per Vethathri, introspection leads to self-awareness, and the practices of yoga help in developing the necessary strength and character to achieve the same.
The Universe is made up of space which evolves consistently with various objects in it made up of smaller particles. According to him, time, matter, and energy are manifestations of space and gravity itself is a manifestation of compression of particles in space.