The first part of this Module introduces the life and literature of the "Madras Yogi" Sri Sabhapati Swami, including his efforts to spread teachings of yoga across India and beyond in the decades prior to the country's independence. Special emphasis is given to his religious upbringing and search for truth among the yogins and siddhas of the semi-legendary Ashram of Agastya in the Pothigai Hills. Some attention is also given to the way he fashioned yoga as a harmonizing path between the philosophies of monistic Advaita Vedānta and dualistic Śaiva Siddhānta, as well as his contemporary relevance in milieus of modern occult yoga such as Theosophy and Thelema.

The second and longer part of the Module gives a detailed analysis of Sabhapati's first pamphlet Om. A Treatise on Vedantic Raj Yoga Philosophy, first published in 1880 and translated into Bengali and partially into German. Sabhapati in this work, which was influential in its time, divided "Raj Yoga" into two branches: 1) knowledge of soul and Brahman, and 2) a method by which the soul is enabled to hold communion with and become the Infinite Spirit. Taking this loose division as a guide, we systematically explore Sabhapati's teaching on the descent of the microcosm, complete with its kingdoms, faculties (tattvas), and yogic physiology. We then cover Sabhapati's instructions for the soul's ascent to the macrocosmic Brahman or "Infinite Spirit" in the Royal Yoga for Shiva (Śivarājayoga). Our main source is a new annotated version, prepared by Keith Cantú and shared with all registered students, which makes Sabhapati's text much more understandable by collating his first pamphlet together with reprinted versions that indicate Sanskrit words in Devanagari and Tamil scripts.

This Module centers on Sabhapati's trilingual expansion of his earlier pamphlet, entitled The Cosmic Psychological Spiritual Philosophy and Science and published in two volumes in 1883 and 1890. The first part of the Module examines the first section of this book that begins introducing new material not found in Sabhapati's earlier pamphlet. This includes a "gyan chaupar" (snakes and ladders) diagram on karma and transmigrations, a diagram on Seven Spiritual States of God (svarūpa) and Fifteen Purifications of the Mind and Soul, an elaborate 10-part cosmological diagram on the creation of the tattvas that make up the universe and human body, an explanation on the twenty-three arts (kalā) of yoga, diagrams on Śiva as the Lord of the Dance and the "firmamental worlds," and "The Most Secret Hint of Trance." Correlating diagrams and information from Sabhapati's Hindi and Tamil works are also given whenever possible to allow for cross-comparison.

The second part of the Module examines Sabhapati's first references to Haṭhayoga, or physical methods that refer to posture (āsana), control of the breath (prāṇāyāma), and other of the auxiliaries of Patañjali (despite no explicit references to Patañjali or the Yoga Sūtras). While Sabhapati does caution against the perceived dangers of Haṭhayoga if not practiced correctly, his overall positive attitude toward physical yoga is unusual for a work on yoga published during the colonial period. The final part of the Module shows how Sabhapati tries to "mix" Haṭhayoga with the Royal Yoga for Shiva that we encountered in Module One and evaluates his practical instructions on this topic.

This third Module centers on Sabhapati's unique approach to the Yoga of Gnosis (jñānayoga), which is ultimately identical to the Royal Yoga for Shiva but has a different approach. In the first part of this Module we examine Ten Processes that Sabhapati delineates as part of the Yoga of Gnosis, all of which are linked to a specific diagram through which Sabhapati can initiate students remotely. To some extent these Ten processes mirror the soteriological “ten acts” (Skt. daśakārya) that are described in some earlier Tamil Śaiva literature, which we examine for comparison. In the first part of the Module we examine each of these Ten Processes in depth with special reference to Sabhapati's initiatory diagram as well as an additional diagram he provides for the yoga of mentally worshipping or cultivating certain deities (devatā bhāvanā). We also compare these processes with subsequent diagrams and similar techniques given in his Tamil works.

Once the Ten Processes are complete, the aspiring yogin is free to be perform another kind of technique between guru and student, called “Mesmerism” or "Blessing Deetcha" (dīkṣā). In the second part of the Module we examine these techniques, vividly illustrated in numerous diagrams throughout Sabhapati's work, noting how the word dīkṣā or its equivalent is used in all of Sabhapati's diagrams in Indic languages. These vividly illustrated visual diagrams depict connections not only between physical body parts like “head to feet” but also subtle connections from “mind to mind,” “generative fluid to generative fluid,” the filling up of the “three nerves” (iḍā, piṅgalā, suṣumṇā) of yogic physiology, and of remote initiations between Sabhapati and his students. Similar diagrams with descriptions and captions in the Devanagari, Telugu/Tamil, and Tamil scripts were also later published, the translation of which enables us to see what precisely were the South Asian yogic practices that Sabhapati only translated on the surface as “Mesmerism.” As with previous Modules, here Sabhapati's practical instructions on these mesmerizing practices are emphasized.

In this Module we analyze Sabhapati's integration of a wide variety of mantras and devotional rites for a range of gods, goddesses, and planetary deities in his vernacular Indic literature (especially in Tamil and Hindi) as well as to a lesser extent in his English / Sanskrit / Tamil trilingual work. Taking the last of the Ten Processes of the previous Module as a starting point, in the first part of the Module we next examine Sabhapati's first Tamil work that maps deities onto the temple of the human body. We then launch into Sabhapati's last known work, published in 1913 during his lifetime together with the help of his students and supporters. This is a vividly illustrated Tamil work that contains numerous instructions on mantras, placements (nyāsa), mind-based worship rituals (mānasapūjā), and numerous other instructions, all within the broader framework of the Royal Yoga for Shiva. In this Module we focus on Sabhapati's practical instructions on the nine celestial bodies (navagraha), as well as on several other instructions that combine ritual practice and yoga in unique ways.

The second part of the Module analyzes "Konnur Meditation Hall,” Sabhapati’s own translation for the yogic maṭālayam (< Skt. maṭha + ālaya) that he established in Konnur, a village to the west of Madras (now part of Villivakkam, Chennai) in the 1890s. Central to this is a four-part pamphlet "A Compilation of All Āgamas” (Cakalākama tiraṭṭu), the first part of which was published in 1894. In this work we find Hindu ritual observances and a wide array of holidays assigned to Tamil months, including not only Shivaratri and Vinayagar / Ganesh Chaturthi but also many other celebrations. In this part of the Module we explore how festivals and observances were conducive to a kind of community that, under well-managed circumstances, also allowed the practice of yoga to flourish. Connections are also made with the contemporary temple site believed to be the site of Sabhapati's death or samādhi, and how festivals are still central to this temple's operation.