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.

[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.

Mark Juergensmeyer, another researcher on new religious movements (including Radha Soami Mat), intrigued by the uniqueness of Faqir Chand's experiences, also interviewed him.

[4] Baba Faqir Chand was born on 18 November 1886 in village of Panjhal, located in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, India.

Later, his repentance and prayers took him to Radha Soami Mat through a divine vision of Data Dayal Shiv Brat Lal Ji Maharaj.

[9] However, because of his unshakable faith in Data Dayal Ji he took a vow and honestly followed the path shown by his guru.

Faqir Chand started delivering discourses (Satsang) to his followers only after Shiv Brat Lal died.

In 1980, in view of his failing health, and at the request of David Christopher Lane, a professor of philosophy in California, Faqir Chand dictated his autobiography to Prof. B.R.

He appointed Munshi Ram Bhagat to give Nam Dan, instruct the souls and help distressed and perturbed people.

He also co-appointed Manav Dayal I.C.Sharma, a professor of philosophy, and an experienced soul with great spiritual knowledge and practice to work in his (Faqir Chand's) place in absence or presence of Munshi Ram Bhagat.

He further clarified that his saintism excluded places of veneration of the dead, graves, tombs and worship of deceased great people.

[10][20] Faqir's beliefs drew from many sources, including his long association with Radha Soami Mat and his experience in Surat Shabd Yoga.

For fulfilling guru's wish and carry forward his mission according to changed time, in the year 1962,[27] Faqir established Manavta Mandir (Temple of Humanity) in Hoshiarpur.

These include his colleague or Guru bhai, Pir-e-Mughan (Pandit Bua Ditta) (Delhi),[33][34] Nandu Bhai (Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh),[35] P.Anand Rao (Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh), Gopi Lal Krishak,[14][36][37] Prithvi Nath (J&K),[38] Lal Chand (Churu, Rajasthan),[39] B.R.