Tag: Yoga

Born in Germany, Swami Mangalananda grew up near Stuttgart. In 1992, she received Kriya initiation from Rajarshi Peterananda, and then met her master Paramahamsa Hariharananda in 1994. From this time onward, she stayed with Paramahamsa Hariharananda in various ashrams, and also traveled with him throughout Europe.

After studying philosophy for some years Swamiji began studying medicine in Germany at Tubingen University. However, she chose to continue her medical degree at the University of Vienna, enabling her to complete her studies while simultaneously serving and living with her master. She received her MD in July, 2000.

Shortly after the completion of her studies, in September, 2000, she was ordained as a monk in the Giri monastic order and given the name Swami Mangalananda, which means bliss of auspiciousness. Swami Mangalananda is the first female monk in the lineage of Paramahamsa Hariharananda. She conducts Kriya Yoga programs in the Tattendorf ashram in Austria and throughout Europe.

More info at

http://www.kriya.org/about__swami.php?id=11
http://www.prajnanamission.org/Monks.shtml

Swami Satchidananda (22 December 1914–19 August 2002) was an Indian religious figure, spiritual teacher and yoga adept, who gained fame and followers in the West, especially in the United States. He was the author of many books, including one popular illustrated book on Hatha Yoga.
Early Years
Satchidananda's name at birth was C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder. He was born in Chettipalayam in the Tamil Nadu region of southern India in 1914 to privileged and observant Hindu parents who called him Ramu. Like other children from religious families, young Ramu loved to play guru and disciple with his friends. He did not become involved in spiritual matters immediately upon reaching adulthood, however. After graduating from agricultural college, he took a position with his uncle's firm, which imported motorcycles. At 23, then a chain-smoking manager at India’s National Electric Works, he married, but his wife died suddenly after five years of marriage, having given birth to two sons.
Spiritual Quest
After his wife’s death, Ramaswamy left his children with his mother and travelled throughout India to meditate at holy shrines and to study with spiritual teachers. For years, Ramaswamy searched out people revered as sages, saints and spiritual masters. Eventually, he discovered his guru, Sri Swami Sivananda, who ordained him into the order of sannyasa.

During the late 1950s and most of the '60s, Swami Satchidananda headed the Kandy Thapovanam, one of Swami Sivananda's ashrams situated in the hill country of Sri Lanka. Here, Swami Satchidananda taught yoga, pursued interfaith activities and modernized the ancient mode of living that renunciates had followed for many years. For example, Swami Satchidanda drove a car, wore a watch and actively engaged the questions of seekers. These modernizations were at first unacceptable to many individuals in the orthodoxy but he felt them to be necessary for the more effective dissemination of the message of Integral Yoga.

The United States
After serving his guru for many years, in 1966 he visited New York City at the request of a U.S. disciple, the artist Peter Max. Soon after his initial visit, Swamiji, as he was known to disciples, formally moved to the United States and eventually became a citizen. From his new home he spread his teachings of yoga and enlightenment.

Satchidananda first came to public attention as the opening speaker[1] at the Woodstock music and arts festival in 1969. Over the years he wrote numerous books and gave hundreds of lectures. He also ordained a number of western disciples into the order of sannyasa. He was the founder of the Integral Yoga Institute[2] and in 1986 opened the Light of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS) at Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia.

On August 19, 2002, Satchidananda died from a ruptured thoracic aneurysm in his native Tamil Nadu, India. However, Integral Yoga and Yogaville continue.

Satchidananda's better-known disciples included Alice Coltrane, Allen Ginsberg, Dean Ornish, Jeff Goldblum, Carole King, Peter Max, and Scott Shaw. Guitarist John Fahey spent some time living in Yogaville, and endorsed the ideals of Integral Yoga, even going so far as to dedicate his 1973 album Fare Forward Voyagers to Satchidananda. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo grew up in Satchidananda's ashramery.

Integral Yoga origins
Although Satchidananda is thought to have briefly met Sri Aurobindo, he viewed his brand of teaching as a unique entity. Swami Satchidananda characterized Integral Yoga as "...a flexible combination of specific methods to develop every aspect of the individual: physical, intellectual, and spiritual. It is a scientific system which integrates the various branches of Yoga in order to bring about a complete and harmonious development of the individual."

This would make it very similar to Sri Aurobindo's concept of Integral Yoga, which clearly preceded the work of Swami Satchidananda. Sri Aurobindo describes the nature and practice of integral yoga in his opus The Synthesis of Yoga. As the title of that work indicates, his integral yoga is a yoga of synthesis, intended to harmonize the paths of karma, jnana, and bhakti yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita. It can also be considered a synthesis between Vedanta and Tantra, and between Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality.

There are also similarities in the symbolism used by Sri Aurobindo and Swami Satchidananda. In addition, Satchidananda's center was given the name "Yogaville." (Aurobindo's "Auroville" had been founded in 1968.)

Satchidananda's group trademarked the term "Integral Yoga" in the United States.[3] [4]

Integral Yoga believes:
"The goal and the birthright of all individuals is to realize the spiritual unity behind the diversity throughout creation and to live harmoniously as members of one universal family. This goal is achieved by the maintaining of our natural condition:

a body of optimal health and strength,
senses under total control,
a mind well disciplined, clear, and calm,
an intellect as sharp as a razor,
a will as strong and pliable as steel,
a heart full of unconditional love and compassion,
an ego as pure as crystal, and
a life filled with supreme peace and joy.
Attain this through asanas, pranayama, the chanting of holy names, self-discipline, selfless action, mantra japa, meditation, study, and reflection."

Swami Vishnudevananda (December 31, 1927, Kerala, South India—November 9, 1993, Uttarakhand, India) was a disciple of Swami Sivananda, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams. Considered by followers an authority on Hatha and Raja yoga, he is the author of The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga.

Early life
A close disciple of Swami Sivananda, Swami Vishnudevananda, a Nair, was born in Kerala, South India on December 31, 1927. After a short career in the army, he coincidentally found interest in the teachings of Swami Sivananda through a copy of Sadhana Tattwa (Spiritual Instructions). Its introduction read, “An ounce of practice is worth tons of theory. Practice yoga, religion and philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realization”. Impressed, he travelled to Rishikesh to meet the author and the meeting, taking place on the stairs of the ashram leading to the Ganga (Ganges River), would change his life. Swami Sivananda was walking up the stairs and according to the custom, people were prostrating. The young army officer did not want to bow his head to anyone and hid in a doorway out of sight. A moment later, Swami Sivananda appeared unexpectedly, and prostrated to the arrogant young man. This lesson in humility was the first given to Swami Vishnudevananda by his guru.

Training
Swami Vishnudevananda entered the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh in 1947 at the age of twenty. He took sannyas (became a monk) and was appointed the first professor of hatha yoga at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy, and eventually trained scores of Indian and western students. At the same time he continued his own practice, mastering advanced hatha yoga techniques. When asked how he perfected these ancient practices, some of which had become obscure in modern times, Swami Vishnudevananda answered, “My master touched me and opened my eye of intuition. All this knowledge returned to me from past lives”. For ten years, he lived and worked under the direct guidance of his master.

According to stories, in 1957, Swami Sivananda placed 10 rupees in Swami Vishnudevananda's palm, and urged him to take all he had learned and bring to the people of western culture, with the words “People are waiting”.

Ashrams
Swami Vishnudevananda travelled throughout North America, teaching yoga and observing the western life style. His mobility then and later in life would earn him the nickname "The Flying Guru". He would eventually decide to create several settlements, choosing to begin this process in Canada, with the first Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in Montreal. The first Yoga camp, in 1961, was at the summer home of some students, who opted to surrender material comforts, to sleep on the floor and take cold showers.

In February 1962, Swami Vishnu-devananda saw the present site of the Yoga Camp in Val Morin, Quebec, and intuitively chose to settle in the dense forest area near the Laurentian Mountains. By summer the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp had opened. From the modest beginning of a few small cottages and tents,there has been considerable expansion. It consists of several temples, a yoga hall, guest lodges and offices, swimming pool and sauna.
In 1967, Swami Vishnudevananda went on to establish the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Bahamas. Situated on four tropical acres on Paradise Island, a short boat ride away from Nassau.
In the foothills of California’s Sierra Mountains, Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm was established on an 80 acre area.
A fourth ashram, located in Woodbourne, New York, a 77 acre plot near the Catskill Mountains. Swami Vishnu-devananda named it the Sivananda Yoga Ranch Colony, hoping it would grow into a colony of families in a yogic environment.
In February 1978, Swami Vishnudevananda inaugurated the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhawanthari Ashram in Neyyar Dam, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The ashram is set on ten acres in the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains.
A small Himalayan ashram, known as Sivananda Kutir, was established in Netala, just outside of Uttar Kashi. It is situated on the banks of the Ganges and was to become the site of Swami Vishnudevananda’s jala-samadhi (sacred drowning).

Legacy
In reaction to a vision (seeing people running in terror from a giant ball of fire) conceived during meditation at the Nassau ashram, Swami Vishnudevanand was prompted to found the T.W.O. (True World Order), aimed at promoting world peace and understanding. Feeling the need to train future leaders and responsible citizens of the world in the yogic disciplines, he founded the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course in 1969, intent to create a chain of students who turn into teachers perpetually.

Swami Vishnudevananda attained mahasamadhi on November 9, 1993. His body was then placed into the Ganges at the Sivananda Kutir, and the rite named jalasamadhi was performed, merging the abandoned body with the water. His motto was, "Health is Wealth. Peace of Mind is Happiness."

Selected bibliography
The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga
Meditation and Mantra (A Commentary on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika)
Karma and Disease

Elisabeth Haich was a spiritual teacher and author of several books dedicated to spiritual subjects.

She was the second of four children born into an upper middle class family in Budapest, Hungary. As a young child, her unique gifts were expressed as a pianist, painter and sculptress. She was an internationally recognized artist in the time after the 1st world war and her sculptures are exhibited in Hungary, as monuments and in plazas.

In addition to her inclination to art, she began from early age to show special interest in esoteric knowledge.

She got married and had one son who later joined her in teaching Yoga in Switzerland.

At this time, Haich began her lifetime spiritual partnership and companionship with an Indian yoga teacher called Selvarajan Yesudian. They are to be together constantly for the following 55 years until her death (Selvarajan Yesudian himself passed away in October 1998). In close connection with Selvarajan Yesudian, she began giving Yoga lectures in 1939.

At the end of World War II she was forced to leave Hungary when yoga teaching became forbidden by the communist government of Hungary. Together with Selvarajan Yesudian, they decided to resettled in North America but on their way they were asked by friends to stop in Switzerland, the stop turned to be permanent, she settled in Switzerland and lived there until the end of her life.

Together with Yesudian, she founded in Zurich the oldest and largest Yoga school in Europe, Yesudian-Haich Yoga School (in german: Yogaschule Yesudian-Haich). At the same time they founded in Diano Marina, Italy, the Yoga Summer School which was moved in the beginning of the 50s to Ponte Tresa, Switzerland. Both schools operated until 1989 when they were closed due to the advanced age of both founders.

In 1953, at the request of her students, Elisabeth Haich wrote her best known book, Initiation (in german: Einweihung) which has been translated into seventeen languages with millions of copies sold worldwide. In the book, she relates the dramatic story of her past life in ancient Egypt and her apprenticeship with Divine Ptahotep.

Her other books include The Day With Yoga, Self Healing, Yoga & Destiny, Sexual Energy and Yoga and Wisdom of the Tarot.

Until the end of her life, Elisabeth Haich lectured and counseled seekers.

Elisabeth Haich died on July 1, 1994. The following is an excerpt from a letter (dated 28th Oct 1994) written by Yesudian to the students of the Yoga School after the death of Haich:

...She left us all at the wonderful age of 98, completely healthy, spiritually aware and conscious - only her body was not capable of containing her great spirit. Her last words were: “I shall held the Exercitium and nobody else”. These determined words will be fulfilled in her next life. She was never a burden to those who looked after her physical needs till the last. She left after fulfilling her universal mission. She will continue to work through her wonderful books and through people who received her enlightening message and pass it on to those in need. Personally I miss her company very much after being with her for about 55 years constantly. It was a great privilege for me to shoulder her responsibilities which needed much strength, which flowed into me the more I served her. She was always a symbol of strength which
will inspire all those who knew her personally...

About Selvarajan Yesudian

Selvarajan Yesudian, son of an Indian doctor, came in 1936 to Europe to study medicine. In Hungary he met Elisabeth Haich and from that time onwards they remained in close companionship for 55 years and share therefore a similar biography.

Soon after they met, he began to give together with her lectures and courses about Hatha yoga.

They wrote their first book “Yoga and Health” which reached an edition of 100,000 in Hungary within three years (Today more than 1,8 millions in numerous languages).

During the 2nd world war Yesudian assisted his pupils and friends unshakably and remained to them a light and support.

At the end of World War II, he relocated with Haich to Switzerland and there they established their famous Yoga schools.

Details about his life and past lives can be found in the book Initiation.

Selvarajan Yesudian passed away in October 1998.