Swami Satchidananda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swami Satchidananda (December 22, 1914–August 19, 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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. Ramaswamy was a vegetarian since birth.[1] After graduating from agricultural college, he took a position with his uncle's firm, which imported motorcycles. By age 23 he was a multi-skilled manager at India’s National Electric Works. During this period of time he married and had two children, but his wife died suddenly five years later. Ramaswamy then left his two young sons in order to go on a spiritual quest. They were then raised by their paternal grandmother.[2]
[edit] Spiritual quest
After his wife's death, Ramaswamy traveled throughout India, meditating at holy shrines and studying with spiritual teachers. For years, Ramaswamy searched for people who were revered as sages, saints, and spiritual masters. Eventually, he was initiated into pre-sannyasa in the Ramakrishna Thapovanam and given the name Brother Sambasiva Chaitanya. While at the ashram, his job was to care for orphaned boys. During this period, he also studied with the renowned Sri Ramana Maharshi. He eventually left the ashram when he could not bear the suffering of Sri Ramana's arm cancer and treatment procedures. Ramana Maharshi died shortly after his departure. He then traveled to Rishikesh, a town in the foothills of the Himalayas, located on the banks of the Ganges River. There, he discovered his guru, Sri Swami Sivananda who ordained him into the order of sannyasa in 1949 and gave him the name Swami Satchidananda.[2]
During the late 1950s and into the 1960s, Swami Satchidananda headed, with another swami female disciple of Sri Swami Sivananda, to the Kandy Thapovanam, one of Swami Sivananda's ashrams situated in the hill country of Sri Lanka. Here, Swami Satchidananda taught yoga, conceived and implemented innovative interfaith approaches to traditional Hindu festivals and modernized the ancient mode of living that renunciates had followed for many years. For example, Swami Satchidanda drove a car (to teach throughout Sri Lanka), wore a watch (to be on time), and actively engaged the questions of seekers. These modernizations were criticized by individuals in the orthodoxy but he felt them to be natural extensions and tools for serving in his yoga work.
[edit] The United States
After serving his guru for many years, in 1966 he visited New York City at the request of 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, selfless service, ecumenism and enlightenment.
Satchidananda came to public attention as the opening speaker[3] 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[4] 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 western disciples include: Alice Coltrane, John Fahey, Allen Ginsberg, Dean Ornish, Jeff Goldblum, Carole King, and Scott Shaw. Liev Schrieber and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo lived at the Satchidananda Ashram during the early part of their lives.
[edit] 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.[5] [6]
[edit] Credo
"Easeful, peaceful and useful." Motto of Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidananda
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."
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sri Swami Satchidananda, The Healthy Vegetarian, Integral Yoga Publications, third edition, 1994, p. 115.
- ^ a b Swami Satchidananda: His Biography, Straight Arrow Books, First Edition, 1970.
- ^ Attendance at Woodstock
- ^ Integral Yoga Institute
- ^ Trademark history 1
- ^ Trademark history 2
