Satyananda Saraswati

For other gurus called Satyananda, see Swami Satyananda (disambiguation).

Swami Satyananda Saraswati (24 December 1923 – 5 December 2009), was a sannyasin, yoga teacher and guru in both his native India and the West. He founded the International Yoga Fellowship in 1956 and the Bihar School of Yoga in 1963.[1] He has authored over 80 books, including the well-known Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha, recognised internationally as one of the most systematic yoga manuals today.[2] Since its first publication by the Bihar School of yoga in 1969 it has been reprinted seventeen times and translated into many languages.

Contents

Life

Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born 1923 at Almora (Uttaranchal) in the foothills of the Himalayas, into a family of farmers and zamindars.[3]

As a youth he was classically educated and studied Sanskrit, the Vedas and the Upanishads. Swami Satyananda began to have spiritual experiences at the age of six, when his awareness spontaneously left the body and he saw himself lying motionless on the floor. Many saints and sadhus blessed him and reassured his parents that he had a very developed awareness. This experience of disembodied awareness continued, which led him to many saints of that time such as Anandamayi Ma. Swami Satyanada also met a tantric bhairavi, Sukhman Giri, who gave him shaktipat and directed him to find a guru in order to stabilize his spiritual experiences.[4]

At age eighteen, he left his home in order to seek a spiritual master. In 1943 at the age of nineteen, Swami Satyananda met his guru Swami Sivananda and came to live at Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. Swami Sivananda gave him the name Satyananda and initiated him as a Paramahamsa sannyasin of the Dashnama sannyasa order, on the banks of the river Ganga on September 12, 1947. Swami Sivananda described him as a ‘versatile genius’ who ‘did the work of four people’. Swami Satyananda served in different departments at the ashram for over 12 years. He did physical labor, edited the ashram's Hindi journal, wrote various articles and composed poems in both Hindi and Sanskrit. He wrote a translation and commentary in the English language of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Swami Sivananda.

In 1956 after receiving the instruction from his Guru to spread yoga from door to door and shore to shore, Swami Satyananda he wandered throughout India as a mendicant parivrajaka traveling through Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma and Ceylon for the next 7 years, extending his knowledge of spiritual practices. He eventually found his way to Munger, in the province of Bihar. After establishing himself there, in 1963 he founded the International Yoga Fellowship and the Bihar School of Yoga a year later.[5]

He lectured and taught globally for the next twenty years, including tours in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, North America, and Colombia and authored over thirty textbooks on yoga and spiritual life. By 1983 Bihar School of Yoga was well established and recognized throughout the world as a reputed and authentic center for learning yoga and the spiritual sciences. At the peak of his accomplishment, Swami Satyananda renounced all that he created. He handed the active work of his ashram and organization to his spiritual successor Swami Niranjanananda and in 1988 departed from Munger, never to return again.[6] On 23rd September 1989 he arrived at Rikhia, Deoghar, Jharkhand to live in seclusion [7] as a Paramahamsa Sannyasin, and perform Vedic sadhanas including panchagni, an austerity performed before five blazing fires outdoors during the hottest months of the year as described in the Satpatha Brahmanas and Kathopanishad.[8] At Rikhia Swami Satyananda conducted a 12-year Rajasooya Yajna[9] which began in 1995 with the first Sat Chandi Maha Yajna,[10] invoking the Cosmic Mother through a tantric ceremony. During this event, Swami Satyananda passed on his spiritual and sannyasa sankalpa to Swami Niranjanananda.[11] On 5 December 2009, he died at Rikhiapeeth, Jharkhand.[12]

Teachings

Swami Satyananda's teachings emphasize an "Integral Yoga" with a strong emphasis on Tantra,[13] known as the "Bihar Yoga" system or "Satyananda Yoga". This system addresses the qualities of head, heart and hands – intellect, emotion and action and attempts to integrate the physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of yoga into each practice.[14] Swami Satyananda brought the yogic side of tantra to the forefront. In 1971 Tantra Yoga Panorama was published in which the concepts of tantra were outlined as applicable to the needs of today's society. [15] Swami Satyananda codified the wisdom of yoga in ancient tantric scriptures and made it accessible to the modern aspirant. He defined the pawanmuktasana series, the shakti bandhas and the grouping of the various asanas according to position. Pranayama, prana vidya and the role of mudras and bandhas were scientifically explained by him and made generally available for the first time.[16] Swami Satyananda classified and expounded the techniques given in the tantras as a series of different stages and levels of pratyahara such as antar mouna, and different stages of meditation.[17] He invented the technique of yoga nidra , now known worldwide as Satyananda Yoga Nidra, according to the tantric system of nyasa and defined and codified the different stages of the technique. [18]

His system of tantric yoga involves the practice of:

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Copeland, Pala; Link, Al (1 December 2007). 28 Days to Ecstasy for Couples: Tantra Step by Step. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 195. ISBN 9780738709994. http://books.google.com/books?id=40LwIcLE0gcC&pg=PA195. Retrieved 8 April 2011. 
  2. ^ Stiles, Mukunda (1 January 2001). Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual. Weiser Books. p. 335. ISBN 9781578631773. http://books.google.com/books?id=dyoQXP4EV6wC&pg=PA335. Retrieved 13 April 2011. "An excellent, thorough commentary on all aspects of Hatha Yoga." 
  3. ^ Yogananda Saraswati (Swami); Bihar School of Yoga (1995). Past, present & future: consolidated history of Bihar School of Yoga, 1963-1994. Bihar School of Yoga. p. 5. http://books.google.com/books?id=dKvXAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 8 April 2011. 
  4. ^ Swami Satyananda Saraswati. "A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya", Yoga Publication Trust, 2004. ISBN 81-85787-08-5
  5. ^ Alter, Joseph S. (30 August 2004). Yoga in modern India: the body between science and philosophy. Princeton University Press. p. 53. ISBN 9780691118741. http://books.google.com/books?id=o6anlz6i71oC&pg=PA53. Retrieved 8 April 2011. 
  6. ^ Mumford, Jonn (1995). A Chakra & Kundalini workbook: psycho-spiritual techniques for health, rejuvenation, psychic powers, and spiritual realization. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 229. ISBN 9781567184730. http://books.google.com/books?id=JlaPm8l_J_UC&pg=PA229. Retrieved 8 April 2011. 
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ Panchagni – the Bath of Fire, Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati [2]
  9. ^ [3]
  10. ^ [4]
  11. ^ Past, Present and Future: consolidated history of Bihar School of Yoga, Editors Swami Yogakanti, Swami Yogawandana, 2009, Yoga Publications Trust
  12. ^ [5]
  13. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2003). Encyclopedia of American religions. Gale. p. 1021. ISBN 9780787663841. http://books.google.com/books?id=TzMOAQAAMAAJ. Retrieved 8 April 2011. 
  14. ^ "The Growth of Satyananda Yoga or Bihar Yoga". http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000/ajan00/growth.shtml. Retrieved 2009-12-09. 
  15. ^ Tantra-yoga panorama, Swami Satyananda Saraswati,International Yoga Fellowship Movement
  16. ^ Tantra-yoga panorama, Swami Satyananda Saraswati,International Yoga Fellowship Movement
  17. ^ Meditations From the Tantras, Swami Satyananda Saraswati,Yoga Publications Trust
  18. ^ Yoga Nidra, Swami Satyananda Saraswati,Yoga Publications Trust

External links