Photo: Sadasivam receives blessing of vibhuti (holy ash) from his Guru.
On September 17, 2026, Sadasivam Greenstone (Richard Alan Greenstone) passed away peacefully at his home in Yogaville, Virginia, with his beloved wife, Satya, holding his hand. He was 80 years old.
For 60 years, Sadasivam had been a student of Swami Satchidananda. He was among the earliest Western students who gathered around Swami Satchidananda shortly after his arrival in New York in 1966, and his memories of those formative years were a treasure to our Integral Yoga community.
Those of who knew Sadasivam will remember his wonderful stories, his humor, his deep knowledge of the Yoga teachings, and his extraordinary ability to bring those teachings to life. One of his most important contributions was the way he and Satya carried forward the spiritual heritage they had received from Swami Satchidananda, particularly through their work with children and their lifelong study of the Tamil spiritual tradition.
A Meeting That Changed His Life
In September 1966, Sadasivam was a young university student who had been active in the antiwar movement. He had traveled from Florida to New York to help a childhood friend and arrived exhausted after a long drive. His friend insisted that he accompany him to meet a swami who had recently arrived from India. Sadasivam had never met a swami and, at that moment, was considerably more interested in getting some sleep. Nevertheless, his friend prevailed.
As Sadasivam recalled in a 2003 interview, he entered a small room where Swami Satchidananda was seated on the floor, surrounded by a handful of students. It was, he said, love at first sight. He had spent years working for peace, yet he recognized that he himself was not peaceful. In Swami Satchidananda, he encountered something he had always believed was possible but had never personally witnessed. For the first time, he was in the presence of someone who embodied the peace he had been seeking.
After the satsang, Sadasivam introduced himself and explained his involvement in the peace movement. Swami Satchidananda gently pointed out that peace could not be established through fighting. One had to become peaceful oneself.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he asked Sadasivam whether he knew how to cook. Sadasivam was surprised. He had actually supported himself through university by cooking for others. Swami Satchidananda asked him to explain how he followed a recipe. Sadasivam described obtaining a recipe from a trusted source, gathering the best ingredients, and carefully following the necessary procedures. If everything was done properly, a delicious dish would result.
Photo: Sadasivam, the consummate chef with his fellow teachers, Karuna Binstock and Satya, Connecticut Ashram, mid-1970s.
Swami Satchidananda held up Swami Vivekananda’s book on Raja Yoga. This, he explained, was the recipe. If Sadasivam wanted to experience the same peace he had recognized in his teacher, the means were available to him. He needed only to follow the instructions.
It was an encounter Sadasivam would never forget.
Learning the Art of Transmission
Sadasivam loved to recall those early days in New York, when Swami Satchidananda gathered a small group of young people who wanted to learn more than Hatha Yoga. He remembered how unfamiliar they were with Indian spiritual culture and how patiently Swami Satchidananda introduced them to practices and teachings that were entirely new to them.
Among the scriptures he initially taught were the Thirukkural of Thiruvalluvar, the Thirumantiram of Thirumular, and the Thiruvasagam of Manikkavasagar. Sadasivam was particularly drawn to the Thirumantiram, with its profound teachings on Yoga and spiritual realization. He noticed, however, that Swami Satchidananda gradually began emphasizing the Thirukkural, which offered practical guidance for living a virtuous and harmonious life. When Sadasivam asked why he was no longer teaching so much from the Thirumantiram, Swami Satchidananda explained that the students were not yet ready for its more advanced teachings. They needed to establish a foundation first. This was one of the great lessons Sadasivam received about the art of teaching: recognizing where students are and guiding them progressively toward deeper understanding.
He remembered Swami Satchidananda emphasizing that spiritual teachings should never be watered down. Rather, the teacher’s responsibility was to make them accessible and understandable without compromising their essential truth. This principle would become central to Sadasivam’s own work as an educator.
A School Rooted in the Teachings of Yoga
Before helping establish the ashram’s school, Sadasivam had already developed considerable experience in education. Following his early years in New York, he worked as a teacher and later became involved in educational programs in Vermont, including services for children with special educational needs.
In 1978, Swami Satchidananda invited him to investigate the possibility of establishing a school for children living at the Connecticut ashram. For Sadasivam, this was the fulfillment of a dream: a school where children could receive a comprehensive education rooted in the principles and practices of Yoga.
Photo: A visit by Swami Satchidananda to the Connecticut Ashram’s Integral Yoga School. Teachers (back row): Swami Sarvananda, Sadasivam and Satya, 1970s.
He helped establish the school at the Connecticut ashram, working alongside Satya and Karuna Binstock. Two years later, Swami Satchidananda sent Sadasivam and Satya to Virginia, where they continued this work at the newly developing Yogaville ashram. The Yogaville Vidyalayam became a remarkable expression of Swami Satchidananda’s educational vision.
Modeled in spirit on the traditional gurukulam, where children received their education while living in close relationship with their spiritual teacher, the Vidyalayam integrated academic learning with spiritual practice and the development of character. Sadasivam and Satya lived beside the school for many years, and the children became an integral part of their lives.
The school was much like a one-room schoolhouse, with children of different ages learning together. The Greenstones adapted the teachings to each child’s level of understanding, bringing the wisdom of Yoga into their daily lives through stories, discussion, music, prayer, and practice. Children learned Sanskrit prayers and Tamil devotional songs. They studied the Bhagavad Gita, the Thirukkural, and the Yoga Sutras, as well as the lives and teachings of saints and sages from many spiritual traditions.
Swami Satchidananda encouraged the children to memorize and chant portions of the Bhagavad Gita, including the verses describing the person of steady wisdom in Chapter Two and the teachings on devotion in Chapter Twelve. Sadasivam and Satya found ways to teach these verses through music, helping the children learn both the Sanskrit and the meaning of the teachings.
The Vidyalayam also embodied Swami Satchidananda’s interfaith teachings. The children learned prayers and songs from different religious traditions and shared them whenever guests from those traditions visited the ashram. Swami Satchidananda loved bringing distinguished visitors and spiritual luminaries to the Vidyalayam. The children would offer songs, prayers, and recitations from the traditions represented by their guests. When rabbis visited, they might share Jewish prayers. When Christian clergy came, they would offer something from the Christian tradition. And when guests from India visited, the children would chant Sanskrit verses or sing Tamil songs. Swami Satchidananda’s delight was visible as the children demonstrated what they had learned. His appreciation for Sadasivam and Satya’s work was unmistakable.
In his recollections, Sadasivam described a visit by distinguished Indian educators during which the children chanted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. One of the visitors was moved to tears by the experience of hearing these young American children recite and understand teachings from her own spiritual heritage. These experiences were more than performances. They represented the living transmission of teachings that had become part of the children’s lives.
Deepening Their Connection to the Tamil Spiritual Tradition
Sadasivam and Satya had a particular love for the Tamil spiritual and devotional heritage from which Swami Satchidananda had drawn so much of his own inspiration. They frequently asked him for songs, scriptures, and other materials from his native culture that they could study and share with the children. Their interest eventually led them to seek a deeper immersion in the teachings of Tamil Shaivism, including the Thirumantiram that Sadasivam had first encountered in New York.
Left: Greenstones with Tamil schoolchildren; right: Swami Satchidananda and Dr. Neela holding Nataraja statue, with Smt. Swarna and Sri Shantalinga Ramaswamy Adigalar.
Swami Satchidananda encouraged them to pursue these studies in his home region of Tamil Nadu. During the 1990s, the Greenstones spent several years in Coimbatore, India, where they also served at the Integral Yoga Institute, teaching classes and helping direct its activities. An especially important influence during this period was Srimathi Swarna Somasundaram, affectionately known as Amma.
Amma was the founder of Tiruneriya Tamil Mandram, an organization devoted to preserving and propagating Tamil devotional literature, music, and spiritual philosophy. For nearly six decades, she taught the sacred hymns of the Tamil tradition, including the Thevaram, Thiruvasagam, Thirupugazh, and Divya Prabandham, along with the philosophy of Shaiva Siddhanta. The Greenstones became devoted students of Amma, immersing themselves in the devotional music and teachings that had been so important in Swami Satchidananda’s own spiritual heritage.
Even after returning to Yogaville, they continued traveling to India to study with Amma and later participated in her teachings and devotional singing online. Sadasivam went on to share this rich tradition with students who wished to study Tamil spiritual philosophy and devotional music more deeply. In this way, he helped preserve and carry forward an important dimension of Integral Yoga’s spiritual roots.
The Teacher Who Never Stopped Learning
One of the most revealing stories Sadasivam shared concerns an instruction he received from Swami Satchidananda while teaching at the Connecticut Ashram. Swami Satchidananda told him that whenever he attended satsang, he should develop a dual perspective. He should continue listening as a student, receiving whatever he could understand and apply to his own spiritual life. But he should also observe how Swami Satchidananda taught.
Sadasivam took that instruction to heart. He began paying particular attention to the way his teacher answered questions. He marveled at how a single response could encompass such a broad spectrum of understanding that people at different levels of spiritual development could each receive something meaningful. It was a quality he sought to bring into his own teaching, particularly his work with children.
When we think of Sadasivam, we see this remarkable continuity: a young man who encountered Swami Satchidananda in a small New York gathering in 1966 and spent the following six decades studying, practicing, teaching, and sharing what he had received. He never lost his enthusiasm for the spiritual path or his desire to learn more about the teachings that had transformed his life.
Photo: Yogaville Vidyalayam students with their teachers Satya and Sadasivam, at the Lord Nataraja Shrine at Kailash, Virginia, 1990s.
Through his work with children, his teaching of Yoga, his preservation of Tamil devotional music and philosophy, and the stories he shared with fellow students, he contributed immeasurably to the continuing transmission of the Integral Yoga tradition.
Sadasivam will be deeply missed. We offer loving prayers to his wife, Satya, his son Jordan and family, to the many children who grew up under their loving guidance, to his students and friends, and all who had the privilege of sharing this spiritual journey with him.
May the fruits of his lifelong sadhana and service continue to flower in the lives of those he taught and loved.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Prayer Service
Sunday, September 27, 2026 · 11:00 a.m.
A prayer service for Sadasivam Greenstone will be held at the Kailash Shrine, so dear to his heart, at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville, Virginia. 108 Maha Mrityunjaya Mantras will be offered, followed by arati and prasad. All are welcome to attend. A complimentary lunch will follow at Sivananda Hall, honoring Sadasivam’s belief that one of the primary duties of an ashram is to nourish people both physically and spiritually.
