“Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mei raba . . .” As I realized that these words of the Mourner’s Kaddish were coming out of my mouth, my head dropped, my eyes closed and I heard wails of grief come from both me and my family. I could no longer say the words. I was sixteen...
Many people ask this question: “Is Yoga a religion?” My answer would be, “No and yes.” How could it be both no and yes? Yoga is not a religion, so in that sense, the answer is no; but it is a synthesis of all the religions, so in that sense, it is yes. That is why we...
What is the definition of Yoga? At the very outset of his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says, "Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah." That’s the first sutra. What does it mean? "Calming the mind is Yoga." Often, people think that standing on the head is Yoga, that if you don’t know...
The main goal of Yoga is to clean the mind and calm the mind. “Yogaha Chitta Vritti Nirodaha,” Raja Yoga says. In the very beginning, when Patanjali talks about Yoga—at the very outset—he answers the question, “What is Yoga?” The answer is: Chitta Vritti Nirodaha....
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, the great sage of Himalayas. We felt so fortunate to be with him, to watch him, to play with him, and to experience what Divine play means. He himself was the book of knowledge. In his own very life, whatever he did, whatever he saw, he...
Service in Satchidananda (SIS) is a non-profit international network of charities established in honor of Sri Swami Satchidananda and based on his core teaching of seva, or selfless service. SIS funds global projects that are working in a sustainable way and giving...
Question: What is success and failure? Swami Satchidananda: There’s no need for failure in the worldly sense. If you really work hard, if you know the way, if you gather enough strength, nothing is impossible to achieve. But remember: that, even if you have the whole...
Karen Karuna Kreps met Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev ) in 1967, while she was in high school. She wanted to become his secretary, but her parents wanted her to go to college and have a career. Sri Gurudev told her to go to college and then decide what to do. She...
Integral Yoga Teacher Trainer Nalanie Chellaram shares the story of the spiritual journey that led her toward an ever-deepening discipleship of Swami Satchidananda, whom she calls Sri Gurudeva. In this article, she relates the beginning of that discipleship and how...
Yoga is something that you live. If you want to be a yogi you should be a yogi always, not just while you are standing on your head. If you are a yogi only when you stand on your head, then what are you when you walk on your feet? If you are a Yoga teacher, you are...
In this article, Integral Yoga teacher April Gauri Hunziker (pictured here) explores the issue of how a yogi and vegetarian remains humble and avoids self-righteousness while remaining faithful to his or her principles. She poses some hard questions we may want to ask...
To fully understand Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on the relationship between Yoga and diet, specifically, the psychological and spiritual benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet, it’s important to know something about the three gunas, or the qualities of nature. The...
Diet plays a very important part in people’s lives. Food not only makes the body, it makes the mind. It has a direct connection to the attitudes of the mind. Today we do not think much about the different qualities of food and its effect on the mind. In Yogic...
The ancient yogis noted that the universe goes through cycles of potentiality and manifestation, similar to the speculations of modern-day physicists about an oscillating universe. During the process of creation, out of primordial matter known as undifferentiated...
Yoga means to control the mind, to master the mind. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins by saying: Control of thoughts is Yoga—Yoga chitta vritti nirodhah (Sutra 1.2). But how is it to be done? Even the ideal disciple, Arjuna, says to Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: “My...
When I think of what it means to really live Yoga, I recall a special visit in late December, in the mid-1970s. I was serving as director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute, and Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev) was coming to California for the celebration...