Swami Sivananda
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Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda was
born at Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, in 1887. After
serving as a medical doctor in Malaya, he renounced
his practice, went to Rishikesh and was initiated
into Dashnami sannyasa in 1924 by Swami Vishwananda
Saraswati. He toured extensively throughout
India, inspiring people to practice yoga and lead a
divine life. He founded the Divine Life Society at
Rishikesh in 1936, the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy
in 1945, the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948 and
the Sivananda Eye Hospital in 1957. During his
lifetime Swami Sivananda guided thousands of
disciples and aspirants all over the world and
authored over 200 books. |
Swami Vishnudevananda
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Swami Vishnudevananda
A
close disciple of Swami Sivananda, Swami
Vishnudevananda, a Nair, was born in Kerala,
South India on December 31, 1927. 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. |
Swami Satyananda
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Swami Satyananda
Swami
Satyananda was born in Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India
in 1923. In 1943, he met Swami Sivananda in
Rishikesh and adopted the Dashnami sannyasa way of
life. In 1955, he left his Guru's ashram to live as
a wandering mendicant and later founded the
International Yoga Fellowship in 1963 and the Bihar
School of Yoga in 1964. Over the next 20
years, Swami Satyananda toured internationally and
authored over 80 books. In 1987 he founded Sivananda
Math, a charitable institution for aiding rural
development, and the Yoga Research Foundation. In
1988 he renounced his mission, adopting kshetra
sannyasa, and now lives as a paramhama sannyasin. |
Swami Niranjananda
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Swami Niranjananda
Swami
Niranjananda was born at Rajnandgaon, Madhya
Pradesh, India, in 1960. At the age of four, he
joined the Bihar School of Yoga and was initiated
into Dashnami sannyasa at the age of ten. From 1971,
he traveled overseas and toured many countries for
the next 11 years. In 1983, he was recalled
to India and appointed President of Bihar School of
Yoga. During the following 11 years, he guided the
development of Ganga Darshan, Sivananda Math and the
Yoga Research Foundation. In 1990, he was initiated
as a paramhamsa and in 1993 anointed preceptor in
succession to Swami Satyananda. Bihar Yoga Bharati
was founded under his direction in 1944. He has
authored over 20 books and guided national and
international yoga programs. |
Mansoor
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Mansoor
Mansoor was born into
a traditional Muslim family in Old Delhi in 1954. At
the age of 17 Mansoor travelled around Europe and
then went on to live in America for the next 24
years. There he was able to view life from many
different angles and explored a wide range of
spiritual traditions: Vedanta, J.Krishnamurti, Zen,
Catholicism, Transcendental Meditation, EST etc.
From a very young age Mansoor was acutely aware of
the immense contradictions around him and there was
a feeling that somewhere, there must be a meeting
point beyond all the conflicting religious and
sectarian beliefs. His search took him through many
spiritual traditions, in different countries and
many cultural contexts.
For the last 17 years Mansoor has been teaching Yoga
in the US, Europe and India. He is able to share and
communicate this understanding in a remarkable and
revealing way, creating a bridge between all the
different traditions, East and West, ancient and
modern and expose the underlying ever-present Truth.
Mansoor has written two books ‘Chup Sadhana’ and
‘Ashtavakra Gita, Awareness is everything’, which
are profound works of insight and revelation
explained in an accessible and simple way.
Ashwani met Mansoor in Delhi 10 years ago and since
then he has been immensely inspired with Mansoor’s
teachings and his teaching style. Ashwani credits
Mansoor highly for his own yoga understanding.. |
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