Inspirers
Equanimity is Yoga.
Serenity is Yoga.
Skill in action is Yoga.
Anything by which the best and the highest in life
can be attained is also Yoga. Yoga is thus all-embracing,
all-inclusive and universal in its application,
leading to all-round development of body, mind and soul.
- Swami Sivananda
Yoga from door to door and shore to shore was an mandate given to Swami Satyananda by his guru Swami Sivananda. Right up to the time of Swami Satyananda's mahasamdhi he was a perfect example of practising and living all the yogas in day to day life.
Swami Satyananda, who inspired millions to live the divine life, took mahasamadhi at midnight on December 5th 2009 at Rikhiapeeth, leaving the present inspirers of the Satyananda Yoga tradition, Swami Niranjanananda and Swami Satyasangananda (popularly known as Swami Satsangi), to continue his work for humanity.
Swami Niranjanananda was born in Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) in 1960 and joined the Bihar School of Yoga in 1964. Initiated into Dashnami sannyasa in 1971 he travelled overseas, helping to establish ashrams and yoga centres in Europe, Australia, North and South America. He returned to India in 1983 to guide the activities of Bihar School of Yoga, Sivananda Math and the Yoga Research Foundation at Ganga Darshan. In 1990 he was initiated as a paramahamsa sannyasin and in 1993 anointed spiritual preceptor in succession to Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He established Bihar Yoga Bharati in 1994 and the Yoga Publications Trust in 2000. Author of many classic books on yoga, tantra and the upanishads, Swami Niranjanananda now guides and inspires aspirants and Satyananda Yoga centres in India and around the world through extensive national and international tours and programs, taking the message of yoga from door to door and from shore to shore.
Swami Satsangi experienced a number of inner awakenings at an early age which lead her to her guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, and a life of sannyasa and renunciation. A truly inspirational teacher and gifted writer, she is the author of a number of books on yoga and tantra. Since 1989, Swami Satsangi has dedicated herself to fulfilling her guru’s vision of uplifting and retoring spiritual traditional in the villages surrounding the Rikhiapeeth ashram, by implementing Sri Sivananda Saraswati’s three cardinal precepts of “serve, love, give”. Her efforts, carried out under the banner of Sivananda Math, have transformed the entire area into a vibrant centre of spirituality where people throng in large numbers for spiritual solace.
On 1st January 2007, she was appointed the Peethadhiswari of Rikhiapeeth by Swami Satyananda. Presently she resides at Rikhiapeeth, and travels nationally and internationally carrying the light of the teachings of Swami Sivananda and Swami Satyananda to all, in the hope that we will kindle it within ourselves, be uplifted as a result and then share our knowledge with others so that they too may benefit.
For a synopsis of the Life of Swami Satyananda Saraswati please visit http://yogavision.net/yv/inspirers/satyananda.htm
For Swami Satyananda's last satsangs, see http://www.rikhiapeeth.net/.
For more information and satsangs related to Swami Satyananda’s mahasamadhi, see the forthcoming “Samadhi” issue of YOGA magazine: www.yogamag.net.
