Vishnudevananda
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Vishnudevananda Saraswati (born December 31, 1927 in Kanimangalam, Kerala , † November 9, 1993 in Mangalore , in the state of Karnataka ) was a student of Sivananda Saraswati and is the founder, according to self-expression in 1957, of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams of one of the faiths Hinduism . He developed the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training, one of the first yoga teacher training programs in the West. With his books The Great Illustrated Yoga Book (1959) and Meditation and Mantras (1978) he made a name for himself as an expert in Hatha and Rajayoga.
youth
Swami Vishnudevananda was born on December 31, 1927 in Kerala , a state in southern India. His family belonged to the Nair caste . His father was a Brahmin named Panchanatham.
During his brief career in the Indian army, by chance he got his hands on a handout from Sivananda Saraswati entitled Sadhana Tattwa (Spiritual Instructions). What particularly appealed to him were the words: “A gram of practice is worth more than a ton of theory. Practice yoga, religion and philosophy in everyday life and achieve self-realization. ”He was so impressed by the simplicity and directness of this message that Swami Vishnudevananda shortly afterwards used a 36-hour walk to travel to Rishikesh and meet Swami Sivananda. The short stay moved him so much that he wanted to come back as soon as possible.
Years of apprenticeship
In 1947, at the age of 20, Vishnudevananda entered the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. He became a sannyasin (monk) and the first teacher of hatha yoga in the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. As such, he taught hundreds of Indian and Western students. Meanwhile, he deepened his own practice and became a master of advanced hatha yoga techniques. When asked how he succeeded in bringing these ancient practices, some of which had long since been forgotten, to such perfection, Swami Vishnudevananda replied: “My master opened the eye of my intuition with his touch. All my previous life knowledge has returned to me ”. He lived and worked under the direct spiritual guidance of Swami Sivananda for ten years.
Centers and ashrams
Swami Vishnudevananda's journey from India to the West lasted a full year. In 1957 he reached the west coast of America. He soon realized that Westerners were so caught up in the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives that they could neither relax nor know how to lead a healthy life. Swami Vishnudevananda developed the concept of the yoga vacation and created places for complete relaxation of body, mind and soul. Several ashrams and centers were created for holistic yoga practice.
In 1959 he founded the first Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Montreal, Canada. Shortly afterwards, in 1961, he organized the first yoga vacation, which has since become a permanent fixture in the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams. In February 1962, Swami Vishnudevananda found the place in Canada where the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp is today in Val Morin, Quebec. He decided intuitively to open an ashram in this dense wooded area in the Laurentian Mountains. Since the humble beginnings with a few small huts and tents, there has been considerable expansion. Today there are several temples, a yoga hall, guest houses, offices and much more.
In 1967 Swami Vishnudevananda opened the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas . It sits on four acres (16,000 m²) on Paradise Island, just a short boat ride from Nassau. In August 1971 the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm was founded in Grass Valley, California . Swami Vishnudevananda opened a fourth ashram in Woodbourne, New York, in the Catskill Mountains . He called it Sivananda Yoga Ranch Colony. As with the other Ashrams, Swami Vishnudevananda chose this piece of land because of its strong spiritual energy.
In February 1978 Swami Vishnudevananda opened the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhawanthari Ashram in Neyyar Dam, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, South India. The ashram covers an area of 10 acres (40,000 m²) in the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. A small ashram in the Himalayas, the Sivananda Kutir, was founded in Netala near Uttarkashi. It lies on the banks of the Ganges and became the site of Swami Vishnudevananda's Jala Samadhi (ritual burial in water).
In 1972 the first Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Europe was opened in Vienna. Other centers and ashrams in Europe followed. Today the organization founded by Swami Vishnudevananda comprises nine ashrams and 19 centers that are scattered around the world. There are also many affiliated centers. Thousands of teachers have been trained to teach the ancient and timeless science of yoga.
legacy
Swami Vishnudevananda died on November 9th, 1993. His body was handed over to the Ganges at Sivananda Kutir and the ritual of Jalasamadhi was performed.
Swami Vishnudevananda was a pioneer and found new methods to spread the classical yoga teachings of his master Swami Sivananda, to whom he devoted his entire life's work. He "demystified" yoga and offered people clear and practical methods to bring spirituality into their lives and achieve health, mental balance and inner peace. After carefully observing the habits and needs of people in the West, Swami Vishnudevananda summarized the classical science of yoga into five basic principles of physical and mental health that everyone could apply within their own lifestyle. All activities of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers are based on these five principles: correct physical exercise, correct breathing, correct relaxation, correct nutrition, positive thinking and meditation. Swami Vishnudevananda's motto was: “Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way. "
The international Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams founded by Swami Vishnudevananda is one of the largest training institutions for yoga teachers in the world and has trained more than 37,000 teachers since the first Sivananda Yoga teacher training in 1969. One of his students is Sukadev Bretz , the founder of Yoga Vidya .
In addition to his tireless work for world peace and intensive teaching as a Hatha and Raja Yoga master, Swami Vishnudevananda is known for his books The Great Illustrated Yoga Book and Meditation and Mantras . He wrote a commentary on Hatha Yoga Pradipika (a classical yoga script of the 15th century) and is the inspiration behind the book Yoga of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers.
Sexual assault allegations
In 2019, the Board of Directors of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers released an apology for failing to believe Vishnudevananda's sexual abuse allegations made in 2007 by Vishnudevananda's assistant Julie Salter. Salter published her testimony on December 10, 2019 on Facebook. The board then promised to conduct an independent investigation into allegations made by Salter and others, including Pamela Kyssa, who revealed in Salter's thread that Vishnudevananda raped her in 1974. Appointed investigator, Marianne Plamondon from Langlois in Montreal, declined to comment on whether the results of the investigation would be made public.
Works
- The great illustrated yoga book , Aurum Verlag, 10th edition 2007, ISBN 978-3-89901-183-8 .
- Meditation and Mantras , 3rd edition, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-930716-00-3 .
- Hatha Yoga Pradipika , commentary. Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, Munich 1987.
- Karma and Disease
literature
- Gopala Krishna: The Yogi. Portraits of Swami Vishnu-devananda . Yoga Vidya Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-931854-74-4 ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Vishnudevananda in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official homepage of Sivananda Yoga Europe
- Official homepage of Sivananda Yoga international
- The Divine Life Society
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hubert Lenz, Wolfgang Rüfner, Manfred Baldus (eds.): Decisions in Church Matters since 1949, Volume 25 (1987). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York, 1992 p. 64ff. ( Google book search )
- ↑ By Marlene Halser: His likeness is still venerated. In: The time . June 11, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 .
- ↑ International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. December 17, 2019, accessed June 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Matthew Remski: How a #MeToo Facebook Post Toppled a yoga icon. March 11, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vishnudevananda |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian hatha and raja yoga master |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 31, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kanimangalam, Kerala |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 9, 1993 |
| Place of death | Mangalore , Karnataka |