Swami Satchidananda

Indian-American yoga and spiritual teacher, inventor of the "Integral Yoga" system widely popularized in the West (22 December 1914, Chettipalayam, Tamil Nadu — 19 August 2002, Madras, South India). Satchidananda Saraswati (born C.K. Ramaswamy Gounder), known as Sri Swami Satchidananda, established the Integral Yoga Institute and an international network of yoga centers headquartered at Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia. Alice Coltrane dedicated her critically-acclaimed fourth solo album Journey In Satchidananda in February 1971, recorded in collaboration with Pharoah Sanders, to Sri Swami; Coltrane was his close disciple. The guru's name Saccidānanda is a compound of three Sanskrit words, "sat" (essence), "cit" (consciousness) and "ānanda" (bliss). Ramaswamy was born to a wealthy family of landowners. He embarked on a mediational tour across India after losing his wife, studying with various gurus, including briefly Sri Aurobindo and later Ramana Maharshi. In 1949, Gounder met his core teacher, Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887—1963), founder of the Divine Life Society (DLS). Sivananda ordained Ramaswamy into "sannyasa" and gave him a new name. Swami Satchidananda studied with him for over 17 years and became one of his teacher's best-known missionaries after Vishnudevananda (1927—1993). In 1966, filmmaker Conrad Rooks invited Swami to visit Europe and give talks at various Divine Life Society centers. During the tour, Conrad's friend, notable German-American pop artist Peter Max, convinced him to organize Swami's visit to the United States. A two-day trip led to an extended stay, and Sri Swami began teaching "Integral Yoga" to American students. His system was based on traditional yoga teachings, such as Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, mixed with the Bhagavad Gita and adapted for modern readers. The same year, Swami established the first Integral Yoga Institute on New York City's Upper West Side. Following a sold-out public lecture at Carnegie Hall in January 1969, Satchidananda gave a speech at the Woodstock Festival's opening in August. He landed directly on the stage in a helicopter, dressed in orange robes; this pompous appearance solidified his popularity among hippies and the New Age movement. In 1970, Satchidananda purchased a large building in NYC's West Village, expanding the Integral Yoga Institute. He also opened a San Francisco branch the same year. In 1973, Columbia released a self-titled Swami Satchidananda 2xLP featuring talks and excerpts from his lectures. Swami also produced numerous audiobook tapes via the Integral Yoga Publications and Integral Yoga Communications imprints. In 1976, Satchidananda naturalized as a US citizen. In 1991, a group of former students brought public accusations of Satchidananda's sexual misconduct. However, the guru never saw any legal action, and the publicity crisis didn't tame his reputation. Swami continued publishing and touring with lectures for another decade; he died, aged 87, after a conference in South India and was buried at his US residence in Yogaville.