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MOU signed between Chief Minster of Karnataka Mr. Siddaramaiah and Sadhguru Jaggi Vashudev to plant 25 million tree saplings on the Banks of Cauvery river.
Remembering London, one of three photos taken in the Tower of London, on my short trip with my daughter, Tricia. Best seen large by clicking on the photo.
"The Tower of London is an internationally famous monument and one of England’s most iconic structures. William the Conqueror built the White Tower in 1066 as a demonstration of Norman power, siting it strategically on the River Thames to act as both fortress and gateway to the capital. It is the most complete example of an 11th century fortress palace remaining in Europe. A rare survival of a continuously developing ensemble of royal buildings, from the 11th to 16th centuries, the Tower of London has become one of the symbols of royalty.
It also fostered the development of several of England’s major State institutions, incorporating such fundamental roles as the nation’s defence, its record-keeping and its coinage. It has been the setting for key historical events in European history, including the execution of three English queens."
Enjoy your Sunday and take a deep breath. Thanks for your visits:)
Shiva Nataraja: der kosmische Tänzer
isha.sadhguru.org/mahashivratri/de/shiva/shiva-as-nataraj...
Foto aus "Westermanns Monatshefte" 1967
Resist & discharge potassium permanganate dyed habotai silk - 25cm X 35cm - This is the closest I can get to depicting a dream I had during the early lockdowns of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and it's taken me this long to realize it!
I'd been listening to the teaching of Sadhguru and started a practice of yoga and meditation everyday. This vision of hands came to me in a dream that spoke very quietly about the simplicity of life.
There were three, with long, almost otherworldly fingers. It's been said that their position and hint of movement suggests that of dancers.
The background was also brown with a simple interwoven design.
This is probably about my sixth or seventh version and I've mounted it on a sheet of papyrus that I bought in Egypt in 1989.
Auditive Escape ~ Air Like Water
112-foot Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore, near the Velliangiri Hills. Designed by Sadhguru and created by Isha Foundation.
Sadhguru Jaggi and Chief Minister of karnataka Sri Basavaraj Bommai displaying the Summary Recomendations on Save Soil.
Disciples of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at Adiyogi Statue Unveiling Ceremony in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka.
Preparing for Navratri.
Following the pandemic Navratri had been very restricted. With the removal of Covid restrictions everyone was going to make this an event to remember.
Navratri is a period of nine days celebrating the Divine Feminine and is happening from 26 Sep to 4 Oct in 2022. Sadhguru delves into the deeper spiritual aspects of this festival, revealing how the three main qualities in existence are manifest in these nine days.
What Is Navratri?
Sadhguru: This culture draws its roots on profound observations of the human system and its relationship with the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and different aspects of the Divine. This is also reflected in when and how we celebrate our festivals. Navratri literally means “nine nights.” These nine nights are counted from the day after new moon day or Amavasya. These first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine. This is a special time for Devi, who represents the feminine nature of the Divine. The ninth day is called Navami. The one-and-a-half-days around the full moon are a neutral time. The remaining eighteen days are masculine in nature. The feminine phase of the month is about Devi. That is why in the tradition, all worship up to Navami is dedicated to Devi.
There are twelve nine-day periods in a year and each of these is focused on a different aspect of the feminine Divine or Devi. The Navratri that comes around October is considered the most significant one because it is dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. Among the many things that a human being can do, this tradition lays greatest emphasis on learning. Other creatures can run faster than us; they are stronger than us; they can do many things that we cannot do – but they cannot learn like we can. The pride of being human is that you can learn just about anything – if you are willing.
Yalda Hakim, Anchor, BBC News, United Kingdom captured during the Session:"An Insight, An Idea with Sadhguru" at the India Economic Summit 2017 in New Delhi, India, Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
"Save Soil is a global movement launched by Indian spiritual leader Sadhguru to address land degradation and advocate for healthy soil. The initiative was presented on 5 April at the United Nations in Geneva by the Isha Foundation and supported by the WHO, UN SDG lab, and IUCN. "
Sadhguru: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa lived as a very intense supporter for most of his life. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a devotee of Kali. For him, Kali was not a deity, Kali was a living reality. She danced in front of him, she eat from his own hands, she came when he called, and she left him ...
www.nhindi.com/story-ramakrishna-paramahamsas-enlightenment/
Photographers and Videographers in action at Adiyogi Shiva Statue unveiling ceremony in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka.
112-foot Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore, near the Velliangiri Hills. Designed by Sadhguru and created by Isha Foundation.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev will be teaching a 2-day Inner Engineering class in Atlanta on April 16-17. Sadhguru is a yogi and mystic, and a realized Master, who has taught yoga in its classical form to millions of people around the world. In this class, he will be teaching the Shambhavi Mahamudra, ...
Though soil is the source, flower is the purpose. Though the Divine is the source, life is the purpose. #sadhguru
Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, India speaking in the Morning Meditation session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 22 January. Congress Centre - Spotlight. Copyright by World Economic Forum/Manuel Lopez
Preparing for Navratri.
Following the pandemic Navratri had been very restricted. With the removal of Covid restrictions everyone was going to make this an event to remember.
Navratri is a period of nine days celebrating the Divine Feminine and is happening from 26 Sep to 4 Oct in 2022. Sadhguru delves into the deeper spiritual aspects of this festival, revealing how the three main qualities in existence are manifest in these nine days.
What Is Navratri?
Sadhguru: This culture draws its roots on profound observations of the human system and its relationship with the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and different aspects of the Divine. This is also reflected in when and how we celebrate our festivals. Navratri literally means “nine nights.” These nine nights are counted from the day after new moon day or Amavasya. These first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine. This is a special time for Devi, who represents the feminine nature of the Divine. The ninth day is called Navami. The one-and-a-half-days around the full moon are a neutral time. The remaining eighteen days are masculine in nature. The feminine phase of the month is about Devi. That is why in the tradition, all worship up to Navami is dedicated to Devi.
There are twelve nine-day periods in a year and each of these is focused on a different aspect of the feminine Divine or Devi. The Navratri that comes around October is considered the most significant one because it is dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. Among the many things that a human being can do, this tradition lays greatest emphasis on learning. Other creatures can run faster than us; they are stronger than us; they can do many things that we cannot do – but they cannot learn like we can. The pride of being human is that you can learn just about anything – if you are willing.
Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, India admiring the Tree of 40 Fruits at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23rd January. Copyright by World Economic Forum/Jakob Polacsek
‘I’m not trying to buy a ticket to heaven. I know how to get there!’
Quote of Sadhguru at the World Economic Forum
Preparing for Navratri.
Following the pandemic Navratri had been very restricted. With the removal of Covid restrictions everyone was going to make this an event to remember.
Navratri is a period of nine days celebrating the Divine Feminine and is happening from 26 Sep to 4 Oct in 2022. Sadhguru delves into the deeper spiritual aspects of this festival, revealing how the three main qualities in existence are manifest in these nine days.
What Is Navratri?
Sadhguru: This culture draws its roots on profound observations of the human system and its relationship with the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and different aspects of the Divine. This is also reflected in when and how we celebrate our festivals. Navratri literally means “nine nights.” These nine nights are counted from the day after new moon day or Amavasya. These first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine. This is a special time for Devi, who represents the feminine nature of the Divine. The ninth day is called Navami. The one-and-a-half-days around the full moon are a neutral time. The remaining eighteen days are masculine in nature. The feminine phase of the month is about Devi. That is why in the tradition, all worship up to Navami is dedicated to Devi.
There are twelve nine-day periods in a year and each of these is focused on a different aspect of the feminine Divine or Devi. The Navratri that comes around October is considered the most significant one because it is dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. Among the many things that a human being can do, this tradition lays greatest emphasis on learning. Other creatures can run faster than us; they are stronger than us; they can do many things that we cannot do – but they cannot learn like we can. The pride of being human is that you can learn just about anything – if you are willing.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at TEDIndia, Session 3, "Wonder. Wonders." November 5, 2009, in Mysore, India. Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev with disciples at Adiyogi Statue unveiling ceremony in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka.
You never leave home, although you are busy all the time, involved with the outside world. Listen to what I'm telling you here. I am talking about this art of dealing with the outside world, of dealing with the external life, but always being present in this silence, in this stillness, in this undisturbed state of Being, that is you. ~Master Gualberto ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Você jamais sai de casa, embora esteja o tempo todo ocupado, envolvido com o mundo externo. Escutem isso que estou dizendo pra vocês aqui. Estou falando dessa arte de lidar com o mundo exterior, de lidar com a vida externa, mas estar sempre presente nesse silêncio, nessa quietude, nesse imperturbável estado de Ser, que é Você. ~Mestre Gualberto⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Foto: pôr do sol no Ramanashram Gualberto. Campos do Jordão/SP. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #ramanashramgualberto #mestregualberto #satsang #ramana #ramanamaharshi #byronkatie #awakes #spiritualgrowth #lightworker #ubuntu #lifequotes #arunachala #iamthat #nisargadattamaharaj #wuhsin #advaitavedanta #jnani #amma #adyashanti #sadhguru #gurdjieff #jiddukrishnamurti #darshan #alanwatts #rebirthing #abrahamhicks #matrix #innerjourney ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
112-foot Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore, near the Velliangiri Hills. Designed by Sadhguru and created by Isha Foundation.
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
#ExploreKarnataka: The #MurudeshwarShivaTemple is built on the Kanduka Hill, which is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on three sides. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and like all other major South Indian temples, a 20-storied Gopura is being constructed on the temple. It is 249 feet tall is considered the tallest Gopura in the world. 🚩🚩🙏🙏
💕💕💕💕💕
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
Jaggi Vasudev also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Spiritual experience
3 Dhyanalinga
4 Isha Foundation
4.1 Social initiatives
5 Yoga programs
6 Participation in global and economic forums
7 Publications
7.1 English
7.2 Tamil
7.3 Hindi
7.4 Kannada
7.5 Telugu
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life[edit]
Born into a Kannada family[2] in Mysore, Karnataka on 3 September 1957 to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of the Vasudev's four children – two boys and two girls. A travelling fortune-teller, who was asked to predict the child's future, predicted that the infant would have a fortunate life and named the infant Jagadish which means lord of the universe. Sadhguru's father was an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways and as a result, the family moved frequently. At a young age, Jagadish, or Jaggi as he came to be known, developed an interest in nature and would frequently make trips into nearby forests which would sometimes last up to three days at a time. At the age of 11, Jaggi came in contact with Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra Swamiji who taught him a set of simple yoga asanas, the practice of which he regularly maintained.[3] Sadhguru states that "without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to him kept happening and led to a much deeper experience later."[4]:39
After finishing his schooling, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, standing second in his class.[5] During his college years, he developed an interest in travel and motorcycles. A frequent haunt of his and his friends was the Chamundi Hill near Mysore, where they often had get-togethers and nocturnal drives. He also travelled to various places in the country on his motorcycle. When he reached the Indo-Nepal border, he was stopped from entering Nepal because he did not possess a passport. This experience made him resolve "to earn some quick money," and just ride off somewhere where people couldn't stop him. This led him to open several successful businesses after graduation, including a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction business.[5]
Spiritual experience[edit]
At the age of twenty-five on 23 September 1981, he rode up Chamundi Hill and sat on a rock, when he had a spiritual experience. Sadhguru describes his experience, "Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into everything. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal consciousness, I was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped."[6]:04:04 Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his 'mystical' experience. After a year of meditation and travel, Sadhguru decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[7]
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad travelling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived of the proceeds of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes. A usual practice of his was to donate the collections received from participants to a local charity on the last day of the class.[7] These initial programs were the basic format on which the Isha Yoga classes were later built on.
In 1989, he conducted his first class in Coimbatore, near which the Isha Yoga Center would later be established. The classes were known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga and involved asanas, pranayama kriyas and meditation. In 1993, Sadhguru decided to set up an ashram to support the growing number of spiritual aspirants. After examining with various sites around Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa, he decided on a thirteen acre site situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, thirty kilometres from Coimbatore. In 1994, the site was bought and the Isha Yoga Center was set up.[4]
Dhyanalinga[edit]
Main article: Dhyanalinga
The Dhyanalinga within the temple dome.
In 1994, Sadhguru conducted the first program in the ashram premises, during which he discussed the Dhyanalinga. The Dhyanalinga is a yogic temple and a space for meditation, the consecration of which, Sadhguru had stated was his life's mission entrusted to him by his Guru.[7] In 1996, the stone edifice of the linga was ordered and arrived at the ashram. After three years of work, the Dhyanalinga was completed on 23 June 1999[8] and opened to the public on 23 November.[9]
The Dhyanalinga yogic temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system.[10] A 76-foot dome, constructed using only bricks and stabilised mud mortar without steel or concrete,[11] covers the sanctum sanctorum. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.[12]
Isha Foundation[edit]
Main article: Isha Foundation
Saplings being readied for transportation at a PGH nursery.
Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga. The foundation works in tandem with international bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[1]
Social initiatives[edit]
He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010.[13] PGH aims to increase the green cover in Tamil Nadu by 10% and has successfully overseen the planting of more than 17 million trees by over 2 million volunteers. In an interview to the National Geographic Green magazine, Sadhguru explained the impetus which led him to establish Project GreenHands: "In the year 1998, certain experts […] made a prediction, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. […] I decided to drive across Tamil Nadu and see for myself if this is true. […] I realized they were completely wrong because it wouldn’t go to 2025, it would happen much faster according to me. […] So from ‘98 to 2003, 2004, I went about planting trees in people’s minds. And since 2004, we are transplanting those trees back to the ground."[14]
Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), is an initiative under Isha Foundation, that is aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor. ARR was established by Sadhguru in 2003 and seeks to benefit 70 million people in 54,000 villages across South India. As of 2010, ARR has reached over 4,200 villages and a population of over 7 million people.[15][16] He has also been involved with agricultural and farmers' associations to work towards resolving issues faced by Indian farmers.[17]
Isha Vidhya, is Isha Foundation's educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. There are seven schools in operation which educate around 3000 students.[18] The foundation has also "adopted" 26 government schools to reach out to students from financially constrained backgrounds, and aims to adopt up to 3000 schools.[19][20]
Yoga programs[edit]
Sadhguru conducting the Inner Engineering Program at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
After the establishment of the ashram, Sadhguru began conducting regular yoga programs at the Isha Yoga Center, including a course for the Indian Hockey team in 1996.[21][22] In 1997, he began conducting classes in the United States[23][24] and in 1998, he began conducting yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu prisons.[25] From 2011, he began conducting programs with large-scale participation of up to 10,000 and 15,000 participants at once. These large-scale programs have been attended by over 75,000 people in total.[26][27]
The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine.[28] Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra.[29] He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.[30][31]
Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities.[32] He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.[33][34]
Sadhguru also organises all-night Mahashivarathri celebrations every year at the Isha Yoga Center, which in 2013, were attended by an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people approximately.[35][36][37] The night includes music, dance and guided meditation sessions. In 2013, performers included Carnatic singer Aruna Sairam, dancer Anita Ratnam and the band, The Raghu Dixit Project.[37]
In March 2005, construction of the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences (III) in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA was begun and was completed 6 months later. Sadhguru had decided to established III as a center for spiritual growth in the Western Hemisphere. On 7 November 2008, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahima Hall, a 39,000 square foot, free-standing meditation hall at the III.[38] On 30 January 2010, Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi, a representation of the feminine aspects of the divine at the Isha Yoga Center.[4]
Participation in global and economic forums[edit]
KV Kamath, who was present at the Isha Insight program.
Sadhguru has spoken at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000,[39] the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.[40] On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, "Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions" at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.[41][42]
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues.[43] He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has also been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the "In Conversations With the Mystic" program with Anupam Kher, Jasti Chelameswar, Dilip Cherian, Muzaffar Ali and Tarun Tahiliani.[44][45]
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan, with KV Kamath Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.[46] In an interview with Forbes magazine, Sadhguru, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, said, "While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight."[47]
Publications[edit]
POIKKAL KUTHIRAI - FAMOUS TAMIL FOLK ART FARM
Folk arts typically closely represent the culture and heritage of a region. In Tamil Nadu, the dance form of Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam is one such art. Also called Puravai Aatam, this is one of the oldest dance forms of the state that has been the birthplace for various innovative arts.As a community art, this dance is popular in villages across Tamil Nadu and has blended with the day-to-day life of the people. Unlike Karagattam and Kavadi Aatam, both religious dances, Poikkal Kuthirai is mostly performed as an entertainment during festivals. It may also be performed as part of religious celebrations; for instance, in honor of Ayyanar, the Hindu idol that is worshipped to protect the village.
Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam is performed bearing a lightweight dummy horse around the dancer’s waist. This dance may be called Puravi Naatiyam (Horse Dance), Poi Kuthirai (False Horse) and Marakkaladal (Wooden Leg Dancing). It is also popular in states other than Tamil Nadu. The dance is known as Saithikoda in Orissa, Theelu Gurram in Andhra Pradesh, Kachikoti in Rajasthan and Kuthikali in Kerala.
HISTORY
It is said that Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam was introduced to Tamil Nadu by the Maratha kings. There are also references to this art form in early Tamil epics. The dance is one of the 11 dances performed by Madhavi, a character in Silappadikaram. This work was written in the 2nd century and is one of the ancient epics of the Tamil language. References to Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam can also be found in the epic Tholkaapiam. In one section, the heroine’s parents ban the marriage between their daughter and her lover. The hero dons a horse-like structure made up of maple leaves and starts protesting in the streets to marry the girl. Mentions in these epics indicate that this art form originated many centuries ago.
There is a legend that Goddess Durga used to perform this dance. To take revenge, her enemies disguised themselves as poisonous snakes and scorpions, and planned to bite her while dancing. Durga was aware of their plan and for self-protection she tied wood around her legs and danced. As a result of heavy dance steps made by her, her enemies died. This gave the dance the name of Marakkaladal, or Wooden Leg Dancing. Later, the dance was renamed Poikkal Kuthirai.
AESTHETICS
The dummy horse is typically made up of jute, cardboard, paper and glass. It contains a hole into which the dancer can fit. The legs of the horse are, of course, the legs of the dancers, but it looks as if the dancer is sitting on a horse. The dancers also don wooden legs that sound like the horse’s hooves. The dummy horse is adorned with colorful skirts that swing around with the movements of the dancers.
This dance requires extensive training and skill as the wooden legs constrict one’s movement and are also heavy. In some places, such as Madurai, there is a practice of performing the dance without wooden legs and they dance barefoot, wearing only anklets.
This dance is typically performed in oorvalam, meaning procession, which covers all the areas surrounding the temple during festivals. Dancers often portray kings and queens and sport swords. Sometimes, the dance is performed by groups of eight or ten dancers standing in circles or lines.
Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam is performed to the accompaniment of Naiyandi Melam. A Naiyandi Melam musical ensemble typically includes two nathaswarams (wind-pipes), one sudhipetti, and one thaalam, and several drums played with drum sticks such as thavils, pambai, kidumutti or sinukuchatti. This is the style followed in Kongunadu region of Tamil Nadu. In southern parts of the state, an urumi—a drum with two conical heads—is also used along with the other instruments.
STALWARTS
Mr. Ramakrishnan, who lived in Thiruvayaru (near Tanjavur), was the first person to practice Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam.
POPULARITY
Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam is famous all over Tamil Nadu and most parts of India.
M.G. Ramachandran (former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) was a great fan of various forms of dances. Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam was one of his favorites.
Sculptures of Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam can be seen in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, near Loyola School, Valluvar Kottam, Cathedral Road and Tirumalai Road.
Poikkal Kuthirai Aatam was made popular in the state of Tamil Nadu, and particularly in Chennai, by the Chennai Sangamam festival a few years ago.
INSTITUTIONS
Some institutes that provide training in folk dance forms are
● Alapadma Dance Yoga
● Academy of Arts of India, Chennai
● Academy of Modern Dance, Chennai
● Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar
● Koothambalam, Chennai
● PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore.
Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, India speaking in the Morning Meditation session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 22 January. Congress Centre - Spotlight. Copyright by World Economic Forum/Manuel Lopez
Animation Artist ANIKARTICK with Popular Painter SRIDHAR at CHENNAI BOOK FAIR 2014,Nandanam YMCA Ground,ThenaamPettai,Mount Road,Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India
Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, India speaking in the Morning Meditation session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 22 January. Congress Centre - Spotlight. Copyright by World Economic Forum/Manuel Lopez
Preparing for Navratri.
Following the pandemic Navratri had been very restricted. With the removal of Covid restrictions everyone was going to make this an event to remember.
Navratri is a period of nine days celebrating the Divine Feminine and is happening from 26 Sep to 4 Oct in 2022. Sadhguru delves into the deeper spiritual aspects of this festival, revealing how the three main qualities in existence are manifest in these nine days.
What Is Navratri?
Sadhguru: This culture draws its roots on profound observations of the human system and its relationship with the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and different aspects of the Divine. This is also reflected in when and how we celebrate our festivals. Navratri literally means “nine nights.” These nine nights are counted from the day after new moon day or Amavasya. These first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine. This is a special time for Devi, who represents the feminine nature of the Divine. The ninth day is called Navami. The one-and-a-half-days around the full moon are a neutral time. The remaining eighteen days are masculine in nature. The feminine phase of the month is about Devi. That is why in the tradition, all worship up to Navami is dedicated to Devi.
There are twelve nine-day periods in a year and each of these is focused on a different aspect of the feminine Divine or Devi. The Navratri that comes around October is considered the most significant one because it is dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. Among the many things that a human being can do, this tradition lays greatest emphasis on learning. Other creatures can run faster than us; they are stronger than us; they can do many things that we cannot do – but they cannot learn like we can. The pride of being human is that you can learn just about anything – if you are willing.