The Yoga & Spiritualism Desk
Practice, philosophy, and the inner journey across the diaspora
A teacher near Tirupati, known to his followers as 'Siddhguru', has built a global, multilingual audience through YouTube and podcasts. Part 7 of The Living Gurus looks at what his ashram presents — and at what can, and cannot, be independently verified.
Part 6 of The Living Gurus. He put a nation on its mat before breakfast and turned pranayama into a mass movement, then parlayed the fame into Patanjali, a consumer-goods giant. Baba Ramdev democratised yoga for hundreds of millions - and became one of India's most divisive figures. The diaspora has watched both halves.
Part 5 of The Living Gurus. A gold-medal electronics engineer who traded circuits for the soul, BK Shivani turned the Brahma Kumaris' quiet philosophy into a global television and YouTube phenomenon - and became, for millions of stressed Indians at home and abroad, the steadying voice at the end of a hard day.
From the banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh, Swami Chidanand Saraswati has built something unusual among modern gurus — a movement fusing Hindu spirituality with river conservation, sanitation and interfaith diplomacy that reaches from a nightly riverside ceremony to the halls of the United Nations.
She has embraced more than 30 million strangers, one at a time. Mata Amritanandamayi — 'Amma' — turned a hug into a worldwide humanitarian movement, and remains the rare woman at the summit of India's guru world.
From a ten-day silence on a Karnataka riverbank, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar built the Art of Living into one of the largest spiritual movements on earth — and one of the most scrutinised.
Part 9 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. A doctor who renounced medicine to write 200 books and train the teachers who carried yoga across the world — the hidden hub of the whole story.
Part 5 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. He turned meditation into something anyone could do in twenty minutes — and for one luminous moment in 1968, the most famous band on earth came to sit at his feet.
Part 10 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. In orange robes before half a million young Americans, he opened the Woodstock festival — the most improbable pulpit an Indian master ever stood at.
Part 6 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. He arrived in New York in 1965 at sixty-nine, with seven dollars and a trunk of his own books — and within a decade had founded a worldwide religion.
Part 11 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. He never came west, gave no lectures, and left almost no record of his life — yet through the Americans who sat with him, he may have shaped Western spirituality more intimately than any guru in this series.
Part 7 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. Raised English from boyhood, he came home a stranger, became a revolutionary the British jailed — and emerged from prison one of the most ambitious philosophers India produced.
Part 12 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. He never travelled, rarely spoke, and taught a single question — yet 'Who am I?' and the silence of the man who asked it reshaped how the West understands the self.
Part 8 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. She wrote no books, founded no method, and refused to be called a guru — yet she drew the century's great seekers to her, and reached the West through the pages of Autobiography of a Yogi.
Part 4 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. A child so ill that doctors doubted he would survive grew into the man Time called one of the 100 most influential people alive — and turned his guru's discipline into the world's most-practised yoga.
Part 1 of The Living Gurus. From a motorcycle and a meditation centre in Tamil Nadu, Jaggi Vasudev built one of the most-followed — and most-debated — spiritual brands of the age.
Part 3 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. He never sailed anywhere — yet the yoga practised in studios worldwide descends almost entirely from one intense Mysore Brahmin and the handful of students he sent out into the world.
Part 2 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. Born in Gorakhpur in 1893 and educated at Scottish Church College and Serampore College, the young monk sailed to Boston in 1920 and stayed for three decades, dying in Los Angeles in 1952. His Autobiography of a Yogi became the West's doorway into Indian spirituality.
Part 1 of The Masters Who Crossed the Ocean. On 11 September 1893, an unknown Bengali monk walked onto a Chicago stage and began, 'Sisters and brothers of America.' The ovation that followed marked the moment India's spiritual tradition went global.
The theme for the 12th International Day of Yoga on 21 June is 'Yoga for Healthy Ageing'. Ahead of it, the Indian Embassy holds a session at Washington's Lincoln Memorial on 19 June, with a flagship celebration in Times Square on 21 June.
🌿 PART 1: Awakening & Life Path Q: You’ve shared that your spiritual awareness began early in this lifetime—what did that experience feel like as it unfolded? Yes… from a very young age, I was aware of many things that others around me didn’t seem to notice. I could see beings—spirits, entities from another dimension—
In the year 1983, Swami Prakasananda Maharaj laid the foundation of the Shri Govind Jeevan Ashram. However, his spiritual journey began much earlier, in 1960, on 15th April, when he received initiation from Swami Bodhananda ji Maharaj in Haridwar. Following his guru’s instructions, Swamiji embarked on a tour of India,
A Yoga Guru serves as the guiding light on the path toward the pinnacle of self-realization. By Swami Guru Prasadananda Saraswati. The unseen force that birthed our visible world, known by myriad names like Ishwar, God, Allah, Jesus, and countless others, transcends the realms of intellect and perception. This spiritua
Questionnaire for Ms. Malin Loibner for DIASPORA DREAM Q1. What initially drew you to Yoga? Can you share a brief overview of your journey? My journey with Yoga began at a tender age, as I mimicked my mother’s practice while learning to use my feet. Over time, Yoga became a constant companion, offering me a […]
Sri Siddheshwar Brahmrishi Gurudev, known affectionately as Siddh Guru, embodies the epitome of truth, enlightenment, and eternal bliss. As a divine incarnation blessed with transcendent spiritual powers, he serves as a guiding light in our contemporary world. His presence has the transformative potential to redirect d
Q1. What initially sparked your interest in Yoga, and how did your journey begin? My venture into Yoga commenced unexpectedly during my formative years at the gym. While primarily dedicated to physical fitness, I chanced upon a Yoga session led by a teacher from the esteemed Sivananda lineage. This class offered a comp
Q1. What attracted you to Yoga? Tell us briefly. Meditation, it was 10 years ago in 2013 and I experienced meditation for the first time with a Buddhist Monk and I loved it and I wanted to have a regular practice. Q2. Your specialized area in Yoga? Do you also teach Yoga? I am a […]
