In 1957 Swami Vishnudevananda set out from the foothills of the Himalayas to carry out the bidding of his Guru, H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. His instructions were: ‘Spread the seeds of Yoga in the West.’ For thirty-seven years, Swami Vishnu worked tirelessly as an active and dedicated spiritual teacher. He traveled around the world many times teaching Yoga and establishing Centers and Ashrams where his Master’s work could be carried out.
Swami Vishnudevananda was born in the south Indian state of Kerala on 31 December 1927. After completing school he entered the Engineering Corps of the Indian Army. It was while he was in the army that he first met his Guru, Swami Sivananda, one of the great saints of modern times. After being discharged from the army, Swamy Kuttan Nair, as he was then known, taught in a school in his native Kerala for a short while, before entering the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh in 1947. Within a year, he had renounced all things of the world and embraced a life of Sannyas on the auspicious night of MahaSivaratri. At that time he was given the name of Swami Vishnudevananda.
Remaining at the Ashram for ten years, Swami Vishnu was the first professor of Hatha Yoga at the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. He held a number of other positions at the Ashram, including acting as personal secretary to his Master, Swami Sivananda.
Upon leaving India for the West, Swami Vishnudevananda spent a year traveling, lecturing and teaching Yoga in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and Hawaii. Arriving in San Fancisco in 1957, Swamiji taught himself to drive and spent the next year driving throughout North America, studying the lifestyles of its people.
It soon became apparent that westerners were so caught up in the whirlwind of their lives that they neither knew how to relax nor how to lead healthy lives. Swamiji devised the concept of the Yoga Vacation and set about establishing places where people could have a complete rest of body, mind and spirit. Several Sivananda Ashrams were established based on the five principles of Yoga:
– Proper Exercise (Asanas)
– Proper Breathing (Pranayama)
– Proper Relaxation (Savasan)
– Proper Diet (Vegetarian)
– Positive Thinking and Meditation (Vedanta and Dhyana)
Within a few years, the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams had been established. This is now an international network located in major cities around the world and six Ashrams, or retreat places, where people can find peace and quiet away from the tensions and anxieties of everyday life.
In 1969 the True World Order was established. It grew from a vision which Swamiji had. He ‘saw’ hundreds and thousands of people tearing down the walls and boundaries that separate nation from nation, and man from man. The purpose of this organisation is to establish unity and understanding between peoples of the world. A unique Yoga Teachers’ Training Course is offered with the aim of bringing harmony in the world by training its future leaders in the basics of Yoga discipline. Over the years, thousands of people from around the world have taken the course.
In 1971 Swami Vishnudevananda made headlines by flying around the world in his Piper Apache plane, painted by the American artist Peter Max. He ‘bombed’ the trouble spots with flowers and leaflets of peace. At that time he braved a flight from Tel Aviv to Cairo, flying directly over the Suez Canal (which was closed). Although he and his Jewish co-pilot were almost shot down, they made the effort in the name of peace.
Swami Vishnudevananda marched through the streets of Belfast with actor Peter Sellars, chanting and praying for peace. In 1983 he flew an ultralight plane over the Berlin Wall in a bid to call the attention of Mankind to the need to break down all man-made boundaries. He sponsored numerous festivals, conferences, symposiums and world tours—all calling for peace and understanding.
In addition to being a tireless worker for world peace and an inspiring teacher, Swami Vishnudevananda is well known for his outstanding work The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, often referred to as the ‘Bible of the Yogis.’ Swami Vishnudevananda attained Mahasamadhi on 9 November 1993.