His Holiness Sri Swami Vishnu Devananda, one of the most
important "siksha gurus" or "instructing spiritual masters" in the
life of Swami Ramakrishnananda. He was the founder of the
International Sivananda centers for Yoga Vedanta. He was a world
authority in Hatha and Raja Yoga. Swamiji was also much known for
the different missions of peace he founded around the world.
Swamiji was born in Kerala, in South India, in 1927. As an
adolescent without sufficient resources to finance his studies at a
university he enlisted to the army in order to acquire the
scientific education he desired so much. During that time, while
searching for a piece of paper he had lost, his eyes fell on a
pamphlet titled "20 spiritual instructions" by Swami Sivananda. It
began with the words "a gram of practice is better than a ton of
theories". The practical character and the inherent power of these
simple words led Swamiji to embark on a 36 hour travel across India
to met Swami Sivananda in the remote Rishikesh, in the Himalayas.
This brief visit left such an impression his mind that he decided
to return as soon as possible.
In his second visit, the young disciple received two powerful
lessons from Swami Sivananda. The first lesson came when Swami
Vishnu Devananda felt too shy and a little too arrogant to bow down
before Guru Swami Sivananda. Then the Master Swami Sivananda
prostrated completely before the young student, giving a lesson in
humbleness. The other lesson was during an Arati (worship ceremony)
of the Ganga (the Ganges River), Swamiji was perplexed and dubious,
and was questioning how can intelligent people adore something
which scientifically is nothing but H2O. Then the Master smiled
subtly and looked at Swamiji, who immediately saw the entire river
as a vast, brilliant cosmic light. Swami Sivananda then invited the
young man to stay at the ashram in order to study and become a
Yogi. Swami Vishnu Devananda spontaneously answered "Yes".
During 10 years, Swami Vishnu Devananda stayed at Sivananda
Ashram in Rishikesh and was trained in all the aspects of Yoga by
Swami Sivananda.
Swami Vishnu Devananda rapidly become an exceptional
practitioner of the path of Hatha Yoga and was a very enthusiastic
and unceasing Karma Yogi. One day Swami Sivananda gave Swamiji a 10
rupee bill (less than one dollar!) and his blessings to travel to
the West and preach the teachings of Vedanta. "The People are
waiting for you" were the words of the Master.
The limitless energy of Swamiji and his profound inspiration led
him to found and direct the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta
centers, which today count in more than 80 centers and 7 Ashrams,
and many more affiliated centers and teachers.
Swami created the first Yoga teachers training course that to
this day trained more than 15,000 certified teachers in Yoga and
spirituality.
One of this brightest ideas was to summarize these ancient and
vast teachings into five principles of Yoga, which are easy to
understand and convenient to incorporate in the daily practice.
During his life Swamiji was profoundly interested in the
wellbeing of the world and the constant disaster of wars. That led
him to learn aviation and then flying personally a small aircraft
above many zones of conflict in the world. Not only did he managed
to initiate discussions and make the informative media aware, but
he also "bombed" these devastated zones with flowers and pamphlets
of peace while he was chanting the Mantra for peace, Om Namo
Narayanaya.
Swami Vishnu Devananda personally initiated Swami
Ramakrishnananda in the Maha Mantra, giving him the spiritual name
of Ramakrishna; later Swami Ramakrishnananda received from the
hands of Swami Vishnu the title of "Yoga Acharya" or "master of
Yoga", and especially the diploma of "Krishna Bhakta" or "Devotee
of Lord Krishna"...
His Holiness Swami Vishnu Devananda Maharaja occupies a very
important place in the spiritual life and the heart of Swami
Ramakrishnananda.
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