Yogis

This page is Yogi as advanced practitioners of Yoga. For other meanings, see Yogi (disambiguation).

Main articles: Yogaand List of yoga schools

Image:Yogisculpture.JPG One who practices yoga is called a yogi or in Sanskrit, a yogin (masculine) or yogini (feminine). These designations are mostly reserved for advanced practitioners. The word "yoga" itself --from the Sanskrit root yuj ("to yoke")--is generally translated as "union" or "integration" and may be understood as union with the Divine, or integration of body, mind, and spirit.

Modern Yogis

Beginning with the arrival of the great Swami Vivekanandain 1893, there has been a steady flow of learned teachers that have brought the transcendental message of Yoga to the West. Although the influence of these Yogins is deeply inscribed into the surface of the modern yogic ethos, both in Indiaand United States of America, a proliferation of 'yoga clinics' and non-spiritual yoga systems has been seen in the West, especially in the United States. While many Americans view it as an exercise system that simply enhances one's health, a much greater number in India (and a minority in America) still see it as it has been for over 5,000 years, whether in the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the writings of the Dalai Lama, or the "Yoga Boom" of the 20th century, a system of spirituality universal in its application.

First brought to America by the great yogi and disciple of Shri RamakrishnaParamahamsa, Swami Vivekananda(1863-1902), the Hindu representative at the 1893World Parliament of Religionsin Chicago, Yoga has also been transported in the arms of many other great yogis and formed into stratified schools seeking to propagate Yoga in its great spiritual context. These teachers have made their imprint in both India and America, and continue to serve as modern embodiments of Yoga.

Many modern schools of Hatha Yoga derive from the school of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught in Mysore, Indiafrom 1924 until 1947, at which time he moved to Madras, where he taught until his death in 1989. Among his students prominent in popularizing Yoga in the West were Sri K. Pattabhi Joisfamous for popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga Vinyasa style, B.K.S. Iyengarwho emphasizes alignment and the use of props, Indra Deviand Krishnamacharya's son T.K.V. Desikacharwho developed the Viniyogastyle. Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Madras (now Chennai), with the aim of making available the heritage of yoga as taught by Krishnamacharya.

Paramahansa Yogananda(1893-1952), a practitioner of Kriya Yoga, moved to America purporting a pluralist ideology with Yoga as the binding force, specificaly trying to reconcile Hinduismand Christianity. Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowshipin Los Angeles, in 1925. His Autobiography of a Yogiis considered a spiritual classic. His chief disciple was Rajarsi Janakananda, a great yogi born in the West.

Sri Aurobindo's translations and interpretations of Hindu and Yogic scriptures, such as the Upanishadsand Bhagavad-Gita, reflect his background as a Western-reared Bengali who later embraced his homelands spiritual traditions, focusing on the goddess Srii. His epic Hindu/Yoga poem Savitri is a treasure of Hindu Yogic literature, formally being the longest poem ever written in English. Besides his influence and scholarly writing on Yoga, he also founded Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, that continues to propagate the practice of Integral Yoga. This is Aurobindo's synthesis of the four main Yogas (Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Raja).

Sri Chinmoy(born 1931) brought a similar synthesis of elements to the West, after spending twenty years at the Sri Aurobindoashram in Pondicherry. His teachings emphasize love for God, meditation on the heart, and religious tolerance rooted in modern Vedanticprinciples.

Image:Ramakrishna.jpg Swami Sivananda(born in Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, on September 8, 1887, attained Mahasamadhiin Rishikesh, Uttaranchal, on July 14, 1963), one of the greatest yoga masters of modern times, authored over 300 books on yoga and spirituality. Swami Sivananda also established Sivananda ashram in Rishikesh, and founded the Divine Life Society, whose current president is Swami Chidananda Saraswati(born on September 24, 1916in Mangalore, South Karnataka).

His disciple, Swami Satyananda(born in Almora, Uttaranchal, in 1923), has established the International Yoga Fellowship Movement, and the BiharSchool of Yoga. Satyananda's main disciple Swami Niranjanananda(born in Rajnandgaon, Madhya Pradeshin 1960) later founded Bihar Yoga Bharati, the world's first yoga university.

Another disciple of Swami Sivananda, Swami Vishnudevananda(1927-1993), was sent by his Guruto the West in 1957, where he founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. He authored The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, first published in 1960. He is also known as the Flying Swami for personally flying a small airplane over conflict areas in the name of peace.

Swami Rama Tirthawas the founding spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute. He was the first yogi to come to America and be subjected to the scrutiny of modern science. He allegedly stunned doctors by stopping the beating of his heart completely for several minutes.

Gopi Krishna(1903-1984) was a Kashmiri office worker and spiritual seeker. He wrote autobiographical accountsof his spiritual experiences with Yoga. His most famous one is Kundalini: Path to Higher Consciousness. Gopi Krishna's graphic accounts of his experiences stand out as among the clearest journals documenting a spiritual transformation. They are highly recommended as reading for anyone interested in Yogic phenomena.

Swami Ramdevji Maharaj is a modern Indian yogi who follows the tradition of astanga yogadiscovered by Maharshi Patanjali. While the important aspect of pranayamawas neglected due to its lack of popularity and fear of potential negative side-effects, Swami Ramdevji Maharaj has broadcast teachings about it over a satellite channel AASTHA and held mass campaignings all over the country. He claims to have used these techniques to cure various diseases.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, Bengal, India, 1921-1990incorporated within Raja Yoga, advanced meditation techniques from the tantras. He is the founder of Ananda Marga.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadapopularised the process of Bhakti Yogain many countries around the world through his movement called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (more popularly known as the Hare Krishnamovement) which he founded in 1966.

Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda(Swamiji) comes from Rajasthan, India, and has been living in Vienna, Austriasince 1972. Swamiji is the author of the scientific master-system Yoga in Daily Lifeand founder of the International Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowshipand Yoga in Daily Life ashrams and centres worldwide. He also inspired the foundations of the Yoga in Daily Life Youth Union and the Ayurveda Academy of Yoga in Daily Life.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati(born 1923) is an important yoga master and guru in both his native India and the West, developing a physical and mental relaxation technique called Yoga Nidra, which literally means "sleep of the yogis".

In the Fourth Wayteaching of G. I. Gurdjieffthe word yogi is used to denote the specifically mentalpath of development, compared with the word fakir (which Gurdjieff used for a path of physicaldevelopment) and monk (which he used for the path of emotionaldevelopment).id:Yogi vi:Yogi

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