Born Jagadish Vasudev in Mysore-Karnataka, India, in 1957, Sadhguru was a precocious child reared in a traditional home. Even at an early age, he possessed a unique passion and purpose that defined his life. Preferring the wonder of nature and the eloquence of poetry to attending school, 10-year old Jaggi would often venture out alone on long treks through the surrounding mountain forests for days at a time. It was also in these mountain woods that, years later, Sadhguru found his deepest connection to himself.
Around the age 13, Sadhguru came across an elderly yogi by name Shri Raghavendra Rao, popularly known as Malladihalli Swami, who was being hosted by his grandparents. Admiring the physical agility and self-mastery of Malladihalli Swami, Sadhguru began studying yoga under him. At that time, his yoga practices were a means of attaining peak physical and mental health. “I never thought of yoga as a spiritual possibility, nor did the word ‘spiritual’ mean anything to me at that time,” he says.
Continuing his education reluctantly and attending classes intermittently, Sadhguru graduated in English Literature from the Mysore University. Subsequently, in partnership with a close friend, he built his own successful construction business. Despite his new hectic and even wild working schedule, Sadhguru continued to be an active and adventurous outdoorsman – hang gliding, racing motorcycles, and arranging hiking expeditions into the mountains for him and his friends. It was during one of these trips that Sadhguru had a deep ‘experience of the self’ that changed everything in his life.
Of all his trekking destinations, the Chamundi Hills in the outskirts of Mysore was most frequented, as it was the closest. Sadhguru, who was 25 years of age by now, had climbed the hills from it every possible face. On this particular afternoon, he’d come alone on his motorcycle and was sitting on a particular rock, that had become one of his favorite spots. It was here that Sadhguru had a deep inner experience that not only came unasked, but soon became a permanent reality for him.
“Suddenly, I had this experience that what I had considered as myself was not just my body or what was contained in my body. The rock I was sitting on, the trees, the mountains – everything was me…what was ‘me’ was everything,” Sadhguru described of the experience. “This shattered all of my limitations and delivered me to a completely new dimension of life.” Tears of joy rolling down his cheeks, he was deeply ecstatic.
"From the age of 5 years, I had not shed a drop of tear. Now so much tears flowed from my eyes that my shirt was drenched. I thought this experience was there for only about 3 to 5 minutes. But when I came back to my normal state, it was 7:30 in the evening - about four to four and a half hours had passed. The whole experience made me very ecstatic and blissful”.
“After that day, I started going through this experience often. Once I go through this experience, next 3-4 days I never sleep. I am wide-awake and I don’t eat for 2-3 days. Once it happened for 12 days - it became so intense…”
At that time Sadhguru was not somebody whom you would describe as a spiritual person or a person with such inclinations. He never went to temples or had any interest in meeting spiritual people. Belonging to the sixties, he grew up with ‘blue jeans and Beatles’. But now, in a month’s time, after the experience he just wound up all his business.
“That’s when I knew there was something fantastic in me, but I did not know how to share it.” He happened to meet some spiritual people who confirmed the mention of such experiences in spiritual literature but refused to believe that it was happening to him. “I found all these people on the spiritual path were talking of something fantastic but they did not have the experience. I had a big experience but I did not know how to express myself”.
This spontaneous experience of unbounded awareness, often referred to as “enlightenment,” revealed to Sadhguru that the same possibility exists for every human being. “It was very, very clear to me that every human being could live blissfully like this and it doesn’t need any external reason or stimulus,” he explained. Out of his realization, his deep understanding of the yogic sciences, and his desire to share this possibility with all human beings, Isha Yoga was born.
Today, full two decades after the experience, Sadhguru remains deeply engaged in creating an elaborate mechanism and a movement to bring to fruition the large scale manifestation of the fullest realization of the human potential. Sadhguru has often mentioned that it is his dream that just as walking down a street in India one runs into a handful of vegetable vendors, one day walking down the streets he would like run into a handful of enlightened people.
When not on his lecture tours and travels Sadhguru lives in Isha Yoga Center at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains in Coimbatore, India. He has two pets – Great Danes Siddhaa and Malli. These days, he is often visited by a graceful, old, 13-foot cobra, Naga, from the nearby Velliangiri Mountains. Website: sadhguru.org
Shri Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Amma : Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
Many people wonder how a little girl from a simple South Indian village came to be known throughout the world as "Amma, the Mother of All." Motherhood, in its ultimate sense, has nothing to do with bearing a child, but with love, compassion and selflessness. It lies in totally giving one's self to others.
If we look at Amma's life, this is what we see—someone who has offered her every thought, word and deed for the benefit of others. Giving is the essence. It's just that when the homeless come crying for shelter and Amma gives them a house, we call her a "humanitarian." And when the sorrowful come crying for emotional solace and she gives them love, we call her a "mother." And when those thirsty for spiritual knowledge come earnestly seeking and she gives them wisdom, we call her a "guru." This attitude of selflessly serving all creation, knowing others to be extensions of one's own self, Amma refers to as vishwa matrutvam—universal motherhood. And it is to this pinnacle of human existence that Amma is trying to awaken the world through her life, teachings and darshan [divine embrace].
Questions about the nature of the soul, the universe and God; about dharma, love and family life; about meditation and other spiritual practices…. Amma has been clearing the doubts of sincere seekers on such subtle subjects since her youth. She never had a guru nor studied the Vedas, yet she speaks on the truths expressed within the scriptures with wisdom, clarity and true insight. Hers is not an academic knowledge, but the knowledge of one who is ever-established in the Ultimate Reality. It is for this reason that Amma's simple childhood home has become the spiritual home to thousands—an ashram where aspirants from around the world reside in order to imbibe Amma's wisdom and realize the Truth that is their real nature. The seeker is instructed as per his level—from the child to the sannyasi [monk].
My Dream:- A vision of a world in which women and men progress together, a world in which all men respect the fact that, like the two wings of a bird, women and men are of equal value. - Amma
Seeing the whole world as an extension of her own self, Amma is ever ready to forego her own body's needs in order to bring a smile to someone's face, wipe their tears or to simply listen to their sorrows. The sweet manner in which she laughs and jokes with people, shares in their success and failure has endeared millions to her throughout the world. In fact, many see Amma as their lifelong confidant and friend. Giving darshan in this manner is verily Amma's life—day after day, week after week, year after year. In fact, Amma has been doing so since she was just 17 years old, and she has been known to sit embracing people continuously for as long as 22 hours. Amma is able to make such a personal sacrifice because in her arms people feel safe, feel comforted, loved, feel that finally they've found someone who knows them through and through. And with that feeling they get the strength to move forward in life, and this, Amma feels, is infinitely more important than her physical needs. Be they young or old, sick or healthy, rich or poor—everyone receives the same unconditional love. Amma turns no one away. The atheist has just as much a place with Amma as the devotee.
My Desire: Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. - Amma
For Amma, Advaita [non-dualism] is not a mere philosophy, but something to be lived. As such, Amma's every thought, word and deed resound with that greatest of truths: Everything within and without is divine. Accordingly, Amma oversees a massive matrix of humanitarian activities. Hospitals for the sick, homes for the homeless, disaster relief, orphanages, hospices, free pensions, suicide-prevention, employment programs… the list is endless. Influenced by Amma's example and experiencing her pure love, thousands upon thousands of people from around the world have been inspired to take up a life of service—giving whatever time or money they can spare in order to help others. It is the seed of love Amma has planted within them beginning to sprout that has brought this about. This has been Amma's vision from the beginning. Amma says, "In today's world, people experience two types of poverty: the poverty caused by lack of food, clothing and shelter, and the poverty caused by lack of love and compassion. Of these two, the second type needs to be considered first—because, if we have love and compassion in our hearts, then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer from lack of food, clothing and shelter." This is the secret behind the success of Amma's charitable mission and how its expansion seems to be constant and without end. And the brilliance of Amma's grand scheme is that not only are the downtrodden uplifted but also the volunteers, as the selflessness of their actions purifies their minds, helping them to gradually progress along the spiritual path. Amma's charitable social services cross all barriers of nationality, race, caste and religion, and have drawn the attention of the world community. In 2005, Amma's organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, was given special consultative status by the United Nations.
It's better get worn out than rust away. - Amma
Humanitarian, Mother, Friend, Guru, God…people see her differently. Amma has offered herself to the world. In reality, Amma is beyond all such roles, knowing her true nature to be the true nature of us all—the blissful divine consciousness that pervades this universe. But out of her infinite compassion, Amma comes down to the level of whoever is standing before her—the poor, the lonely, the seeker—in order to give what is desired, what is needed. It was for this purpose alone that Amma was born and for this alone that Amma lives today. In fact, Amma has said that she wishes to be lovingly caressing someone, consoling them and wiping their tears even when she breathes her last. Website : amritapuri.org