Born in 1887, Swami Sivananda was a great yogi and sage who devoted his life to the service of humanity and to the study of vedanta. He is one of the modern saints responsible for the rebirth of yogic science in the last century. He has inspired millions of people worldwide to lead a more meaningfull life, dedicated to the betterment of all. Swami Satyananda once said this of his guru, "I did not know Jesus Christ but I knew Swami Sivananda, and because of that I can believe Christ existed."

His prescription for a spirtiual life is summed up in eight simple commands:

“Yoga is a system of integral education, education not only of the body and the mind or the intellect, but also of the inner spirit. Yoga leads from ignorance to wisdom, from weakness to strength, from disharmony to harmony, from hatred to love, from want to fullness, from limitation to infinitude, from diversity to unity and from imperfection to perfection."

“Equanimity is yoga. Serenity is yoga. Skill in action is yoga. Control of the senses and the mind is yoga. Anything by which the best and the highest can be attained is also yoga. Yoga is thus all-embracing, all-inclusive and universal in its application, leading to all-round development of body, mind and soul.”
- Swami Sivananda

Swami Satyananda was born in 1923. He met his guru, Swami Sivananda in 1943. He was given a mission to take yoga from door to door and shore to shore. He continued the work of his guru and refined the tantric and vedantic practices making many of them accessable and relevant to modern man for the first time.
He now lives as a Paramahmsa sannyasin, inspiring many projects that are dedicated to the upliftment of humankind.

"Yoga is a philosophy of balance. When you expose yourself to yoga, you learn how to be simple in every aspect of your lifestyle and being. Where there is simplicity there is relaxation, where there is complication there is tension. When you expose yourself to the influences of yoga, the light of spirituality has to shine. When the light of yoga shines, you will be very happy, otherwise there is darkness. In the darkness you have fears, insecurities and misunderstandings. Yoga is a way of life. It doesn’t matter what religion, nationality, social or political creeds a person follows. Yoga is concerned with man’s personal life and how he can improve it."


"All the problems that you face in life, all the ups and downs are really the means to your personal evolution. Everything that you face in life, whether pleasant or unpleasant, is really the means to higher awareness. They really help you. Though they may seem to hinder you from a limited and personal viewpoint at this stage, they are really the tests, the means to your eventual transcendence and total understanding of reality. Though mental disturbances during meditational practices, during everyday life may seem like obstacles, they are really the things that help you to become aware of, to confront, and to remove the personal blocks or hindrances that prevent the flight into higher awareness.
Without these apparent obstacles you would never become aware of the imperfections in yourself that prevent higher experience. It is only through your enemies that you can recognise personal hangups. It is only through unhappiness that you can recognise seeds of disharmony within yourself. Without day to day problems, you would never try to overcome your own obstacles. All the turmoil’s of everyday life are the indicators that stimulate you to overcome your own imperfections. So, recognise your problems and use everyday life as the means to attain perfection."

- Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Swami Niranjanananda was born in 1960. At the age of four he joined the Bihar School of Yoga and lived under the guidance of his guru., Swami Satyananda. From the age of elven he toured the world extensivley guiding yoga programmes and seminars. He currently guides several bodies that are devoted to the reasarch and propogation of yog ain the modern world. He continues to teach, inspire and guide thousands of people on the path of yoga.

"Yoga is nothing but a process of education leading to inner discipline, inner clarity and inner strength. With strength comes all the qualities that we consider appropriate and right. With clarity comes the wisdom to apply those qualities, the right one at the right time. With confidence you are able to bypass arrogance, the negative expression of ego, and thus elevate yourself. Recognizing the physical, spiritual, moral, psychological and psychic needs, yoga has developed a system of practices which can remove many kinds of irregularities and abnormalities from our life.
I am using the words 'many kinds', not 'all', because most of human nature is still untapped. We don't know what will come out of you tomorrow. Whatever comes out tomorrow will have to be dealt with in tomorrow's manner, not in today's manner.
So, many of the identified abnormalities and irregularities can be managed and corrected through this yogic system. This is the process of yoga."
- Swami Niranjanananda

“Yoga means uniting oneself with whatever is positive and uplifting in life”
- Swami Niranjananda

Born in 1953, in Chandorenagore, West Bengal. From the age of 22 she experienced a series of inner awakenings which led her to her guru, Swami Satyananda. From 1981 she traveled ceaselessly with her guru in India and overseas and developed into a scholar with deep insight into the yogic and tantric traditions as well as modern sciences and philosophies.

She is an efficient channel for the transmission of her guru's teachings. The establishment of Sivananda Math in Rikhia is her creation and mission, and she guides all its activities there, working tirelessly to uplift the weaker and underprivileged areas. She embodies compassion with clear reason and is the foundation of her guru's vision.