Satguru, or sadhguru, means the true guru. However the term is distinguished from other forms of gurus, such as musical instructors, scriptural teachers, parents, and so on. The satguru is a title given specifically only to an enlightened rishi or saint whose life’s purpose is to guide the initiated shishya on the spiritual path, the summation of which is the realization of the Self through realization of God, who is omnipresent.
Jaggi Vasudev is an Indian yogi and mystic who founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization which offers yoga programs around the world. A multi-faceted personality, he is also an author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist along with being a spiritual master.
Born in Mysuru, Karnataka to Susheela and Dr. Vasudev, Jagadish was the youngest of four children – two boys and two girls. Born as the son of an ophthalmologist who worked with the Indian Railways, he was used to frequent moves from one city to another and this kindled in him a love for travel, adventure and a curiosity to explore the unknown.
As a child he became fascinated with nature and would often escape to the jungle near his home and spend hours,even days at a stretch there. He also developed a life-long love for snakes and reptiles as a result of his childhood experiences.
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As a youngster he fell in love with motorcycles and traveled to various places in the country on his motorcycle.After his schooling at Demonstration School, Mysore in 1973, he graduated from the University of Mysore with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Along with being a fun-loving youth he was also a bright young man who matured into a successful businessman.
A spiritual experience at the age of 25 made him rethink his life’s purpose and eventually he realized that his calling was to become a yoga teacher.
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On the afternoon of September 23, 1982, a young businessman sat down at his favorite spot on Chamundi Hill. As he sat with his eyes open, suddenly he slipped into a state where he could not differentiate between himself and his surroundings.
It was a staggering explosion. “What was ‘me’ was everywhere.” After nearly four hours, which felt like only a few minutes, he came back to his usual self. He found himself drenched in tears, while his mind grappled to find an explanation “Something was happening within me. I did not know what it was. All I knew was – I’ve hit a goldmine and I didn’t want to lose it.”
Six weeks after this experience, he left his business to his friend and travelled extensively in an effort to gain insight into his mystical experience. After about a year of meditation and travel, he decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.
In 1983, he conducted his first yoga class with seven participants in Mysore. Over time, he began conducting yoga classes across Karnataka and Hyderabad traveling from class to class on his motorcycle. He lived off the produce of his poultry farm rental and refused payment for the classes.
Jaggi Vasudev established the Isha Foundation, a non religious, non-profit organisation entirely run by volunteers. Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1993, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through Yoga. The foundation works in tandem with International bodies like the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
In Isha Foundation, Inner Engineering is a 3-7 day intensive program, offered either in a traditional class setting or online. It provides the opportunity to re-engineer oneself through the inner science of yoga. Guided meditations and the Shambhavi –Mahamudra, a powerful process of immeasurable antiquity, are offered to purify the system and improve health, productivity, balance and inner wellbeing.
Jaggi Vasudev is the author of several books, including Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy which became best seller of The Washington Post and the New York Times. The book tour in North America included 17 cities, and the launch events were attended by an estimated 26,000 people.
The Huffington Post review describes the books as “full of practical tools to begin one’s self-transformation journey.
Jaggi Vasudev spoke at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000, the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. On 24 June 2013, he conducted a multi-religious session titled, “Interfaith Deliberations on the Universality of Religions” at the Isha Yoga Center, which was attended by representatives of various religions, and coincided with the fourteenth anniversary celebrations of the Dhyanalinga.
In 2012, he was voted among the hundred most powerful Indians for his contribution in the field of environmental protection and for encouraging public participation in ecological issues. He was also a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie. He has been involved in one-on-one interactions as part of the “In Conversations With the Mystic.
In 2012, he initiated the Isha Insight program, which focuses on helping small and medium businesses scale up their business activities. The program was conducted by Ram Charan with KV Kamath, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, Shankar Annaswamy, Vellayan Subbiah and Pramod Chaudhari also active in the program.
In an interview with Forbes magazine, speaking about the motivation behind setting up the program, he said, “While speaking at economic summits and to leaders in India and outside, I have noticed that the most serious issue people have is a lack of insight into what they are doing, or what they could do. That’s how we ended up creating this programme called Insight.”
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