Yoga from Shore to Shore

In 1968 Swami Satyananda Saraswati embarked on his first world tour, visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, USA, UK, Europe and Teheran, Welcomed by people from all walks of life, Swami Satyananda gave talks, classes, media interviews and private consultations, tirelessly teaching, guiding and inspiring the international community with the message of yoga.

Yoga from shore to shore is a compilation of the lectures and interviews from this historic tour. Topics include karma Yoga, raja yoga, mantra, Kundalini, consciousness, meditation techniques, yoga nidra, the spiritual revolution and God realization, Step by Step instructions are given for specific meditation and relaxation practices alongside clear guidelines for living yoga in daily life.

This landmark collection is a record of the beginnings of Swami Satyananda’s global mission. The universal appeal of both his message and his personality ensure the enduring success of Swami Satyananda’s commitment to spread yoga from door to door, and from shore to shore.

Swami Satyananda was born in Almora (Uttaranchal) in 1923. Drawn to spiritual life from an early age, he left home at the age of eighteen, and in 1943 surrendered himself to Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh who initiated him into Dashnami sannyasa in 1947. He served his guru for twelve years, perfecting every aspect of spiritual life. Thereafter, he travelled through- out the Indian subcontinent as a wandering ascetic.

Realizing the need of the times as scientific rendition of the ancient system of yoga, he founded the International Yoga Fellowship in 1956 and the Bihar School of Yoga in 1963. During the next twenty years, Swami Satyananda hoisted the flag of yoga in every corner of the world, consolidated BSY into a foremost institution of yoga, and authored over eighty major texts on yoga, tantra and spiritual life.

'Satyananda Yoga' became a tradition which combines classical knowledge with experiential understanding and a modern outlook. In 1984 he founded the Yoga Research Foundation to synchronize scientific research and yoga, and Sivananda Math to assist the underprivileged. In 1988, at the peak of his achievements, he renounced everything and adopted kshetra sannyasa, living as a paramahamsa ascetic. In 1989 Rikhia was revealed to him, where he came to live and performed higher vedic sadhanas in seclusion. Receiving the command to provide for his neighbours in 1991,he allowed the ash ram to help the underprivileged villages in the region. From 1995 onwards, he performed a twelve-year Rajasooya Yajna with the sankalpa of peace, plenty and prosperity for all, and in 2007 he announced the establishment of Rikhiapeeth with its mandate to 'serve, love, give'.

Swami Satyananda attained mahasamadhi, a yogic accomplishment of discarding the body at will to become one with the universal consciousness, in 2009, in the presence of his disciples.

This book contains a diverse selection of the best lectures and practical classes on yoga given by Swami Satyananda Saraswati during his 1968 world tour. It is a unique collection in that it covers all the different aspects of yoga in detail from widely varying viewpoints.

Swamiji is a masterful speaker. His lectures are always spontaneous and he chooses the topic and tone of his speech only after he has met the audience. During this tour, his programs were arranged at many different types of locations, varying from prisons to television studios and from postgraduate medical colleges to insane asylums. This wide range is reflected in the themes and textures of the different sections of this book.

The original transcription of the speeches from magnetic tape was done by Swami Yogeshwarananda, director of the Rajnandgaon School of Yoga in Madhya Pradesh, India. The collation and editing of the speeches was done by Bindu (Miss Renate Kette) and Swami Yogananda, both from Australia. The final section, entitled 'From Shore to Shore, a Tour Report' was edited by Nityananda, (Keith Adams, New Zealand).

All the typesetting, correction, printing and binding of yoga from Shore to Shore was done by swamis of the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, under the inspiration of their guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati.