29 Facts About Yogaswami

Jnana guru Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna was a spiritual master, a sivajnani and anatha siddhar revered by Hinduism of the 20th century.

Yogaswami was the 161st Jagadacharya of the Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara.

Yogaswami was trained in and practiced Kundalini yoga under the guidance of Satguru Chellappaswami, from whom he received guru diksha.

Yogaswami was born near the Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 1872.

Yogaswami's mother died before he turned 10 years old and his aunt and uncle took the responsibility of raising him.

Yogaswami explained that the area around the tree was sacred and he preferred to walk past it.

Yogaswami repeated it like a mantra to himself and shared it with other devotees throughout his life.

Around 1890, Yogaswami found a job as a storekeeper for an irrigation project in Kilinochchi.

Yogaswami demanded utter simplicity and purity of himself, as he would later of his devotees.

In 1905, Yogaswami found his guru Chellapaswami outside Nallur Temple.

Yogaswami's life became filled with intense spiritual discipline and severe austerity.

Yogaswami later spent years of intense tapas under the olive tree at Colombuthurai Road on the outskirts of Jaffna.

Yogaswami's practice was to meditate for three days and nights in the open without moving or taking shelter from the weather.

Yogaswami was eventually persuaded to occupy a small hut in the garden of a house near his olive tree.

Day and night, Yogaswami was absorbed in his inner worship.

On one occasion, Yogaswami was seated in perfect stillness, like a stone.

In 1940, Yogaswami visited India on a pilgrimage to Banaras and Chidambaram.

In 1961, the 89-year-old Yogaswami broke his hip while feeding his cow, Valli.

Yogaswami still meted out his wisdom and guidance throughout his final few years.

At 3:30 am on a Wednesday in March 1964, Yogaswami passed away at age 91 in Colombuthurai.

Yogaswami followed the Shaivism sect of Hinduism, which is prevalent in South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Yogaswami conveyed his teachings in over 3,000 poems and songs, called Natchintanai, "good thoughts," urging seekers to follow dharma and realise God within.

Yogaswami dedicated his life to realizing the truth and highest wisdom, and to that end, he sought spiritual teachers in the west, including P D Ouspensky for a time.

Jnanaguru Yogaswami initiated Subramuniya into the holy orders of sannyasa and ordained him into his lineage with a tremendous slap on the back.

Yogaswami fulfilled his mission by building two temples of his own, giving blessings to dozens of groups to build temples in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and elsewhere; he gifted Deity images to 36 temples to begin the worship and establishing the Hindu Heritage Endowment to support Hindu temples, organisations, relief efforts, publications and other institutions and projects worldwide.

Yogaswami continued to communicate with Subramuniya through Kandiah Chettiar until his death in 1964.

Yogaswami emigrated to Melbourne, Australia and set up the Sivathondan Nilayam centre in Hallam, which has been running for over two decades.

Yogaswami was the national astrologer of Sri Lanka and Australia.

Yogaswami has published several books, with two major works being The Numerical Key to Success and Junior Senior, both dedicated to his spiritual Guru Sri Yogaswami.