Swami Satchidananda's Mahasamadhi

August 19th marks the day that my Guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda left his body. In my last interaction with him, I expressed confusion about my life’s direction. His response was the following: “Come to the ashram and spend 6 weeks with me here, you will find your answer.”

I had thought that 6 weeks was a really long time to spend at the ashram, especially when I had a corporate job and not enough days of vacation to even come close to that. However I followed his advice and applied to take my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, so that I would have something to do during my time there. Yoga was always a part of my life, but I had no desire to become a yoga teacher.

I went through the application and interview process and was accepted into the programme. All that was left was to have a coffee meeting with my boss to request a sabbatical for the six weeks. The night before that meeting, I received a call from my father, who with a choked up voice, told me that Gurudev was not longer in his physical body.

Shocked and devastated by the news, I had trouble sleeping that night. So many questions ran through my mind. So much self-doubt. Should I cancel my trip? What does this all mean? That night I had a dream.

I was outside of a dense jungle, and could hear sounds of frightening creatures, demons if you will. A mini Gurudev was standing on my shoulder (yes, it’s exactly how we see it on TV). He handed me a sword and told me to go into the jungle. I expressed that I was afraid, but that he would guide me the whole time. All I had to do was trust the process fully. So I walk into the jungle and my inner guide warned me of demons that were sneaking up on me and I was able to slay them. I also cleared out the density of the jungle.

I woke up and decided to forge ahead with my plans.

My teacher training program was nothing short of transformational. I was that one person who was not flexible and couldn’t stand on my head, but I came to understand that yoga was not only about asana.

I had the opportunity to learn and experience the rich practices that go beyond the body, into the mind, into relationships and out into life.

I came to understand that dream as the journey inward… into my mind and the demons that waited for me there. I came out still with no desire to teach, but friends, colleagues and family were excited about this new skill I had and asked me to teach. So I did… and I never looked back.

The teachings are powerful. I’m ever grateful to my Guru and all my teachers, but the teachings are the beacon of hope. It’s the teachings that I resonate with and that I put my whole faith in. Since then, I have made a promise to share the teachings as authentically as they have been passed down to me.