Remembering the legacy, lineage and wisdom of Swami Maheshananda, a modern spiritual master. As collected by his friends and students worldwide.
The Swami Maheshananda Archive collects Swamiji’s teachings in audio and written form, as well as images collected and shared by his followers.
Archives are updated frequently with new content. See the latest additions »
Lecture 1/5. Singapore, 2010. – This lecture series begins with a discussion about Asanas, and how this physical practice gives rise to the the feelings of bearable, comfortable and pleasurable. Swamiji then, creates links and weaves stories to show how we can apply these ideas and experiences in our every day life.
Writings: Lifestyle – How do we match our values, to the values of society? Today, the standard of living and our quality of life is given great importance. While the inner condition of the mind becomes secondary. It has less, and less importance.
Mantra: Shanti Mantra – Swami Maheshanandaji reciting the Shanti Mantra at the beginning of a lecture.
Recitation: Samādhi Pāda of the Yoga Sūtras. – This recording was made in the Kuti where Swami Maheshananda was giving instruction on how to recite the first chapter of the Yoga Sūtras. Lecture 5/5. Singapore, 2010. – This final lecture in the series ultimately asks us the question: “Are you willing to reflect upon your own actions?” Lecture 4/5. Singapore, 2010. – The conversation in this lecture explores the idea of 3 connected words: Doing, Feeling and Becoming/Being.“It is so simple to be happy…
Swami Maheshananda was chairman and spiritual director of Kaivalyadhama, one of India’s foremost yoga teaching and research centres.
His surroundings: humble, simple, minimal, an open sided hut full of light and space.
His teachings: profoundly original, rich in metaphor, yet connected to a stream of tradition handed down by his gurus.
His methods: humour, kindness, a personal spiritual counselling guided by instinct to the needs of the student.
His purpose in all things: to help the listener find their own enduring happiness.
…but so difficult to be simple!”
With this site we aim to collect as many of Swamiji’s teachings, – talks and practices as possible in one place. This includes formal lectures, correspondence, manuscripts and more.
These exist alongside photos, personal memories and quotes – deeply impactful learnings contained within a sentence or two – which one could gain from time spent simply being with Swamiji.
We welcome new contributions. If you have material to share please read About Us and our Contributor Guidelines.
Cafe Kuti
Cafe Kuti is the part of the website where anyone who knew Swamiji and Angelika can share personal memories, stories, photos, poetry or art. Find out more »
Beacon – A Eulogy for Swami Maheshananda. By Chetan Rajpurohit The sun’s rays shine through the leaves of the trees that encompass the final resting place of his predecessor and his predecessor’s predecessor. The rays draw an imagery of leaves as shadows onto the bright marble floor, beneath which lay the remains of the two masters. A […]
2012 – Ben’s First Visit to Kaivalyadhama – The feeling of returning to family was strong every time we arrived at the kuti. On this visit our son Ben was 18 months old, and on his first journey outside Australia. To help him understand who Swamiji and Angelika were, we prepared him to meet “Grandpa Swamiji” and “Grandma Angelika”. He quickly made himself […]
A last visit. – “Connect with the guiding principle in a proper way, because it always knows if it is good, or not good. Why depend on the external when we have the inner source? Realise this through yoga practice and through your daily life activity.” These were the last sentences Swamiji ever said to me as we were […]
Sharing a meal and meeting family. – For Swamiji sharing food, meeting people’s family and seeing their way of life was always a large part of why he travelled. It gave him much food for thought and on one of his European trips he presented a workshop about this very topic (it can be found in the archives here). This gallery of […]
Café Kuti – A Place to Share and Remember – Cafe Kuti is an area of the site where anyone who knew Swamiji and Angelika can share memories, stories, photos, poetry or art. In this interview Helen and David speak about why this section of the site is important, and the origin of the name. H: What is the point of Cafe Kuti? D: From […]
Vignettes from Germany – In late 2023 I met Jürgen and Beate while staying in Kaivalyadhama. We spent many beautiful hours sharing our stories about Swami Maheshananda, each of us felt as if we were catching up with family. What follows are some of the memories they shared with me. Written in German, the English translation is included after […]