Sadhguru

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This article is about Sadhguru, an Indian spiritual teacher. For the definition of the word, see Satguru.

Sadhguru
Sadhguru-Jaggi-Vasudev.jpg
Born
Jagadish Vasudev

(1957-09-03) 3 September 1957 (age 66)
Mysore, Mysore State, India
Alma materUniversity of Mysore (BA)
OrganizationIsha Foundation
Notable work
  • Inner Engineering
  • Dhyanalinga
  • Rally for Rivers
  • Linga Bhairavi
  • Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga
  • Mystic's Musings
  • Cauvery Calling
Spouse
Vijaya Kumari
​
​
(m. 1984; died 1997)​
[1]
Children1
HonorsPadma Vibhushan (2017)
Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar
Websiteisha.sadhguru.org

Sadhguru (born Jagadish Vasudev, 3 September 1957) is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carry out educational and spiritual activities. Sadhguru is an Indian yoga guru and a proponent of spirituality. He has been teaching yoga since 1982. He is the author of several books and a frequent speaker at international forums. In 2017, Sadhguru received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, for his contributions to social welfare.

Early years

Jaggi Vasudev in his youthful days

Family

Jagadish Vasudev, commonly referred to as Jaggi, was born on 3 September 1957 in Mysore, Karnataka, India. He was the youngest of five children to Susheela Vasudev (mother) and B.V. Vasudev (father). His father was an ophthalmologist at the Mysuru Railway Hospital and his mother a homemaker.[2][3]

Vasudev married his wife, Vijikumari, in 1984.[4] In 1990, Vijikumari and Jaggi had their only child, Radhe.[4] Vijikumari died on 23 January 1997.[5] Radhe trained in Bharatanatyam at the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai.[6] She married Indian classical vocalist Sandeep Narayan in 2014.[7]

Education

After completing his formal education, Vasudev was uninterested in post-secondary schooling. One year later, however, he enrolled at the University of Mysore, where he studied English literature. While studying literature, Vasudev received second rank.[3] Although his parents wanted him to continue his education with postgraduate studies, Vasudev disagreed and began a career in business.[8]

Work

After graduating from the University of Mysore, Vasudev went on to build his first business, a poultry farm, in Mysore.[9] Vasudev explained that his motivation to start a poultry farm was driven by the serenity it yielded in the hours he wasn't working.[3] The business required minimal attention throughout the day, so Vasudev was able pursue other interests during his time off, like writing poetry.[3] The business grew profitable, but his family repeatedly criticized and opposed his decision to work with poultry.[3] This led Vasudev to enter the construction industry with a company named Buildaids.[3] He started the company in partnership with a friend, who was a civil engineer. Though Vasudev had no formal engineering training, he used the experience gained from building his poultry farm in his new endeavour.[3]

At the age of 25, after a series of spiritual experiences, he shut down his businesses and began to travel and teach yoga.[3][8]

In 1983, he taught his first yoga class, in Mysore. He began travelling across Karnataka and Hyderabad on his motorcycle, conducting his style of yoga classes, known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga, subsisting on the income from his poultry farm rental and donating the funds received from his students.[8]

Personal interests

In his earlier years, Vasudev had a love for driving motorcycles.[3][10] One of his favourite places to drive was the Chamundi Hills in Mysore, though he sometimes drove much further, including to Nepal.[3][10]

Spirituality

Jaggi Vasudev travelling with pilgrims

Although Vasudev was not brought up in a spiritual household, he recollects one of his first spiritual experiences occurring after he turned 25.[8] On 23 September 1982, he drove up Chamundi Hill, and as he sat on a stone, Vasudev had his first spiritual experience.[3][8] He explained that, "All my life I had thought, this is me...But now the air I was breathing, the rock on which I was sitting, the atmosphere around me — everything had become me."[3][8] After about six days, Vasudev had another similar experience at home.[3][8] Six weeks later, he left his businesses and travelled extensively, in an effort to seek insight into his spiritual experiences.[8] After about a year of meditation and travel, he decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.[8]

Isha Foundation

Main article: Isha Foundation

In 1992, Sadhguru established the Isha Foundation[11] as a platform for his spiritual, environmental, and educational activities.[12][13][14] In 1993, he began searching for a location to establish an ashram to cater to growing interest in his yoga classes.[3] In 1994, he purchased land near the Velliangiri mountains in the Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, and inaugurated the Isha Yoga Center.[3] Since establishing the Isha Foundation, he remains its head. The organisation offers yoga programmes under the name "Isha Yoga" and is run "almost entirely" by volunteers.[15][16] The foundation aims to improve the quality of education in rural India through an initiative called Isha Vidhya.[17] It has also launched projects and campaigns focused on environmental conservation and protection, including Project GreenHands, Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling, and Save Soil.[18][19][20][21] Vasudev recently completed a journey on his motorbike from London to India to raise awareness about the Save Soil campaign.[21]

Speeches and writings

Sadhguru has authored over thirty books, including The New York Times's bestsellers Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy[22] and Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny.[23][24][25]

Sadhguru is a frequent public speaker who has been invited to address many prestigious forums and conferences across the globe, such as the United Nations' Millennium World Peace Summit, the British House of Lords, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the International Institute for Management Development.[26] He has also spoken at the annual World Economic Forum in 2007,[27] 2017 and 2020.[28][29]

Jaggi Vasudev with wife, Vijaya Kumari

Honours and awards

Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan to Vasudev at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 13 April 2017.

In 2017, Sadhguru was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award from the Government of India, in recognition of his contribution to the field of spirituality and humanitarian services.[30][31][32] He stood 92nd in The Indian Express' list of 100 most powerful Indians in 2012 and 40th in India Today's list of 50 most powerful Indians in 2019.[33][34]

Reception

Recognition

Sadhguru has received attention from celebrities, political leaders, intergovernmental organizations, and members of the public interested in his social and environmental campaigns and spiritual teachings.[35] In May 2022, he addressed the leaders of 195 countries at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to speak about the "Journey to Save Soil" campaign, focused on raising awareness about soil degradation and the benefits of using organic matter in farming.[36][37][38] Trevor Noah hosted Sadhguru on The Daily Show to discuss Save Soil, and similarly, Joe Rogan has spoken with Vasudev on his podcast.[21][35] On World Environment Day, Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, attended an event with Sadhguru to discuss efforts to improve soil health.[39]

Criticism

Some critics have said that Sadhguru shares the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Hindu nationalism (Hindutva),[40][41][42][43] and that he takes an "intolerant nationalist" stance in his media appearances.[40] Sadhguru has also spoken in favour of the 2019 Balakot airstrike, the introduction of a comprehensive GST, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, while denouncing the Thoothukudi protests as a peril to industry.[44][45][46] Vasudev accuses leftist liberals of aiding and abetting militancy in Kashmir and has suggested that Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, known for their involvement in the JNU sedition row, should be put behind bars.[47] Critics have questioned the non-political label that he has assigned himself.[35]

Some Indian environmental activists have accused Sadhguru of greenwashing.[48]

Sadhguru has also been accused of promoting pseudoscience and misrepresenting science.[49][50] He propagates the claim, unsupported by science, that cooked food consumed during a lunar eclipse depletes the human body's pranic energies.[51] He also perpetuates numerous myths regarding clinical depression and opposes the potential prohibition on the use of mercury in traditional Indian medicine, despite the substance's extreme toxicity.[52][53] His views on the Higgs boson and alleged benefits of vibhuti have been rejected as unproven by science.[54][55]

Sadhguru has repeatedly claimed to be able to solidify mercury at room temperature; these claims have been debunked.[56]

References

  1. ^ "Family Matters - Sadhguru Speaks About His Family". Isha Foundation. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Jaggi Vasudev's father passes away". Star of Mysore. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Chopra, Shaili (2014). When I Was 25: The Leaders Look Back. Random House India. ISBN 978-81-8400-677-3.
  4. ^ a b "Vijji (Vijaykumari) : A Story of Love and Devotion". isha.sadhguru.org. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Vijaykumari, Sadhguru's Wife – Everything You Need to Know". AnswersAfrica.com. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  6. ^ Naidu, Jaywant (26 November 2017). "When beauty comes to life". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. ^ Sangeetha, P (24 October 2014). "Sadhguru's daughter gets married in Kovai". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simone, Cheryl (2010). Midnights with the Mystic. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-8495-166-0.
  9. ^ An, Shelly; December 27, New Delhi; January 4, 2020 ISSUE DATE; December 28, 2021UPDATED; Ist, 2020 16:14. "Suddenly, I did not know what was me and what was not me: Sadhguru". India Today. Retrieved 28 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b Dobhal, Shailesh (18 March 2015). "Lunch with BS: Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev". Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  11. ^ Berghella 2018, p. 69
  12. ^ "The most powerful Indians in 2009: 80–84". The Indian Express. 9 March 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. ^ "After Gujarat, Rajasthan govt inks MoU with Sadhguru's Isha Outreach to 'save soil'". The Indian Express. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Isha hails government's announcement on rejuvenation of 13 rivers". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 16 March 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 July 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ^ Award for Project Green Hands Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Hindu, 8 June 2010, retrieved on 8 June 2010
  16. ^ "'Special Consultative Status' for Isha Foundation". The Hindu. 12 September 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  17. ^ "Edtech firm BYJU's partners with NGO Isha Vidhya to educate children in rural areas". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Award for Project Green Hands". The Hindu. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Isha Yoga launches 'Rally for Rivers' campaign in city". The Times of India. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Cauvery Calling Movement plants 2.1 crore trees". The Hindu. 29 January 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Indian mystic Sadhguru on 100-day motorbike mission to save soil". the Guardian. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Interview: We asked bestselling yogi Sadhguru how to be happier". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Health". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "Religion, Spirituality and Faith". The New York Times.
  25. ^ "Books - Best Sellers: Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous". The New York Times. New York. 16 May 2021. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  26. ^ Hudson & Hudson 2017, p. 2
  27. ^ Chandrasekhar, Anand. "Indian gurus and their Swiss watches: a history". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  28. ^ "Sadhguru to Deliver Keynote, Conduct Meditation Session at Davos Summit". News18. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Golf with the Guru". The Hindu. 15 March 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  30. ^ "Jaggi Vasudev, Mariyappan among Padma award winners". The Hindu. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  31. ^ "Padma Vibhushan award for Sharad Pawar and Jaggi Vasudev". Deccan Chronicle. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  32. ^ "Padma Vibhushan Award for Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev". Lokvani. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  33. ^ "The most powerful Indians in 2012: No. 91-100 - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  34. ^ MG Arun; Shwweta Punj; Suhani Singh; Kaushik Deka; Prachi Bhuchar; Chinki Sinha; Anshuman Tiwari; Sandeep Unnithan; Amarnath K. Menon; Anilesh S. Mahajan; Uday Mahurkar (26 July 2019). "Top 50 power people | The High & Mighty Part-4". India Today. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  35. ^ a b c Paul, Sonia (18 July 2022). "Sadhguru, the spiritual leader with ties to Will Smith and Modi, explained". Vox. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  36. ^ "'Save Soil' campaign: Sadhguru to address leaders from 195 nations at UNCCD". The Indian Express. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Save Soil campaign comes to Bonn". UNCCD. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  38. ^ "The movement gaining momentum: Save Soil". IUCN. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  39. ^ Bureau, The Hindu (5 June 2022). "PM Modi calls for protection of soil health". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  40. ^ a b "Why Hindutva Nationalists Need a Sadhguru". The Wire. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  41. ^ Poruthiyil, Prabhir Vishnu (3 August 2019). "Big Business and Fascism: A Dangerous Collusion". Journal of Business Ethics. 168: 121–135. doi:10.1007/s10551-019-04259-9. ISSN 1573-0697.
  42. ^ Gopalakrishnan, Shankar (2006). "Defining, Constructing and Policing a 'New India': Relationship between Neoliberalism and Hindutva". Economic and Political Weekly. 41 (26): 2803–2813. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4418408.
  43. ^ Waghmore, Qudsiya Contractor & Suryakant. "How Jaggi Vasudev has helped strengthen fears about Muslims". Scroll.in. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  44. ^ "Jaggi Vasudev's CAA Video: 22 Minutes of Half-Truths & Gaslighting". The Quint. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  45. ^ "An (Un)Enlightened Sadhguru in King Modi's Court". The Wire. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  46. ^ Scroll Staff. "Watch: Jaggi Vasudev wants students to read CAA before protesting, but hasn't read it himself". Scroll.in. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  47. ^ Basu, Joyeeta (5 March 2019). "Fuelling peace with hatred". The Asian Age. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  48. ^ Pundir, Pallavi. "This Climate Guru Is a Celebrity in the US. In India, He's Accused of Destroying a Forest". vice.com. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  49. ^ "Should Sadhguru be Hosted by India's Top Colleges?". The Quint. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  50. ^ Shahane, Girish (20 June 2019). "Opinion: The disturbing irrationalism of Jaggi Vasudev". Scroll.in. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  51. ^ Tharoor, Shashi. "Science is not your enemy". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  52. ^ Shaikh, Dr Sumaiya (26 February 2018). "Scientific research ascertains mercury toxicity but Sadhguru continues to endorse it for Indian traditional medicines". Alt News. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  53. ^ Shaikh, Dr Sumaiya (19 August 2018). "Depression: The myths & falseness of Sadhguru's quotes". Alt News. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  54. ^ "Vibhuti & Rudraksha Mahatmayam: A Wellness Guide from Times of India!". Nirmukta. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  55. ^ Sharma, Sanjukta (18 August 2018). "'It's a battle for the survival of scientific research'". Live Mint. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  56. ^ Surita, Shabnam. "India: Doubts emerge over spiritual Yogi's environmental mission". dw.com. DW. Retrieved 4 July 2022.

Bibliography

External links

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