Spiritual Experiences
Siv nanda Saraswati (September 8, 1887 July 14, 1963) was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Siv nanda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most part of his life near Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh. He was the founder of The Divine Life Society (1936), Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and author of over 200 books on yoga, Vedanta and a variety of subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the headquarters of The Divine Life Society (DLS), on the bank of the Ganges at Sivanandanagar, at a distance of 3 kilometres from Rishikesh. Sivananda Yoga, the yoga form propagated by him, are now spread in many parts of the world through Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, which was spread by Siv nanda's disciple, Vishnu Dev nanda, whom he sent to the west to spread yoga. However, these centres are not affiliated to Siv nanda's ashrams which are run by the Divine Life Society.