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Amrit Desai
Desai in 2016
Personal life
Born
Amritlal C. Desai

(1932-10-16)16 October 1932
Halol, Gujarat, India
NationalityIndia, United States
SpouseUrmila Shah (Mataji)
ChildrenPragnesh, Kamini, Malay
Religious life
ReligionHinduism
Founder ofAmrit Yoga Institute and Kripalu Center
PhilosophyYoga
Religious career
GuruSwami Kripalvananda
Quotation

Your body is the most sacred place of pilgrimage you will ever come to.[1]

Amrit Desai is a pioneer of yoga in the West, and one of the few remaining living yoga gurus who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s.[2][3] He is the creator of two brands of yoga, Kripalu Yoga and I AM Yoga, and is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US. His yoga training programs have reached more than 40 countries worldwide and over 8,000 teachers have been certified.

Homegrown Gurus, published in 2013, states: "Although Desai has not received scholarly attention, he has arguably been one of the most influential and sought-after figures in the development of Hatha Yoga in America over the last 40 years."[4]

Early life and education

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Radha Krishna by Desai
Bridal Celebration by Desai

Desai was born on 16 October 1932, the second son of Chimanlal, a village merchant, and Buribhen Desa in Pratappura in Gujarat, India. At age ten, the family moved to Halol. At age 15, he met his guru, Swami Kripalvananda (Bapuji), a wandering Shaivite monk and kundalini yoga master[5] who was offering free talks on the Bhagavad Gita in Halol.[6]

Desai taught himself yoga postures from a chart he found tacked to the wall of the local gym, and then began teaching others outside the cowshed where his guru lived. After the swami observed him teaching one day, he allowed him to witness his private sadhana. The swami went into a trance-like state and began to perform movements unlike anything he had seen on the asana charts. Desai said, "The pranic energy became so strong his body was hurled across the room with tremendous force. As I watched in awe, he was dancing, weaving in and out of complicated asanas."[6]

After studying engineering and training with the Indian Air Force in Madras, Desai returned to Halol, where he took a job teaching art at the local high school. He married his betrothed, Urmila Shah, in January 1955. The following year, in 1956, the couple moved to Ahmedabad, where he earned his art diploma over the next four years.[7] They had three children between 1959 and 1968.

Desai saved enough money to travel to the United States in February 1960, where he entered the Philadelphia College of Art with only enough money to cover his first semester's tuition and rent. By teaching yoga and washing dishes while at college, he eventually saved enough money to bring his wife and infant son to the U.S. two years later.[7] Desai is a vegetarian and practices occasional fasting.[8]

In 1964, he graduated with a degree in fine arts and design from the Philadelphia College of Art, and then began working at a textile firm. His watercolor paintings won awards at art shows, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He created distinct textures and patterns with razor blades and eye-droppers.[6] In 1961, while still a college art student, he played the flute in a "Music of India" concert at the Commercial Museum at the Philadelphia Convention Center.[9]

Career

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Yoga pioneer

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From left: Swami Satchidananda, B.K.S. Iyengar, Amrit Desai, Shri Kumar-swami, Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, and B.I. Atreya at the World Conference on Scientific Yoga in New Delhi in 1970

In 1966, during his first visit to India since his arrival in the United States, Swami Kripalvananda gave him initiation and further instruction in kundalini yoga. In 1966, after returning to the U.S., he left his job to form The Yoga Society of Pennsylvania and teach yoga full-time.[5][2]

Two years later, in 1970, he claimed to have had a Kundalini awakening experience that revealed to him that Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are a manual for the practice of Ashtanga Yoga rather than mere philosophy. Out of this experience Desai created a form of hatha yoga called Kripalu Yoga, named in honour of his guru.[10] His Meditation in Motion approach is based on the practical application of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga in daily life. The system combines two traditional paths of yoga: the rigorous discipline of Ashtanga yoga with the path of initiation and surrender that is Kundalini yoga.[5] In this system, the student begins with the practice of wilful discipline and gradually moves on to the more advanced practice of surrender to prana.[7]

In 1966, the not-for-profit Yoga Society of Pennsylvania was formed,[5] renamed in 1972 as the Kripalu Yoga Fellowship.[2] By 1970, it had trained 44 teachers and grown to 150 yoga classes, attended by more than 2,500 students per week, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Delaware, and southern New Jersey, making it one of the largest Yoga organisations at that time.[7][5][11]

In 1972, the first Kripalu Ashram was founded in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania on a 50-acre property purchased to fulfill the growing demand among students for a yogic lifestyle experience. Desai reduced his teaching to once per week to make time for higher yoga practice. The ashram also became a program center that provided the volunteer residential staff and teachers the in-depth study and practice of yoga, along with a yogic lifestyle. A variety of health, yoga and spiritual trainings and programs were offered. As the demand for programs grew, the residential staff grew from 37 to 70. In 1974, Desai spent three months in seclusion at a small cottage on the property that came to be known as Muktidham. Upon his return, he was greeted by 350 disciples, mostly dressed in white, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Detroit, Chicago, and Montreal for the celebration.[12]

In 1976, an additional ashram was opened in Summit Station, Pennsylvania to accommodate the growth in program participants and volunteer staff. As a result, the program center grew to provide a greater variety of programs, and the residential staff grew to 150. In 1983, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health was founded in Lenox, MA.[5] The staff of Summit Station was transferred to Lenox, and soon grew to 350 full-time resident staff.

By 1994, Kripalu Yoga teachers were teaching in 50 states and 45 countries worldwide, and it was described as the world's largest yoga and health center.[7] The Amrit Yoga Institute in Salt Springs, FL was founded in 2001, and currently operates as an ayurvedic healing and yoga retreat center. Regular yoga teacher trainings are offered in the Integrative Amrit Method, or the I AM techniques. In 2014, he co-founded the International University of Yoga and Ayurveda that offers accredited training programs in the US and in India. To date, Desai is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US, and co-founder of a university of Ayurvedic sciences.

A Shaktipat lineage

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Swami Kripalu (Bapuji) Mahasamadhi shrine at Malav ashram in Gujarat, India

Yogi Desai was initiated into the secrets of Shaivite kundalini yoga by his guru, Swami Kripalu (Kripalvananda), a master of tantric sadhana. There are numerous documented accounts of energetic transmission or shaktipat experienced in his presence.[5]

D. R. Butler describes a meditation led by Desai at a week-long retreat with about 200 attendees at the 1973 ICSA Yoga Convocation, where Desai was an unannounced guest:

Clad in a flowing white robe and sitting before us, Amrit easily assumed the lotus posture, his body perfectly poised. He led us into a meditation and the first thing I noticed was a wave of euphoria permeating my body. Suddenly surges of energy like electrical charges streaked up my spine. These gradually evolved into a steady current of hot energy flowing from my tip of my spine to the top of my head... Brilliant colors stirred inside my head. I thought I would burst with happiness. Nothing had ever felt so good... In a few moments the place was a madhouse. People were crying hysterically, laughing uncontrollably, gasping for breath, even rolling on the floor. Apparently everyone was experiencing some manifestation of the same energy I was feeling... My feeling of euphoria continued for several hours and I knew I would never be quite the same again.[13]

David Frawley stated:

Yogi Desai revived the ancient teachings of the millennial old Shaivite Yoga, rooted in the Lakulish tradition from Kayavarohan in Gujarat, one of the greatest centers of India's older Yoga practices… Yogi Desai has demonstrated a Prana Siddhi in which he can allow the Universal Prana to move not only through his mind and body but also through his environment and into the audience around him, awakening their own inner prana and spiritual intelligence.[14]

In the afterword to Ancient Wisdom, Modern Master, Michael A. Singer described a meeting with Desai during which his heart chakra was "permanently opened" by "the simple touch of Amrit's hand."[6]

Controversy

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The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health was an Ashram. One of the spiritual practices that the single residents were expected to practice was celibacy (brahmacharya). Although sex within marriage was condoned at the ashram, after his third child was born in 1968, Desai declared that he would now practice celibacy too. A large celebration was held for this event. So important was this practice of celibacy that occasionally meetings were held and residents were asked to divulge anyone they thought might have violated that sacred practice. As a result, some residents were ejected from the community.

The irony was that the two most senior members of the community, including Desai, were practising adultery. After years of infidelity with numerous people, in 1994, it was revealed and admitted that Desai had had sexual contact with at least three female resident disciples and was forced to resign his position as Spiritual Director.[15][16]

Then, in an open letter to the Kripalu community, Desai stated, "More than anything I want Kripalu to remain a spiritual home for many. I want you to know that we came to this decision together… I deeply regret any suffering I have caused to the people directly involved and to the entire Kripalu family."[15]

Amrit Yoga Institute

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Amrit Yoga Institute in Salt Springs, Florida

When Michael A. Singer, a long-time supporter and host of Desai's seminars, heard that Desai had left the Kripalu community, he invited him and his wife to spend some quiet time living with the Temple of the Universe community in Alachua, Florida. The Desais arrived in December 1994 and stayed on the property for roughly three years.[17]

In 1996, Desai resumed teaching at the original Kripalu Ashram in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania. After a couple of years, mostly in Pennsylvania, the Desai family relocated to Salt Springs, Florida in 2002, where Yogi Desai currently teaches at the Amrit Yoga Institute, a lakeside retreat on the banks of Lake Kerr in the Ocala National Forest. Amrit Yoga Institute is an ashram where the guru-disciple relationship continues to flourish and residents enjoy the benefits of a traditional yogic lifestyle. Programs of varying length are offered for yoga teacher training, ayurveda, and recovery.[4] The Salt Springs property was sold in 2023, but AYI continues to hold online classes, as well as in person classes elsewhere, and Yogi Desai continues to teach.

While no longer an ashram, Kripalu continues to operate and is presently one of the largest yoga and health centers in North America, offering a wide range of programs and professional trainings in health, spirituality, yoga, and more.[4]

Humanitarian work

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In 2011, he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, in Naples, Florida, "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world."

He provided scholarships to the poor in India, and assisted approximately 5,000 women financially through the Bhuriben Trust, which he founded. He also provided free medicines and medical treatment and helped launch a new children’s school in Halol.[18]

Awards

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The 1986 World Religious Parliament Awards in New Delhi, during which Desai was honoured with the title of Jagadacharya
  • Doctor of Yoga Science, 1974 – From Jagadaguru Shankaracharya Maharaj, Dwarka, spiritual leader of Hinduism, for outstanding contributions to humanity.[19]
  • Yogacharya, 1980 – From Swami Kripalvananda, Desai's guru and founder of Kayavarohan Tirtha Shiva Temple, Malav Ashram, and Lord Lakulish Yoga Institute, in recognition of years of intensive study, teachings and practice of philosophy and spiritual principles of yoga.[19]
  • Jagadacharya, 1986 – From the World Religious Parliament, New Delhi, India, established by Swami Vivekenanda in 1894. This honourable title, equivalent to Jagadaguru Shankaracharya, was awarded to five world-renowned teachers for spreading Hindu philosophy and wisdom worldwide.[19]
  • Maharishi, 1986 – From the 105-year-old Sadguru Swami Gangeshwaranandji Maharaj, Udasin, chancellor of Udasin Sanskrit University, Benares, founder of 12 ashrams in India and 600 Ved Mandirs.[19]
  • Vishwa Yoga Ratna, 1987 – Conferred by the Vishwa Unnayan Samsad (World Development Parliament of India) to 10 world-renowned teachers from 10 countries (India, USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, France), this one-time award was presented by the President of India in recognition of lifelong dedication and service in the field of Yoga. Desai was selected to represent the USA.[19]
  • Padma Vibhushan Nomination, 1992 – Nominated by the late Prime Minister of India, Chandra Shekhar, with a positive response from then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao for 1993.[19]
  • Unity in Yoga Plaque, 1993 – In appreciation for years of dedicated services to yoga in the Americas. Presented by Unity in Yoga Teachers Association celebrating 100 years of Yoga in America.[19]
Post-Kripalu
  • Patanjali Award, 2010 – For Excellence in Yogic Research and Teachings in North America, from the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America (AAPNA).[19]
  • Inaugural Fellow, Council for Yoga Accreditation International (CYAI), 2012 – The council recognised four inaugural Fellows who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement and contribution to the field of Yoga.[19]
  • Maharishi Sandipani Award, 2013 – From the Ujjain Yog Life Society International, at the 4th International Yog Conference, held in January 2014 in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.[19]
  • International Yoga Grand Master, 2013 – From Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maharaj (recipient of Padma Shri). The only previous recipients of this award were B.K.S. Iyengar and Dr. Nagendra, SVYASA University, Bangalore.[19]

Publications

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Books

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  • Kripalu Yoga: Meditation-in-Motion (1985)
  • In the Presence of a Master (1992)
  • Amrit Yoga: Explore, Expand, Experience (2004)
  • Amrit Yoga and the Yoga Sutras (2010)
  • Love and Bliss: Meditations on the Art of Living (2014)
  • Yoga of Relationships (2015)
  • Embodying the Power of the Zero Stress Zone (2017)
  • Letters from Swami Kripalu (2017)

Media

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  • Ecstatic Chanting Vol I and II
  • Integrative Amrit Method Yoga Level I and II
  • Yoga Nidra: Healing and Rejuvenation MP3 (2005)
  • Yoga Nidra: Journey to the Heart MP3 (2013)
  • I AM Yoga Nidra led by Yogi Amrit Desai – YouTube
  • "Return to the source" with Yoga Nidra led by Yogi Amrit Desai – YouTube

References

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  1. ^ Yogi Amrit Desai, Love and Bliss, 2014
  2. ^ a b c Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). "Desai, Guru Amrit". Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020.
  3. ^ Beck, Phillipa (4 December 2019). "Power and Prana: When Yoga Leads to Abuse". Retrieved 17 August 2021. Amrit Desai was the spiritual head of Kripalu from the 1970s until his abrupt departure in 1994. The charismatic, kundalini-raising guru was a master at creating a powerful, direct experience of prana, or life-force energy
  4. ^ a b c Goldberg, Ellen (2013). "Amrit Desai and the Kripalu Center". In Ellen Gleig; Lola Williamson (eds.). Homegrown Gurus. State University of New York. pp. 63–86.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Leviton, Richard (March–April 1990). "Yoga in America: The First 100 Years". Yoga Journal (91): 123–124.
  6. ^ a b c d Lila Ivey, Bikram Choudhury and Mickey Singer, Ancient Wisdom, Modern Master, 2012
  7. ^ a b c d e Gene Thursby, Hindu Movements Since Mid-Century, America's Alternative Religions, State University of New York, 1995
  8. ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. (1993). The illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. p. 161. ISBN 0-8239-1505-0
  9. ^ Exotic Music of India played at Concert Here, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 November 1961
  10. ^ Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). "Kripalu Yoga". Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-8160-5458-9. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020.
  11. ^ Yoga Group Lists 2,500 Followers, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 1970
  12. ^ The Day The Guru Came Down From The Mountain, Today (The Philadelphia Inquirer magazine), 5 May 1974
  13. ^ D. R. Butler, Instant Cosmic Consciousness, Kundalini Evolution and Enlightenment, ed. John White, Anchor Books, 1979
  14. ^ Personal letter to Yogi Amrit Desai on the occasion of his 60th birthday
  15. ^ a b Cushman, Anne; Montgomery, Lizette (February 1995). "Yogi Desai Resigns From Kripalu". Yoga Journal (January/February 1995): 40, 42.
  16. ^ Schneider, Carrie (2003). American Yoga: The Paths and Practices of America's Greatest Yoga Masters. Barnes & Noble. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-7607-4558-8.
  17. ^ Michael A. Singer, The Surrender Experiment, 2015
  18. ^ Yug Prabha newspaper, Halol, India, 2007
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Honors & Awards". Amritji.org. Retrieved 29 August 2019.

Further reading

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Yogi Amrit Desai has been the subject of several biographies, including:

  • Lila Ivey, Bikram Choudhury and Mickey Singer (2012). Ancient Wisdom, Modern Master: The Story of Yogi Amrit Desai. MahaMedia Inc.
  • Amrit Desai and Christine Deslauriers (1992). In The Presence of the Master. Kripalu Publications.
  • Sukanya Warren, Peter Mellen, and Francis Mellen (1982). Gurudev: The Life of Yogi Amrit Desai. Kripalu Publications.
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