Sadananda

Sadananda was born in 1949 in Denver, Colorado. He began his formal spiritual studies at the opening semesters of Naropa Institute, after which he studied Buddhist meditation and philosophy for five years with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Advised by Rinpoche to study vipassana, Sadananda attended the first three month retreat ever held at Insight Meditation Centre, with Joseph Goldstein. Becoming qualified as a meditation instructor, Sadananda opened a meditation center in Five Points, Denver.

Soon he discovered a deep deisire to explore the roots of Buddhism in India. After saving money as an ice cream seller, he set out on his pilgrimage. Traveling overland from the United Kingdom to India, through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, Sadananda gained an in depth knowledge of Islam, Sufism and a variety of other cultures and religious philosophies. After a long search for an authentic spiritual master in India, Sadananda met Raghudas Maharaj, his guru. During seven years of pilgrimage, studying yoga, meditation, and Indian mysticism, Sadananda lived as a barefoot wandering renunciant according to the ancient spiritual tradition of India. He meditated in the jungle, living without money as prescribed in India's spiritual texts, staying at ashrams and temples.

Sadananda became a disciple of Raghudas Maharaj, also studying with Father Bede Griffiths, Nisargadatta Maharaj, J. Krishnamurti and Anandamayi Ma. In his pilgrimage he traveled from the southern tip of India to the Himalayas. Sadananda met Alakananda Devi and his guru asked him to stay with her. Their relationship slowly blossomed into a spiritual marriage. Together they developed deep friendships not only with saints, yogis, and renunciants, but beggars, trash pickers, untouchables and lepers. They also developed friendships with many Indian families. Along with Alakananda Devi, Sadananda worked at Om Yeshu Niketan, Goa, as a meditation therapist in a community for western hippies who had become psychotic.

Sadananda was instructed by two God Realized women of his lineage to go to America with Alakananda and there make an ashram for Raghudas Maharaj. 

Sadananda is a musician, artist, meditation teacher, spiritual guide, flower essence maker and healer. He has studied Jewish mysticism, Jewish prayer, Hasidism, Spiritual Direction, Life-Cycle Rituals and Paradigm-shift studies with his teacher, the late Rabbi Zalman Schachter, through Naropa Institute of Continuing Education. He has also studied raga singing (Indian classical music) and has become a well known local musician. He leads weekly gatherings for Vedic chanting and devotional singing. Sadananda has made many flower essences, developing an innovative new form of Vibrational Healing "Geographical Essences" (related to flower essences). In conjunction with these essences, he has developed Earth Healing ceremonies and taught Earth Healing to others, especially youth. Sadananda created the Healing Garden at Alandi Ashram, according to ancient Vedic and Ayurvedic principles of gardening and has led many earth healing public ceremonies in the garden.

At Alandi Ashram, Sadananda has done ground-breaking work at the interface of spirituality and environmentalism. He also mentors youth in creating earth-friendly, non-competetive, non-consumer lifestyles. In 1997 he expanded Alandi Ashram into an intentional community. Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula was started in 1998, where Sadananda teaches  meditation and offers guidance and mentoring.

View Sadananda's photostream on flckr.com.