Sivananda Yoga Ashram - Australia
Swami Dayananda (left) and Swami Tyagananda (right) at Sivananda Ashram Rishikesh, Himalayas 1991
After renouncing wordly life in The Bahamas (as a very successful surveyor and civil engineer), Swamiji took to the life of yoga (1975). He took up a lifetime of yoga practise in the lineage of Sri Swami Sivananda, the founder of the Divine Life Society.
He and Swami Mataji worked hard and made a lot of sacrifice to help spread the teachings of yoga.
From the Bahamas, Swamiji and Mataji moved to Dunedin, New Zealand. After selling the yoga centre there, they came to Australia with very little. A chinese man offered them 26 acres of land outside Sydney near the Blue Mountains to build an ashram. However, they declined the offer because they could see only trouble in this arrangement. Having a big ashram, means having to tell lies to get followers and funds for the upkeep of the ashram
Swami Tyagananda yoga centre Dunedin - circa 1979
Dr Hannan in New Zealand saw how simple they lived and consequently sent money to buy a car.
Swamiji always wanted to teach yoga free of charge, however, the high cost of running an ashram and looking after the needs of the residents, meant that it was necessary to charge for teaching in order to continue providing the required services and facilities. He found that he could not rely upon the community to provide sufficient help for the upkeep of the ashram.
Swamiji began studying Nada Yoga under Swami Nada Brahmananda in 1986. This began a series of stays at the Sivananda Ashram Rishikesh where he studied under his guru and also developed long lasting relationships with the senior swamis at the ashram.
Swami Dayananda urged Swamiji to learn as much as he could from Swami Nada Brahmananda and looked after cooking for him and washing his clothes in order to help achieve this goal.
Swamiji brought Swami Nada Brahmananda to the Brisbane ashram for about one year (from November 1987) with permission from Sri Swami Chidananda.
Swami Chidananda - Brisbane 1999
In April of 1999, Sri Swami Chidananda came to visit the Brisbane ashram whilst in Australia. At this time, Sri Swami Chidananda initiated Swamiji and gave him the name Swami Tyagananda. Sri Swami Chidananda asked Swamiji to initiate Mataji when she was ready. This actually took place some years ago. She is now Swami Mataji.
The Siva Yoga Divine website is dedicated to preserving the teachings of Sri Swami Sivananda, founder of the Divine Life Society and the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, Himalayas.