THE HISTORY OF AGAMA YOGA
Swami Vivekananda Saraswati, who in 1990 moved to Copenhagen to found NATHA - now Denmark’s largest Yoga school, where he taught for eight years - left Europe for India in 1998. There he studied Kundalini Yoga further and took the Swami order oaths at the Kumbha Mela, on the auspicious shores of the holy Ganges in Haridwar. The following year, just up the river in a holy town called Rishikesh, he founded Agama Yoga. This "Yoga capital of the world," as it is widely known, was a perfect place to situate the course, with its mind-inspiring, majestic views, the clean mountain air of the lower Himalayan foothills, and its special position as home to such great gurus as Swami Sivananda and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. We opened up in Swargashram, Ram Jhula, in various ashram yards and temple halls, until moving to our current location, where courses have been held for the past seven years. From there thousands of students have passed through our courses.
In those early years, Swami did everything for this little school to keep it going and develop it. He not only taught all the classes and gave all the lectures himself, he also made the advertising flyers, did the postering, and handled all the course logistics. Slowly, gradually, the school became legendary among spiritual seekers young and old passing through India.
In 2002, with 100 students per month joining the First Level Intensive Course, Swami decided to move Agama’s main center to Thailand for a number of significant reasons. Six months later, in early 2003, we opened up a Yoga hall in a restored barn on Koh Phangan, and Agama Thailand was born.
Starting over was a big process; Swami sometimes tells the story of trekking through monsoon rains to reach the Yoga hall to teach just one student in that first month here. Now, years later, Agama’s main center has six Yoga halls on the Western coast of this island, and has vastly expanded its course offerings to students. Now, we have a full seasonal calendar, holding a number of workshops, in addition to monthly 10 day silent retreats and our bi-annual 12-week Teacher Training Course. We also teach several levels of the course simultaneously on top of the First Level Intensive Course, and Swami holds discourses several evenings per week in various themed series. Each year sees a lecture series by Swami; topics have included an in-depth series on the Bhagavad Gita, in addition to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and discourses on the teachings of Jesus, just to mention a few.
The horizons continue to broaden for this once small and unknown school. We have published three of Swami Vivekananda's nine books currently in production - Damaru Tantra, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga; and we hope to continue publishing as each is finished. Swami now has a yearly international tour, conducting workshops and lectures in a number of countries, such as Canada, USA and the UK. We are researching land and facility options for the creation of an ashram and healing center, and we have been joined by Swami's longtime colleague, Sahajananda - a meditation master and spiritual powerhouse in his own right – who continues to offer 10 day ‘Hridaya - Revelation of the Self’ Retreats on Koh Phangan.
Agama is an International Yoga Federation member school with branches in India, Canada, Estonia, Israel, Mexico, UK, Netherlands, please click here for a full listing.
We are very happy at our new home in the tropical paradise of Thailand, spending the days on our "Yoga island" doing practice by the beach. This Theravedan Buddhist country, known as the "land of smiles," was voted the top travel destination worldwide by Lonely Planet readers, no doubt due largely to the hospitality and friendliness of the Thais themselves. It is inexpensive to live here for long periods of study, making it ideal for our students, and food is fresh and healthy, with increasing opportunities for organic and international options. The air is clean and breezy and the beautiful view across the sea elevates us as we elevate our consciousness through Yoga.
Agama’s courses have often been called "life changing" by students. Change our history by joining us, and let Agama change your life, too!