Amrit Desai
| Amrit Desai | |
|---|---|
Yogi Amrit Desai
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| Religion | Hinduism |
| Founder of | Amrit Yoga Institute and Kripalu Center |
| Philosophy | Yoga |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | India, USA |
| Born | Amritlal C. Desai 16 October 1932 Halol, Gujarat, India |
| Spouse | Urmila Shah (Mataji) |
| Children | Pragnesh, Kamini, Malay |
| Guru | Swami Kripalvananda |
| Literary works | Yoga of Relationships, Love and Bliss, Amrit Yoga and the Yoga Sutras |
Yogi Amrit Desai is one of the earliest pioneers of yoga in the West, and is one of the few remaining living yoga masters who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s. 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 (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."
Born on October 16, 1932, Amrit Desai is the second son of Chimanlal and Buribhen Desai. A member of the merchant class, Chimanlal supported his family by bartering goods in his storefront, literally a veranda in front of their home in the tiny village of Pratappura in the western state of Gujarat, India. Later, when Amrit was ten, the family moved to Halol. Although Amrit preferred sports over study, his heart ached for spiritual growth, even at an early age. But he was not attracted to the rituals in the Vaishnav temple to which his parents belonged. He wanted to learn from a living master rather than from rituals and dogma. At age 15, he got his wish when he met his guru, Swami Kripalvananda (Bapuji), a wandering sadhu who was offering free talks on the deeper meaning of the Bhagavad Gita in Halol. Bapuji's guru, Dadaji, is said to be Lord Lakulish, the 28th incarnation of Shiva.
Young Amrit taught himself the practice of yoga asana (postures) from a chart he had found tacked to the wall of the local gym. Such was his enthusiasm that he started teaching others outside the goshala (cow-house) where his guru lived. After the swami observed him teaching one day, he offered him a rare demonstration of his private sadhana. During the fifteen minutes that Amrit was permitted to observe, the swami went into a trance-like state and began to perform movements unlike anything he had seen on the asana charts. Amrit recalls: “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.”
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Wikipedia