Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is an extraordinary woman who was leading an ordinary life before her backpacking trip to India 22 years ago. She was raised in a Jewish family in Hollywood, California, and graduated from Stanford University. She was completing her Ph.D. when she went on a holiday to India in 1996 with some friends. When she arrived at Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, her life took an unexpected and surreal turn, and she decided to make the holy place her home. She has been living there for the last two decades, engaged in spiritual practice and dedicated service. She was officially initiated into the order of Sanyas (monastic renunciation) in the year 2000, by her Guru, His Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswati. She is now referred to as “Sadhvi-Ji” by her followers.
Sadhviji is a renowned speaker who gives keynote addresses at large forums on a wide variety of topics ranging from conscious business to science, spirituality and sustainable development, as well as happiness, peace and all aspects of yoga. She has also been a speaker at the United Nations, Parliament of World Religions, Women’s Economic Forum and many international conferences and summits. Her talks blend the knowledge and logic of the West with the insights, spirituality and wisdom of the East. At the ashram in Rishikesh, which also hosts the International Yoga Festival every year, she gives spiritual discourses and daily satsang, teaches meditation, provides counseling and oversees myriad charitable and humanitarian projects and activities.
Read more at www.sadhviji.org
To watch her interview, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS7hETIM-WM&t=9s
This article was first published in the print edition of Yoga Journal Singapore, which is now Yogahood Online
