By NANDINI KAPADIA
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is a venerated figure around Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. For over twenty-five years, the Sadhvi has made Parmarth Niketan her home. The ashram is famous for its Ganga Aarti, which is performed on the banks of the holy river with bhajans and ceremonial rituals at sunset every day. Here, the Sadhvi’s daily routine involves giving spiritual discourses, teaching meditation, and providing counseling. Along side her guru, Swami Chidananda Saraswati, spiritual head and president of Parmarth Niketan, she also leads myriad humanitarian projects. They also travel around the world to teach about Hinduism.
A distinguishing feature about the Sadhvi is that, unlike other women sannyasins in Hindu ashrams, she hails from Los Angeles. She was born into a wealthy Jewish family and graduated from the prestigious Stanford University. In 1996, as a young woman, she reluctantly accompanied her husband to Rishikesh with no spiritual inclinations. But fate had other plans. When she immersed her feet in the Ganga, she had a profound mystical experience which changed her lifepath. Pulled by the call of the Divine Mother she embraced India and made it her home. Eventually, she was officially initiated into sannyasa in the year 2000 by Swami Chidananda.
The Sadhvi serves as the President of Divine Shakti Foundation, where she oversees activities to empower women, and raise abandoned children and orphans. She is also the Secretary General of UNICEF’s Global Interfaith Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Alliance and Director of the annual International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan. Moreover, she frequently gives keynote addresses at world forums, including the UN, World Bank and the COP28. It is no wonder that, for her selfless service, the Sadhvi has been conferred many prestigious awards.
The Sadhvi is also a successful author whose recently released memoir, ‘Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation’, is a bestseller here and abroad. In the book, she recounts her journey with honesty and clarity and, in her words, “offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really are…”.
The Sadhvi is also a successful author whose recently released memoir, ‘Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation’, is a bestseller here and abroad. In the book, she recounts her journey with honesty and clarity and, in her words, “offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really are…”.
Here are excerpts from an interview with her:
What prompted you to write a memoir? What can readers learn from it?
The real impetus for me was that I realised almost all of our spiritual leaders or masters were men who came out of the womb pretty much enlightened. Their life stories talk of amazing beings who basically from birth or early childhood knew that they were meant for the spiritual path. They were different from the rest of us. They were not interested in girls, school, sports, parties or things like that. They just wanted to meditate, be around the saints or engage in spiritual pursuits. Their lives are incredible and aweinspiring; they make you want to bow at their feet. But the dilemma is they don’t make you feel oh, he did it so I can do it too.
I realised that my story was totally different. It is a story which I hope will inspire people to say, “Oh, she did this, so can I. She did not come out of the womb enlightened. She is not cut from some different kind of cloth. She is not someone who never experienced lust, anger or jealousy or a social life or any of those things.” I lived a very ‘normal’ life for the first twenty five years in Hollywood and in Palo Alto, where I was studying at Stanford University. After graduating, I was in a PhD program there. I have experienced the full spectrum of emotions, feelings and experiences. I have undergone struggles, challenges and difficulties. Even trauma, pain and grudges around that. It is important for the people to know that here is someone who knows all the things that make us human but one who also transcended all that to find spiritual freedom and awakening.
My objective is for people to read and realise that “She is just like us, yet she found freedom, awakening and spiritual bliss.”I want people to know that grace does not discriminate. Grace is not worried about whether you got up in the morning to meditate or you hit the snooze button and went back to sleep or got angry at your spouse or felt frustrated or jealous or lustful. Grace is available regardless of anything. None of us are disqualified from the presence of grace.
I realised that my story was totally different. It is a story which I hope will inspire people to say, “Oh, she did this, so can I. She did not come out of the womb enlightened. She is not cut from some different kind of cloth. She is not someone who never experienced lust, anger or jealousy or a social life or any of those things.” I lived a very ‘normal’ life for the first twenty five years in Hollywood and in Palo Alto, where I was studying at Stanford University. After graduating, I was in a PhD program there. I have experienced the full spectrum of emotions, feelings and experiences. I have undergone struggles, challenges and difficulties. Even trauma, pain and grudges around that. It is important for the people to know that here is someone who knows all the things that make us human but one who also transcended all that to find spiritual freedom and awakening.
My objective is for people to read and realise that “She is just like us, yet she found freedom, awakening and spiritual bliss.”I want people to know that grace does not discriminate. Grace is not worried about whether you got up in the morning to meditate or you hit the snooze button and went back to sleep or got angry at your spouse or felt frustrated or jealous or lustful. Grace is available regardless of anything. None of us are disqualified from the presence of grace.
You graciously wrote the foreword for my book, “India’s Spiritual Heroines”, which is a compilation of biographies of women saints from the olden to the recent times. How relevant are these icons’ contributions to today’s modern woman?
These contributions are deeply important because as women we really need models of spiritual women, to know what their lives have been like. To realise that grace, the presence of the divine is always there for us whether we choose to live a monastic life or that of a householder. Spiritual awakening is not dependent upon renouncing family and retiring to a cave in the Himalayas. For me, it was a choice I made, a choice that some of these women made. It is very important for women to have models of monastics as well as householders.
Even though women have made immense progress towards gender equality, how can we empower them to become stronger, independent and productive?
Women don’t need to be empowered. We already have power and don’t need anyone to give it to us. What we need is the courage to embody, voice and manifest that power. A lot of that courage comes from our community.
If some women have stepped into powerful roles and are living with courage, conviction and truth, then other women will feel inspired to acknowledge and manifest their own power. So, we require more role models.
More women leaders must strive to occupy fifty percent of the seats in board rooms, in decision making rooms, in round tables. They need not be relegated to serving chai, snacks and handing out mementos. We will not live in an equal society as long as women are in the backseat. So, changes must be made in the system and ensure that space is created for them and to demand it. We can do it in a kind and loving way; we don’t need aggression or violence and go against our nature. But we have to remember that Mother Goddess is a form of Lakshmi, Saraswati and also Durga and Kali. Sometimes, that face, power and energy are absolutely required to bring back dharma, equality and righteousness. We worship the divine Mother Goddess in a way that no other culture does and yet if you look at our places of power in society outside the home, women’s roles are typically peripheral. We need more women to take up leadership roles and more women to support those roles. Moreover, it is critical that laws are enforced around domestic violence and discrimination.
If some women have stepped into powerful roles and are living with courage, conviction and truth, then other women will feel inspired to acknowledge and manifest their own power. So, we require more role models.
More women leaders must strive to occupy fifty percent of the seats in board rooms, in decision making rooms, in round tables. They need not be relegated to serving chai, snacks and handing out mementos. We will not live in an equal society as long as women are in the backseat. So, changes must be made in the system and ensure that space is created for them and to demand it. We can do it in a kind and loving way; we don’t need aggression or violence and go against our nature. But we have to remember that Mother Goddess is a form of Lakshmi, Saraswati and also Durga and Kali. Sometimes, that face, power and energy are absolutely required to bring back dharma, equality and righteousness. We worship the divine Mother Goddess in a way that no other culture does and yet if you look at our places of power in society outside the home, women’s roles are typically peripheral. We need more women to take up leadership roles and more women to support those roles. Moreover, it is critical that laws are enforced around domestic violence and discrimination.
How was the transition from a Western mindset to a Hindu one, especially after taking the vows of renunciation? How have you adapted over the years?
The mindset shift from Western to Hindu was actually not very difficult. In many ways, the tenets and teachings of Sanatana religion are dharma, not dogma. Hindu values, ethics and principles are not about how to worship God or what mantra to chant or what puja you must perform. It is about living according to truth, oneness, recognising the world as a family, accepting different paths to the divine. This is exquisite, this is what our world needs. So that was really easy for me. And by God’s grace, pronunciations were not much of a challenge.
There have certainly been moments but in times of challenge, in times of temptation, when the mind starts playing tricks on you, I feel so incredibly blessed to have a guru like Pujya Chidananda Saraswati ji whom I could go and talk to, who never judged or condemned me. Instead, he taught me spiritual practices and meditative, yogic and introspective techniques to overcome temptations and stay true to my path. It’s an incredible blessing.
There have certainly been moments but in times of challenge, in times of temptation, when the mind starts playing tricks on you, I feel so incredibly blessed to have a guru like Pujya Chidananda Saraswati ji whom I could go and talk to, who never judged or condemned me. Instead, he taught me spiritual practices and meditative, yogic and introspective techniques to overcome temptations and stay true to my path. It’s an incredible blessing.
What do the terms grace and enlightenment mean to you?
Grace is the presence of the divine, a flow in the universe. It is grace which causes flowers to open their petals to the sun. It is grace that causes apple trees to give us apples. It is grace that fills our hearts with love and devotion. I think of grace as the presence of the divine that is available and accessible to all. It is omnipresent.
Enlightenment is living in the light, removal of darkness. We chant Asato ma sat gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrityor ma amritamgamaya. It translates to ‘Oh Lord, lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Of course, the immortality is not of the body. It is to relieve me from the darkness and ignorance in which I suffer and bring suffering to others because I identify as this body. Lead me from that to light, wisdom and truth in which I realise that I am one with the divine, not anything other than the divine. To me, that’s enlightenment, a real living in light.
Enlightenment is living in the light, removal of darkness. We chant Asato ma sat gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrityor ma amritamgamaya. It translates to ‘Oh Lord, lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Of course, the immortality is not of the body. It is to relieve me from the darkness and ignorance in which I suffer and bring suffering to others because I identify as this body. Lead me from that to light, wisdom and truth in which I realise that I am one with the divine, not anything other than the divine. To me, that’s enlightenment, a real living in light.
How have you and Swami Chidananda Saraswati helped in the clean-up of the Ganga?
The Ganga clean-up has been Pujya Swami ji’s mission since long before I even met him. When I came here in 1996, he was already active in spreading awareness for keeping the Ganga clean and working to clean it up. It was that which inspired him to begin the Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan. Prior to that, the place was a sanitation ground where people would go in the morning to defecate. After trying for so many years to get people to stop, he finally built this beautiful ghat for the aarti because he knew people would not poop in the morning where they pray in the evening. Then he started inspiring and encouraging all other ashrams to build ghats, to start aartis to turn the banks of the Ganga to be places of prayer. So that’s a major initiative and he’s also been a huge leader in raising awareness, initiating advocacy programs for cleaning the Ganga. He’s been working with the government – central, state, local – to do whatever possibly can be done to keep the holy waters clean and bring in modern technology from across India and abroad to filter the waters. So, he’s been engaged in this for over forty years. It’s a blessing for me to be a part of that.
What are your views on the current government’s promotion of the Hindutva agenda?
From my side, it is better to stay spiritual than political. I absolutely love PM Modi ji. I know him personally and am blessed to have met him even before he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. I have spent time with him on Dharma Yatras, in the Caribbean countries and in the US. I am constantly impressed with the beautiful initiatives he brings forth for the betterment of every single person in India without any discrimination. His development programs, projects and yojanas bring India forward in terms of progress, education, access, training, opportunities, sustainability, everything. I am really unequivocally in favour of and loving what Modi ji does in running the country. Also, I feel grateful to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami ji, a great visionary leader who works for the betterment, development and upliftment of Uttarakhand. So, with Modi ji at the Centre and Dhami ji at state level, I feel very positive and optimistic.
The world today is witnessing wars, hostilities, political divisiveness, hunger, poverty, et al. Dismal as it may sound, do you see any hope for human kind? What solution would you offer tousher lasting peace and progress?
Absolutely I see hope. The root cause of all suffering in the world today is the feeling of separation, the myth of separation. When I feel separate from myself, from God, from the universe, I suffer. I suffer depression, anxiety, addiction, I suffer in so many ways. When we feel separate from family members, our community, society on the basis of race, religion, colour or sexual orientation or caste, etc., we bring suffering to others. We fight because we identify them as separate. We separate ourselves by drawing lines, dividing countries; we have war, we have terrorism. When we identify as being separate from Mother Earth, Mother Nature, we wreak havoc upon her. We abuse her, discard her, we consider her as a resource rather than a sacred life-giving mother. In that separateness, we bring harm to her and ourselves. So, from all that we are suffering from, from personal depression to wars and terrorism to climate change and environmental destruction, the root cause is this myth of separation.
The root solution to this mayhem is oneness, yoga in true sense as a path of unity. If you just take the first four aspects of yama, ahimsa (nonviolence), asteya (nonstealing), satya (truthfulness), aparigraha (nonpossessiveness) and niyama, the first two steps of Ashtanga Yoga of Sage Patanjali, and actually abide by them, all our problems would disappear. There would be no wars or violence, hunger or poverty, no climate change or oppression. With yoga, we can solve every single problem that we face today. That’s the reason Modi ji got International Yoga Day passed at the UN which is now celebrated all over the world. It is a huge triumph. It is to get the world involved in the core teachings of yoga, not just to do Surya namaskars. It is a way of life that reminds us that we are one, we are not separate.
What is your message for the New Year?
The year is going to be new. The calendar is going to flip over regardless of what we do. The question for each one of is do we want to live in a new way? That’s up to us. Time keeps going, it is the one thing over which we have no control. The fact that every single one of us is marching towards our death is an incontrovertible, non negotiable guarantee of human life. We are dying every minute. So, the question is do we want to live before we die. It’s not about the days in our lives but the life in our days. The Vedic religion says we can live one hundred and twenty years. Wonderful! But let there be life in our days.
I would encourage people to ask themselves: Do I want to live in a new way? Is the way that I am living working? Am I healthy in my body? Am I calm, peaceful and still in my mind? Am I joyful, full of love in my heart? Or am I full of anger, jealousy, negativity? If so, how can I change that? Here at Parmarth Niketan, every year on the night of December 31 we have a huge “Swaha Ceremony” where we offer to the sacred fire everything that is keeping us stuck, holding us back. Then we can move into the New Year morning free and fresh. That’s available to all of us. So, sow the seeds of newness today for the societies, the nations, the world we want to live in tomorrow.
(The writer is the author of ‘India’s Spiritual Heroines’)
