About Swami Chetanananda
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Swami Chetanananda
Swami Chetanananda ("Swamiji") is an American spiritual teacher who has spent his life assimilating the great tantric teaching traditions into a new non-dual model of spiritual understanding. From that understanding, he has developed a practical approach for modern lives that is accessible by anyone. Drawing from his study and practice of kundalini yoga, Śakta Śaivism, Śrī Vidyā, Vajrayana tantrism, osteopathy, quantum physics and neuroscience, Swamiji articulates a new model of universal consciousness. Swamiji teaches that consciousness is in eternal union with respiratory process, which he terms the Breath of Life, and can be accessed by anyone through contact, alignment and flow with the creative energy. Swamiji met his primary guru, Swami Rudrananda ("Rudi"), in 1971, received sannyas from Swami Muktanananda in 1978, and studied with a number of other tantric masters and prominent academics. Born and educated in the US, Swamiji has traveled widely and explored the tantric tradition in all its forms, from the plains of North India to Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley and the steppes of Tibet. His practice and studies include kundalini yoga, Kashmir Śaivism and Śakta Śaivism, Śrī Vidyā and the Śrī Chakra Practice, as well as Vajrayana tantrism. He also has a deep working knowledge of the principles of osteopathy, homeopathy and Qigong, which inform his teachings. Swamiji has written numerous books on spiritual practice and philosophy, published by Rudra Press. He established Nityananda Institute to develop and promote kundalini yoga related studies, and founded The Movement Center, a spiritual community based in Portland, Oregon.
About the Śiva Sutras
The philosophical and practical currents within Kashmir Śaivism expressed themselves first in the agamas, texts which were accepted as divine revelation without human authorship. These took the forms of dialogues between Śiva and his consort Śakti. By the eighth century, so many agamas had been written that it was difficult to master them all. So, a teacher by the name of Vasugupta recorded the Śiva Sutras. This was the first text associated with a particular individual, and was still considered to be revealed. The purpose of the Śiva Sutras was to present the gist of the tradition and practice as a whole, in a limited number of sutras, or verses.
