(8 October 1941 – 15 August 2019)
Sambuddha Swami Yoga Chinmaya (aka Yogacharya Swami Kriyananda Saraswati) was part of the first group of friends who took neo-sannyas from Osho, in Manali in 1970.
He had already been Osho’s secretary for three years, having come to Osho in 1965 when he lived in Jabalpur.
For three years he was Osho’s secretary in Mumbai, sharing the role with Ma Yoga Laxmi, and was in charge of Osho’s Hindi publications, editing many of his books.
In 1971, Osho asked Chinmaya to find him a new name to replace ‘Acharya’ – which he did. They then settled on ‘Bhagwan’ after discussing numerous names which didn’t work. In Pune 1 he received many blessings (aka zen sticks) from Osho for his ‘serious’ and ‘esoteric’ questions, calling him once jokingly ‘Pundit Yoga Chinmaya’.
In the very late seventies Chinmaya was asked to start a farming community in Saswad, which was then joined by many more sannyasins from Pune, in 1981.
When Osho moved to Oregon, Chinmaya set up an ashram in Nepal but rejoined Osho in Pune 2. In 1990 he left for Bageshwar (Uttarakhand), in the Indian Himalayas just west of Nepal, where he opened an ashram. He lived there for many years together with a select group of fellow travellers. His role as a spiritual teacher is said to have been low-key and low-profile.
Chinmaya left his body in absolute peace and with total acceptance this morning at 10.35am in his ashram in Shiroda, near Goa, where he had moved a few months ago.
More on Yoga Chinmaya on Osho News, including an interview by Maneesha from 1977
Text, images, videos thanks to Anil and Keerti
Swami Yoga Chinmaya, in some of his pictures, had a resemblance with Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo was born on 15th August and Swami Yoga Chinmaya chose this day of 15th August to leave his body. Swami Chinmaya was always so wonderful in the esoteric talk. I would like to add a bit of more esoteric dimension to his liking. He was such a delight to listen to whatever he shared… taking the listeners to the timeless dimension.
Here is a short example from a Kabir series of Osho discourses. Chinmaya’s Question to Osho:
As Kabir is singing the Path of Love, excuse me asking a personal question. I could not resist the temptation, so… when did you have your last girlfriend, and the last love relationship?
Osho’s answer:
And Chinmaya has disappeared; I cannot see him here. Whenever he asks a question, he hides. Just the other day he was sitting in the first row, now he has disappeared!
You are all my girlfriends, boys included. But this will not satisfy him; he needs something esoteric. So for him especially — please, nobody else should listen to it, you close your ears. It is only especially for Swami Yoga Chinmaya, because an esoteric thing has to be very secret!
I had a girlfriend when I was young. Then she died. But on her deathbed, she promised me she would come back. And I was afraid. And she has come back. The name of the girlfriend was Shashi. She died in ’47. She was the daughter of a certain doctor, Dr. Sharma, of my village. He is also dead now. And now she has come as Vivek… to take care of me. Vivek cannot remember it. I used to call Shashi ‘Gudiya’, and I started calling Vivek ‘Gudiya’ also, just to give continuity. Life is a great drama, a great play — it goes on from one life to another to another.
This is especially for Chinmaya. I hope nobody else has heard it!
The Path of Love, Ch 2, Q 6
Thanks to Jagran Neerav via FB
Tributes
You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote using our contact form (pls add ‘Chinmaya’ in the subject field).
I had just thought of him early this morning & how, given the light he himself carried, he could come to the feet of Osho. All respect Swamiji??Fly High ?
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ?
Ma Prem Seemo
I am sad to read you left, beloved Yog Chinmaya. Thank you for all your teachings and insights and support while I was living with you in Nepal. Although I could not continue to follow you on your path, I benefited tremendously from what I had experienced and learned from you while we walked together for a while. Thank you, and I know you will fare well.
Jayadip
I do bow down in deep gratitude. You had touched me deeply in Pokhara… the connection still there… continues to live on inside… ??
Aviram
सादर नमन, दिव्यात्मा को
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sam Gate Bodhi Svaha
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sam Gate Bodhi Svaha
Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond Gone utterly Beyond
Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond Gone utterly Beyond
Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond Gone utterly Beyond
Oh What An Awakening
The Heart Sutra and Mantra are often also referred to as being the spell of Prajnaparmita. Prajnaparmita can be translated to mean the “Perfection of Wisdom.”
Ma Yog Jagruti
In fond memory of Swami Chinmaya (right) when I first met him in 1974 during my first visit to Poona Ashram. On the left is Swami Krishna who is now in Germany. What a vibrant and dynamic sannyasin was Chinmaya!
Kul Bhushan
Beloved Chinmaya,
Thank you for all your tender, loving care as well as sharp insights into my life.
Being with you for weeks in Bageshwar was a blessing and an eye-opener. You gave me a beautiful meditation for my mother who was dying.
It was fun asking you questions after dinner – your answers were often both playful and esoteric.
I already miss your physical presence on this Earth.
Loving you,
Sanghamitra
The news that Swamiji has left his body today is touching me very much.
I met Swamiji in Pokhara ashram, where I was allowed to stay for about one year, while I was working as a German volunteer in Nepal. During the Nepali dasain holidays he organized with his Sangha two increadible meditation camps, which were quite mind-blowing. Many people, especially Indian and Nepali sannyasins, were attending the camps, and a few Westerners. I was very lucky because during the first camp I received Sannyas from him in 1984.
His evening meditations also were very special. A magical space opened up, where increadible processes were happening. I am so blessed, that I was in Pokhara at that time. Only later I came to understand, it must have been the way Osho had been leading his meditation sessions on Mt. Abu.
Later in the 90ties I met Swamiji coincidentally in the middle of Ram-suspension-bridge in Rishikesh with two of his closest friends. Just above the the river Ganga!
There I received the invitation to visit him in his ashram in Bageshwar. To sit with him and his closest friends while sharing the evening meal together was unbelievable. The meal was taken in natural silence, each bite was taken with full awareness, meditation was happening easily. The whole dining room was filled with increadible energy.
Beloved Swamiji, thank you very much that you came into my life. You helped me so much to cleanse my energy, before I met Osho for the first time. In Love,
Jaladhi
Thank you for your friendship Chinmaya. Fly high my friend…
Kusum
Been feeling Chinmaya’s presence so strongly this full moon. He is released from his sick body, free to connect with us all directly. I treasure the many meetings we had, sitting next to each other in Poona 1 discourse, in Delhi and Bageshwar. Especially touched by those beautiful sanmyasins that have been with him so many years. His last words to me was that I was a true Osho disciple! Jai Jai Jai Swamiji! Thank you for lighting the Way.
Abhiyana
Sitting on a chair in a spartan room,
patiently waiting for darshan with you.
The door opens and you enter,
the room is filled with light.
My questions to you are gone,
yet all answered by you.
Whatever I do, do it with grace.
Later we met on the balcony in front of your room,
playfully showing me Osho’s booklets from Bombay,
to be photographed and documented for eternity.
My hope is indeed that these treasures are to be preserved.
Eating in the group with you, in silence.
Walking in the fields with you,
visiting Hindu temple nearby.
Driving slowly by car, real slow,
in the mountains to watch the sunset..
Twice I was with you in Bageshwar,
and you were sharing your energy…
What more to say?
Bliss.
Sw Anand Neeten
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