Swami SatyaDaya
Swami SatyaDaya, whose spiritual name means 'Wisdom in Compassionate Action’, is the Director of Mandala Yoga Ashram.
He officially took on this position in 2021 from our founder Swami Nishchalananda on his retirement from the active running of the Ashram.
Swami SatyaDaya combines a natural organisational capacity with a first-hand understanding of the deeper process of spiritual awakening, allowing him to marry clear thinking and rare insight in fulfilling his Director's role.
He describes this role as an intuitive process involving a delicate balance between holding the Ashram on a course that remains true to its founding spirit, while also being open to new energies, possibilities and creativities.
Finding Water In The Desert
Having from an early age had a burning need to find genuine answers to life’s deepest questions, he first discovered yoga in Nepal and had a clear feeling of coming home to a practice and body of teachings that held the possibility of answers.
Following that experience he soon found his way to Mandala Yoga Ashram, around 20 years ago now, and instantly felt a strong connection to the place and to Swami Nishchalananda.
He recognised in Swamiji an authentic wisdom and appreciated his no-nonsense approach to spirituality, which made it seem completely normal and valid to have an intense longing for the truth and to be seeking direct experience of the unimaginable.
After his first visit to the Ashram he soon came back, again and again, and then in 2005 came here to live, which began an intense 8-year period of inner transformation and realisation, which later softened into a more subtle ongoing process of opening and integration.
Over the years he has developed a deep appreciation for the power of the system of yoga, and for the sophisticated spiritual understanding contained within its teachings.
He has been a senior ashram teacher since his return in 2015, and loves witnessing the moments when something really moves for someone, when the lights come on for them, as a consequence of the teachings or practices or simply through being in the environment of the Ashram.
Beyond his yogic path, Swami SatyaDaya is a passionate wildlife photographer and self-confessed nature lover, finding deep meaning and nourishment in the spontaneous meditation experiences that occur in nature, where the mystery pointed to in all spiritual teachings is present on the most imminent level. He believes that time in nature sharing with and intimately observing other living things, is as fundamental to human well-being as any formal practice.
He is also a keen rugby fan, and as the new director is committed to preserving the Ashram tradition of following the Six Nation’s Rugby Championship on TV each year.
He speaks of the past 20 years as an extraordinary rollercoaster process which he could have never imagined, and would never have chosen had he known what would be involved, but which he would not have missed for the world.
After looking for truth so desperately throughout his life, his journey has been like finding water in the desert, and for that he is deeply grateful.
Some of Swamiji SatyaDaya's Nature Photography
Swami SatyaDaya's Extenal Courses
Every year Swami SatyaDaya leads retreats that aim to combine traditional yogic practice with time spent in nature so that the very world around us becomes a doorway into the deeper mystery that we are innately one with.
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