The town of Paiania, east of Athens, is believed to be the birthplace of the philosopher Socrates (469-399 BCE) and the orator Demosthenes (384-322 BCE). Today, little remains of the ancient town, but tourists still visit Paiania—a 30-minute drive from Athens—to see the famous Koutaki cave, which lies on the slopes of Mount Hymettos. Situated close by, is Satyanandashram Hellas, a residential yoga ashram established by Swami Sivamurti Saraswati in 1984.
The ashram’s imposing metal gates stand amidst dense, lush foliage, in brilliant shades of green, reflecting spring in all its glory. The blaring horns and thick smog of Athens are forgotten in the sounds of crickets and birds, and the sweet smell of lavender and pine. There is not a soul in sight and the stillness is intimidating. I press a bell; its shrill sound pierces the silence. A minute later, a peep window set within the gate opens, and a lady’s head pops out and says hello. I explain that I have an appointment with Sivamurti, and she instructs a guard to let me in. I’m then escorted to a patio, set in a small but beautifully manicured garden, and given a chair. As I observe my surroundings, a lady dressed in a simple orange robe approaches and introduces herself as Atmaja. She tells me that I’m extremely lucky to get an appointment with her guru, as she travels most of the time teaching courses, and had only arrived at the ashram the previous day.
A moment later, Sivamurti walks onto the patio, dressed in an orange robe and headgear, and wearing a radiant smile. She is tall, sprightly, and with luminous skin. After exchanging pleasantries, I ask how she, an Australian, came about setting up a yoga ashram in Greece.
“Forty years ago, my guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, [who founded the Bihar School of Yoga in 1964] gave me the mandate to teach yoga in Greece,” says Sivamurti. “His mission was ‘to carry the message of yoga from shore to shore and from door to door’. In 1977, I started teaching yoga in Kalamata, a city in the south of Greece. At that time, the Greek Orthodox Church thought yoga was a form of religion, and considered it heresy. Hence, there was a certain amount of opposition. Today, however, yoga is well accepted by the church. In fact, earlier this year, when I visited Kalamata, the bishop there told me that he would welcome yoga, kirtan and chanting in church; that he would welcome a spiritual lifestyle.”
She says that the ashram is flanked by two Greek Orthodox monasteries with which it has harmonious relations. “Recently, when I taught a yoga course in South America, it was conducted in a nunnery,” she says.
Satyanandashram Hellas offers training in the sanyasa gurukul tradition, yogic practices and teacher training. “Yoga has become a bit of a supermarket these days,” says Sivamurti. “We stick to traditional yoga, which, we believe, should be incorporated into one’s lifestyle. A person following any religion can practise yoga. In fact, it strengthens your own religion.”
A typical day at the ashram, she says, begins early in the morning with yoga and chanting. Ashramites then go to work in various departments: IT, finance, agriculture, kitchen, arts and crafts, and the library. Yoga classes are held in the afternoon, and evenings are filled with kirtans, lectures and satsangs. “Every Saturday, we chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra 108 times for world peace,” says Sivamurti. “We celebrate all festivals: Navratri, Shivratri, Diwali, Guru Poornima, Christmas and Easter.”
Satyanandashram Hellas is based on ‘seva yoga’ where all services are voluntary. In Salonica, north of Greece, the Satyanandashram Math kitchen feeds the homeless and unemployed. They are also taught yoga. In the past few years, Greece, like other European countries, has seen an influx of migrants. Satyananda teachers conduct yoga classes for migrants in Greek, and instructions are simultaneously translated into Arabic and other languages.
Sivamurti travels to India at least three times a year, but hardly visits Australia. “What are your hobbies?” I ask. “Yoga is my passion,” she says. “Leading a sanyasi lifestyle is my passion and it is challenging. I have been doing it for more than 40 years.”
As I bid her goodbye, Sivamurti presents me with a gift: a bagful of books on the teachings of Satyananda, The Bihar School of Yoga, and Satyanandashram Hellas. “This must be the last thing you want to carry on a flight back home!” she says, genially.
Atmaja offers to take me around the ashram. As we walk down a garden path, I look wide-eyed at the dazzling variety of flowers and trees. She informs me that the ashram has a wide variety of fruit trees: orange, lemon, plum, cherry, fig, apricot, apple pomegranate, almond and olive—perfect ingredients for a delicious summer salad! It also grows a variety of herbs like Greek tulsi, lavender and oregano.
Further down the path, I spot a structure that looks just like the Parthenon—the temple that sits atop the Acropolis, majestically overlooking the city of Athens. Only, unlike the original, this one is not dedicated to the goddess Athena, but to Satyananda, and has a large image of him alongside his writings. “Greek architecture has been incorporated into our temples,” says Atmaja. Ensconced in a corner, shaded by a small tree, lies a mini version of the structure; this one housing a shivaling.
A lady is stretching her yoga mat on a grassy patch, and I scurry across to have a word with her before she begins her asanas. She is Lisa Forander, also known as Isha, a Swedish yoga teacher; part of a group of Satyananda yoga teachers from Germany, Serbia, Israel and Sweden, who have come to the ashram for a four-day residential course on ‘awareness’. “Fifteen teachers from Satyanandashram Sweden are here to do the course,” says Forander, 40. “I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”
On my way out, I spot an elderly lady earnestly packaging some leaves. “She is my mother,” says Atmaja. “Her name is Victoria Spiridakis, also called Mirabai. She has been a seva yogi for more than 30 years and is packaging oregano collected from our grounds.” Atmaja then tells me that her own name is Angelika Zanni.
The guard opens the metal gates once again, this time to let me out. As they close behind me, it feels like I’ve stepped out from the other world.
