Love not anyone, not even God! Our picking and choosing love brings misery. Instead, let God love you. Be Love itself.
—Sri Swami Nirmalananda (1924-1997)

Swami Nirmalananda believed in the potency of Self rule, and he called himself the “Anarchist Swami.” He was a naturalist, a vegan and a mauni—he practiced silence for 11 years. From his solitary ashram deep in the wild forest in south India where he lived with Bambi, his deer companion, Swami Nirmalananda spread his message about peace and non-violence through letters he wrote to world leaders and followers around the world. Through his practice and his teachings, Sharon and David gained confirmation of what they had been discovering on their own—that political activism is an essential part of spiritual practice. For several years, David lived as a sannyas (renunciate) after having been initiated by Swami Nirmalananda in 1989 and given the name Swami Bodhananada. Swami Nirmalananda taught Sharon and David the core mantra of Jivamukti Yoga: lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu, which Sharon interprets as: May all beings, everywhere, be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

Ahhhh Samadhi. Yoga is Samadhi. God is One. Yoga is One. Philosophy is One. That’s All.
– Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1914-2009)

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois studied yoga under his guru Sri Krishnamacharya and also attended the Sanskrit College of Mysore, where he became a professor of Sanskrit and Advaita Vedanta. He and Sri Krishnamacharya developed the Ashtanga Yoga vinyasa series based on the purifying practices described in the ancient texts, which they discovered. In 1948, he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore. In 1958, he wrote his classic book Yoga Mala, which outlines Ashtanga Yoga and explores yoga philosophy. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois lived as a householder, meaning he had a wife and family. By means of his sadhana, he was able to live in the material, secular world while at the same time being free of the usual emotional ups and downs that plague ordinary people. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois taught Sharon and David, among many important things, the power of hands-on assists in transmitting the nuances involved in the practice of asana, as well as the importance of developing and maintaining a high intention during the practice of yoga. In 1998, David was made a certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

Nobody is a fool and nobody is wise. It is the space, which makes you foolish or wise. If you have space within your mind, then you become wise, and if you have no space in your mind, then you become “otherwise.”
– Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati (left his body in 1993)

Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati, originally from Uttar Pradesh, North India, had an extensive background in Eastern and Western medicine. He practiced medicine as Dr. Ramamurti Mishra for many years in India and the USA until he took sannyas (renunciation) and became Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati. His guru was Bhagavad Das, whom he met in Bombay India. In 1958, he founded the Yoga Society of New York. Ananda Ashram, which he founded in 1964 in Monroe, New York, continues to be devoted to Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati’s teachings and message. A Sanskrit scholar, his life was dedicated to the union of science and the spirit. He is the author of Fundamentals of Yoga, The Textbook of Yoga Psychology (the definitive translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra) and Self Analysis and Self Knowledge, along with many essays. Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati’s perennial teaching, “You are not the body and mind, although you have a body and mind,” along with the importance of meditation, the study of Sanskrit, and the practice of nada yoga—tuning the mind so as to align with celestial, cosmic musical vibrations—has had a significant influence the development of Jivamukti Yoga.