Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda, founder of the Bihar School of Yoga and Satyananda Yoga worldwide, left the body and attained Maha Samadhi at midnight (India time) Saturday 5th December 2009.

He called Swami Satsangi at 11:30pm and said it was time for him to go; he was sitting in padmasana practising japa and left his body at midnight with a smile on his face.

Remember that the relationship that exists between the Guru and disciple is eternal. So whilst we may feel some loss on a physical level, be comforted by the knowledge that the mystical relationship of guidance, grace and blessings sustains the disciple through all births and all of eternity.

The sankalpa that Swamiji made at the time of his initiation into sannyasa:

I am an invisible child of a thousand faces of love,
That floats over the swirling sea of life,
Surrounded by the meadows of the winged shepherds,
Where divine love and beauty,
The stillness of midnight summer's warmth pervades.

Life often cuts at my body and mind
And though blood may be seen passing,
And a cry might be heard,
Do not be deceived that sorrow could dwell within my being
Or suffering within my soul.
There will never be a storm
That can wash the path from my feet,
The direction from my heart,
The light from my eyes,
Or the purpose from this life.

I know that I am untouchable to the forces
As long as I have a direction, an aim, a goal:
To serve, to love, and to give.
Strength lies in the magnification of the secret qualities
Of my own personality, my own character
And though I am only a messenger,
I am me.

Let me decorate many hearts
And paint a thousand faces with colours of inspiration
And soft, silent sounds of value.
Let me be like a child,
Run barefoot through the forest
Of laughing and crying people,
Giving flowers of imagination and wonder,
That God gives free.
Shall I fall on bended knees,
And wait for someone to bless me
With happiness and a life of golden dreams?

No, I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open,
Sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling,
But always picking myself up,
A thousand times if necessary,
Sometimes happy.
Often life willl burn me,
Often life will caress me tenderly
And many of my days will be haunted
With complications and obstacles,
And there will be moments so beautiful
That my soul will weep in ecstasy.

I shall be a witness,
But never shall I run
Or turn from life, from me.

Never shall I forsake myself
Or the timeless lessons I have taught myself,
Nor shall I let the value
Of divine inspiration and being be lost.
My rainbow-covered bubble will carry me
Further than beyond the horizon's settings,
Forever to serve, to love, and to live
As a sannyasin.