This page includes feedback and requests sent to the Integral Yoga leadership Boards from people who have been teaching Integral Yoga and training future IY teachers for many years. San Francisco is listed first. You can also jump to:
Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco Teachers Statement
Message of request presented with respect and love, for an equitable
and thriving future of the Integral Yoga organization. Endorsed by members of the Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco teaching body.
March 6, 2023
Our goal for the Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco (IYISF) is to be a safe environment for healing, recovery and spiritual growth. We aim to have a place that is trauma sensitive, inclusive and where all are welcome with equality regardless of faith, gender, age or race.
“Truth is One, Paths are Many.” – Sri Swami Satchidananda
We love our Sangha and our students as well as the yogic teachings imparted to us by many of you, as our teachers, and by our founder and teacher Sri Swami Satchidananda, beloved by many. The positive effect of the Teachings on the world are profound and irrefutable. We wish to continue to share them with respect to Integral Yoga (IY), IY leadership and its Founder.
Current Situation:
We wish to be respectful and inclusive of all ways of devotion to the Teachings or to the Guru. The most common challenge among us is that we feel that we cannot be authentic nor fully aligned with the IY organization due to the issues below. Many of us are hesitant to get more involved in the operations of the Institute such as staffing of trainings or offering time through Karma Yoga. Some of us are considering leaving and joining those who have already left.
These issues give us doubt about the organization, present and future:
● No resolution to the allegations or public acknowledgment of facts
● Silence from the leadership and lack of transparency resulting in lack of trust
● The need to provide teachers with an environment that allows authenticity in their personal relationship with Sri Swami Satchidananda and an altar policy reflecting such
● Lack of diversity in IY leadership and administration which reflects the evolving
nature of the global sangha
● Lack of succession plan at the core of the organization being shared
Moving Forward:
The IYISF teacher body holds the following values and requests these proposed changes. We are addressing the IY leadership at Yogaville consisting of: the Board of Trustees, the Spiritual Life Board, the IY Teachers Council, and IY Global Network.
Value: We value truth and non-harming. We acknowledge the women who have come forward to speak their truth about their sexual encounters with Swami Satchidananda, and we acknowledge the harm that this caused them and the community. To remain silent does not feel authentic, and we want to openly discuss this within our sangha.
● Proposal: We wish to see a public acknowledgement from IY leadership that it hears the truth of these women and the harm that has been done. If this acknowledgment is not made by the leadership in Yogaville, then we request permission for it to be issued by our local San Francisco leadership.
Value: We strive to provide a safe, trauma-sensitive and inclusive environment for our teachers and sangha members and to accommodate all viewpoints. We wish to allow each person to choose their own process and personal relationship to Swami Satchidananda.
We respect Sri Swami Satchidananda as Founder and the primary teacher of the
organization. However, having his portrait, a man associated with having sex with his disciples, triggers and feels unacceptable to many of us, especially to survivors of sexual trauma.
● Proposal: We propose to adjust the imagery on the altars in 2 of the 5 classrooms at IYISF and use the yantra only on these altars. We ask to have one room specifically dedicated to the Gurus of our beloved lineage, a place of worship and silent contemplation. This inclusive solution embraces those who love and worship Swami Satchidananda as their Satguru or personal Istha Devata, as well as those who feel triggered by his worship in such a way.
Value: We believe that trust is built when communication flows freely between IY
leadership and the global sangha. We believe in the power of love and interconnectedness.
● Proposal: We ask for transparency and prompt communications with the IY
leadership regarding what is actively being done and how the goal of having a
thriving global organization is being created and sustained. Please let us know how this communication will occur, for example monthly updates.
Value: We strive to have an equitable community, administration and leadership.
● Proposal: We propose that the IY Board of Trustees, the IY Teachers Council and
other bodies of authority that impact the global IY community uphold this value by:
○ becoming more inclusive, diverse and international with respect to age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, among others.
○ committing to creating greater equality and equity throughout the organization by working with the Integral Yoga Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF)
For true healing to occur, essential and significant changes and restructuring have to happen in the core of the organization. We value the opportunity to provide support and influence in this change. Life is a collective undertaking that thrives on the love and the caring that flows from one being to another.
Please let us know your thoughts and respond to us by the end of March 2023.
We fully acknowledge and recognise the immense task at hand and the gravity of the situation.
A long-time IY Swami responded to the San Francisco teachers’ feedback. Find the response HERE.
To: IYINY [Integral Yoga Institute, New York] Board of Directors
From: Members of the Teaching Staff of IYINY
Re: Requests from the Teaching Staff
Date: August 10, 2023
In the fall of 2022, an email was sent from Yogaville to sangha members regarding allegations of sexual misconduct by Swami Satchidananda. For some IYINY teachers it was an introduction to the situation. For others, it confirmed rumors and stories that have been circulating for years.
In November 2022, the executive director called a meeting of teachers to discuss the situation. Unfortunately, it was a sparsely attended Zoom meeting and a proposed follow-up meeting fell through for various reasons.
In the interim, several IYINY teachers have met independently to process feelings,
gather support, and discuss how to address both the topic and the lack of transparency around it.
Some thoughts and suggestions culled from our meetings follow.
First and foremost, we teachers love IYINY. For many of us, discovering IYI, becoming trained to teach this beautiful class and being a part of this community has changed our lives immeasurably. We want to preserve what is special about the sangha and the organization. These are our observations and suggestions, made with love and respect for the teachings, and with great consideration.
For IYINY to flourish, we must be an inclusive organization. We must aim to heal the personal and intergenerational trauma of sexual mistreatment and the harm caused by the ensuing cover-ups that have been occurring in the IYI community since the 1970s. People who have been victims of sexual abuse and harrassment need support, and to be seen, heard, and healed, and we are concerned with everyone’s need to feel safe at IYINY.
Swami Satchidananda was a guru to many and we respect that sacred, ineffable
covenant. We understand how devotees and those who have taken the sannyasin [monk] vow feel wedded to the guru/disciple relationship, and perhaps view that as outweighing any harm that the guru may have caused followers.
However, when people from the sangha have stepped forward to credibly state that the founder had improper sexual relationships with them, and that the founder had reportedly abused his exalted position to gain sexual favors from his young female acolytes, Yogaville leadership chose to uphold the legacy of the institute without showing compassion and understanding to the people that the founder harmed and those who are harmed by the revelations. The sangha is its people–teachers, staff, students–and when their concerns are not heard, the people that make up the sangha may very well lose their faith. Some are and will be re-traumatized.
As sacred as the guru/disciple relationship is to followers of Swami Satchidananda, it is a fact that, to far more people, his role is more akin to that of a teacher, a conduit to the teachings of the ancient scriptures (that are, now more than ever, available to anyone who seeks them out), a proponent of healthy living, a hardworking human whose labors, along with the labors of his devotees, resulted in an amazing institute and organization.
“Paths are many,” and this includes how one regards the role of Swami Satchidananda in our ongoing, developing tradition. Like Swami Sivananda before him, he promoted ecumenicalism and respect for all religions and wisdom paths, setting a foundation of inclusivity for the institute.
The signers of this letter (IYINY teachers) agree that Swami Satchidananda should be rightfully acknowledged as the spiritual founder of Integral Yoga, and afforded respect. We do not agree to hold him as a holy being or promote him as such. He was a man who did not always uphold the yogic principles of Ahimsa and Satya. Human beings falter on the spiritual path. It would be in everyone’s best interests to make IYINY a place of true equity and integrity, reflecting the cultural shift toward trauma-informed practices, where toxic patterns are not allowed to thrive. This letter is our call to include the concerns and feelings of those who don’t feel heard.
We respectfully request the following action items:
- Remove photos and images of Swami Satchidananda from most studios,
promotional materials, and social media posts, and allow the IYI Yantra to serve as the guiding image of the teachings. - Attribute quotes from Swami Satchidananda as “The Integral Teachings.”
- Set aside one area of IYINY for likenesses of the guru. To quote our sister
institute IYISF, “We ask to have one room specifically dedicated to the gurus of our beloved lineage, a place of worship and silent contemplation. This inclusive solution embraces those who love and worship Swami Satchidananda as their Satguru or personal Ishta Devata, as well as those who feel triggered by his worship in such a way.” - It is our understanding that IYINY has the agency to make its own statement regarding the organization’s history of sexual misconduct, even if it does not align with Yogaville leadership’s messaging. (Please clarify if this is incorrect). We request that IYINY fully and publicly acknowledges the accounts of the numerous women who have reported abuse or impropriety from Swami Satchidananda, and make this acknowledgement available to the entire IYINY community, not just teacher trainees or staff. This could take the form of a press release and a community-facing email that outlines the work we are currently doing to shift to a more trauma-informed and transparent approach that acknowledges past wrongdoing and foregrounds healing as a community.
- Designate representatives from the teacher peer group who have signed this
letter to draft the above public statement for IYINY - Conspicuously post IYINY’s sexual harassment policy in studios and reception area
- Establish a regular IYINY teachers-only meeting and share meeting notes with all teachers. In order to facilitate a regular flow of communication between the leadership of IYINY and the teachers, acknowledge a representative/liaison to communicate directly with the board and/or executive director about any ongoing concerns. Have at least one IYINY teacher (preferably a person of color) on the board at all times.
A timely response from the Board of Directors to the IYINY teachers would be greatly appreciated. We are requesting a written reply within two weeks of receipt of this letter.
Thank you very much for reading this, and hearing our concerns.
Om shaanthi, peace.
Signed by: (30 NY teachers)
The Integral Yoga Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) has been working since 2020 to call attention to the harm caused by the ongoing tradition of mostly white, mostly male, and often monastic or Integral Yoga ministry members in leadership positions. The voices of BIPOC sangha members, in particular, are minimized or outright ignored. This situation is an outgrowth of the inappropriate power dynamics begun many years ago by the perpetration of sexual abuse and the suppression of sexual abuse scandals within the Integral Yoga organization.
Click HERE to view the ARTF letter to IY leadership dated November 1, 2021.
Click HERE to view the ARTF letter to IY leadership from May 2023.
Click HERE to view the response letter from the Board of Trustees to ARTF from June 2023.
Home - Satchidananda, the Complex Truth 
You must be logged in to post a comment.