H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji is the President and Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, one of India’s largest and most renowned spiritual institutions and the site of the annual International Yoga Festival.  In addition,  H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji is also the founder and spiritual head of the Hindu Jain Temple in Pittsburgh, PA. H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji is the founder or co-founder of several humanitarian and environmental organizations which serve a number of causes, including the Ganga Action Parivar, to preserve and protect the Ganga river and its tributaries; India Heritage Research Foundation, which provides education, health care, youth welfare, and vocational training; the Divine Shakti Foundation, which provides education and assistance to widowed and impoverished women and children, as well as the protection of street animals in India such as cows and dogs; the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance to provide access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and proper hygiene; and Project Hope, an umbrella organization that brings together various humanitarian and environmental organizations in times of disaster to provide both emergency relief and long-term rehabilitation. It is our deep honor to be able to feature this exclusive interview with H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji in OMTimes Magazine.   Interview with H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji OMTIMES: Your Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, thank you for speaking with us.  Pujya Swamiji, what is yoga to you? H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: The word ‘yoga’ means ‘union.’ Yoga is that which unfolds, awakens and becomes when the body, mind, and spirit align perfectly together. The purpose of yoga is to create a union both within ourselves and ultimately with the Divine. Yoga is not a belief system, dogma or even a religion, it is an ancient scientific understanding of the pathway to liberation that has been passed down from our Rishis, Saints, and Sages...

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