Sadhguru's Isha Institute of Inner-Sciences, McMinnville (2024)

951 Isha Lane, McMinnville, TN 37110

Open 365 days per year

The Isha Institute for Inner-Sciences in McMinnville, TN

If you are a frequent viewer of YouTube, you have probably seen a striking looking man in a robe and turban giving talks. This mystic is Sadhguru, and if you’ve clicked on the many videos available, you have heard him speak on any number of topics related to inner growth, environmentalism and how yoga can bring health and happiness. (And maybe seen him riding his motorcycle cross country, because apparently, he’s been a biker since his twenties!) He's a funny guy, with snarky wit and sometimes harsh approach that can cut deep, and he believes his messages of wisdom and esoteric knowledge are absolutely critical to our world at this time. But who is Sadhguru, and what is his story? Let me give you an overview as I understand it of his beliefs and teachings, and introduce you to his Ashram right here in Tennessee, the Isha Institute for Inner-Sciences!

Sadhguru, the yogi mystic founder of the Isha Institute

Sadhguru was born Jagadish (Jaggi) Vsudev in Mysore, India, into a home that was not particularly spiritual. Wikipedia states that he had his first spiritual experience when he was 25 in 1982 while meditating, with several more shortly thereafter. Up until then he had had a successful career in the poultry and construction businesses, but he left his businesses to travel extensively in order to learn more about his spiritual experiences and seek greater knowledge. After a year of meditation and travel he made the fateful decision to teach yoga to others, and in 1992 he established the Isha Foundation as a vehicle for his instruction and activities related to yoga, the environment, and education.

The name Sadhguru comes from the words “Guru,” dispeller of darkness, and “Sadh," within. According to Wiki, he is considered a realized master, mystic, and yogi, the embodiment of India’s spiritual tradition, and a proponent of deep spiritual truths from both the East and the West that transcend religion. He states repeatedly that his teachings are not meant to be religious, and that he considers religion to be a source of great divide in the world, nor are the teachings a philosophy. Rather, his work is based in science and centered around inner peace and individual transformation. Since the body is considered the temple of the spirit, good health is essential. The science of yoga encourages healthier lifestyles, improving relationships, and opening the heart and consciousness in order to achieve self-fulfillment and self-realization. Many of us who practice yoga and meditation have said at one time or another "Yoga saved my life!", and it has certainly helped me to be happier and healthier. So far so good! Let's explore his foundation and it's work.

The Isha Yoga Center in Tamil Nadu, India opened in 1994 and was the first of his ashrams. Today, according to the Isha website, there are two centers in India, two in the U.S. (Los Angeles and McMinnville), and international centers in Europe, Asia, the UK and Africa. (I still can't get over one in being in McMinnville! Would love to hear more on that backstory.) A remarkable achievement in such a short period of time, helped no doubt by his bestselling books Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy and Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny, and a masterful marketing team which has created a plethora of videos, websites, classes and literature around Sadhguru’s teachings. (A source for his many books can be found here.*)

I would consider Sadhguru a Celebrity Guru, with his millions of followers around the world. His YouTube channel alone has 11.3 million subscribers! He can be seen with actual celebrities in some of these clips, but the focus is on the wisdom in his teachings, which have resonated with many, many people. But Sadhguru was not the first celebrity yoga guru, and I think we need a quick background on this to understand the current impact of his teachings.

Paramahansa Yogananda was the first guru to introduce the Western world to the concepts of yoga over a long period of time (30 years), and has been dubbed “the 20th century’s first superstar guru.” His book Autobiography of a Yogi* in 1946 was a huge best seller and deeply influenced Steve Jobs, who had copies of the book given to each guest at his memorial when he passed. George Harrison was also a devotee and gave proceeds of the song "My Sweet Lord" to Yogananda’s organization the Self-Realization Fellowship. Through the Fellowship, which is still quite active, millions have received the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga. He began talks in the U.S. in 1920, and by 1952 there were over 100 centers in both India and the US. Here in Tennessee there is a Nashville Meditation group with services and a media lending library. Yogananda was part of the monastic Swami order, and it is said that he was so holy that he chose the moment of his death and that his body showed no signs of decay for weeks afterwards. So clearly, he laid much of the groundwork for the nation adopting yoga and the esoteric teachings of the East. Unlike Sadhguru's Isha Foundation, the SRF considers itself a religious order whose main purpose is to teach what they consider to be definite, scientific techniques for attaining direct and personal experience of God. The question as to whether yoga is religious or not is a notable difference in their ideologies, although they both treat yoga as a science.

Paramhansa Yogananda laid the groundwork for the spread of yoga teachings to the western world, setting the stage for Sadhguru's success.

Yoga originated in India and is usually recognized as spiritual practices that focus on meditation and release from worldly attachments. The Isha Center provides training on the four paths of yoga, as well as forms of meditation for physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Sadhguru's particular system of yoga is proprietary to the Isha Foundation and does not belong to a specific lineage as did Yogananda's, rather from his own unique insight. I am prohibited from speaking of the few details of what I learned by a NDA you sign to attend the free yoga day; however, it is yoga, so we can guess that it is based at least in part on the thousands of years of yogic teachings. You can visit the Isha Institute in McMinnville for a day of introductory classes, or attend paid workshops for introductory and advanced levels.

The lovely gate leads to the Mahima meditation hall.

If you wish to have the popular yoga experiences such as Vinyasa flow then there are other platforms to do this with. But if, like me, you wanted to learn about the alternative practices that are aligned with Sadhguru’s teachings and check out the sacred space of the Abode, Free Yoga Days are offered throughout the year. My friend and I attended one of these free days and took part in various yoga classes, a meditation, a vegetarian lunch and cooking demonstration, a hike, and time spent in the Abode. We spent almost an entire day there and still didn't have time to go to all the classes. But a look at the website will also offer you the chance to pay hundreds of dollars to attend seminars such as the Inner Engineering workshops (of which there is a best-selling book), and other events where the Sadhguru himself will be present. The brochure and intro workshop I took states that Inner Engineering “imparts practical wisdom and powerful yogic practices to manage our body, mind, emotions, and fundamental life energy within.” They claim that those with chronic health issues, insomnia, depression, and anxiety are said to find great improvement with regular kriya practice.

Let’s talk about the incredible space where the Isha Institute for Inner-Sciences resides in McMinnville. The brochure states that it is set amidst 1,400 acres of forested land, which includes streams, waterfalls and nature trails. However, I overheard one volunteer say that the center now owned 20,000+ acres and that the goal was to eventually create a spiritual city. I was not able to verify this, but if true it's a huge amount of land to have here in Tennessee! There are tours of the site that offer a chance to own property if you are a frequent guest of the ashram or wish to live there, but you can also rent accommodations for overnight stays, and I'm guessing that volunteers of the ashram stay for free. There will also be a school for children opening in the future, so the planning of a spiritual city (perhaps like Maharishi Vedic Cityin Iowa for Transcendental Meditation?) is underway.

The Mahima Hall is an incredible space where we had the majority of the programs we attended. At 39,000 square feet, the free-spanning dome is considered to be the largest meditation hall in the Western hemisphere! The dome is beautiful and the forest is a gorgeous backdrop to the gleaming dome. According to the website, Sadhguru consecrated Mahima using a process referred to as 'Prana Pratishtha' to infuse an energy that is soothing and yet vibrant and powerful. This is supposed to create receptivity in those who enter the space, and helps visitors to Mahima experience what it means to become meditative. I was grateful to be able to take pictures of this immense space and be inside of it for classes. It was quite the experience!

The other structure, which was to me the more powerful experience, was the Adiyogi: The Abode of Yoga. This 30,000 foot structure features a 21 foot tall statue of Adi Yogi or Shiva (Shankara), considered by Sadhguru to be the first yogi who lived 15,000 years ago. This statue was designed by Sadhguru and is pretty impressive to behold. Even more so to consider that a larger version at the Isha Yoga Center in India is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the Largest Bust Sculpture in the world at 112 feet tall, 147 ft long and 82 ft wide and weighs 550 tons!

An image of Adi Yogi, the largest bust sculpture in the world at 112 ft tall, designed by Sadhguru, resides in India. A 21 ft version resides in the Abode for Yoga in McMinniville. Picture by Pravinkumar Ganesan.

The Adi Yogi Abode for Yoga is said to be “a powerfully energized space designed to enhance one’s wellbeing in all aspects of life.” From what I understand, the Abode transcends any religious beliefs or philosophies, and is consecrated by the Sadghuru and other highly advanced practitioners. The energies provided by the lingum (an elliptical energy form) and statue of Adi Yogi are intended to allow one to become receptive to the grace of the Abode and reach an elevated state of consciousness. You are encouraged to simply sit silently with palms facing upward to connect with the energies of the Abode, but offerings are designed to allow you to benefit more deeply. I participated in the Water Offering or washing of the lingum, where I was allowed to touch the lingum so that I could receive its powerful energies, and we also sat for a lovely ceremony. I found the experience incredibly peaceful and a beautiful space to take in. The water offering was free and I think happens daily, but there are a number of other practices and offerings available for visitors at the Abode. There is a charge for them and require advance registration if you’d like to explore those. I was not allowed to take pictures inside, but both the inside and outside are lovely.

At the beginning of this post we talked about Sadhguru’s efforts around improving health and his environmental causes. The Isha Foundation has a number of initiatives in India and Africa to improve the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor, which revives indigenous medical knowledge, promotes sustainability, and prevents chronic diseases from malnutrition as well as HIV/AIDS. His environmental work includes SaveSoil which advocates for soil restoration across 193 nations, and Rally for Rivers to save India’s rivers, which are drying up at an alarming rate, by planting millions of trees. He has spoken at the UN on these initiatives and been honored for his work. This seems like great stuff, and I plan to do more research into it. We certainly need initiatives like these to help our planet.

So overall, I can definitely see where Sadhguru’s work on improving oneself so that you can be a positive change in the world, as well as improving the lives of the poor, and doing the important work of saving the planet can be appealing to many people. I really enjoyed reading Encounter the Enlightened: Sadhguru, a profound Mystic of our times, Conversations with a Master * and highly suggest it if you’d like an overview of his teachings. Although sometimes contradictory and sarcastic, there is also gentle humor and what I found to be good wisdom. His initiatives and teachings aren't without controversy, however. So as with any of the churches, temples and sacred paths that we explore on this blog, I highly suggest you do your own research, visit the Isha Institute or take classes if it appeals to you, and decide for yourself what you think. My personal opinion is that anything that brings peace and harmony to oneself and the planet is a beautiful thing! If you've been, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

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The Isha Institute is open 365 days a year and welcomes visitors from all walks of life. No previous experience of yoga or meditation is required to visit. Isha Institute is open for visitors daily 8:30 AM CT to 8 PM CT. For more information and to reserve your visit, please RSVP. Abode processes and classes are available by appointment only. Registration for all processes is required a minimum of a day in advance.

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