Special Interview With Acharya Ishan Shivanand Ji || MANA TV

Welcome to TV5 and Mana TV viewers. Right now we are in Atlanta in Shakti Mandir, which is south of Atlanta, and today we have our Guruji Ishaan Shivananji. So we have a wonderful event going on, on the art of self-realization. We welcome, and it's our honor to have spent some time with you and learn today whatever the event you have done. It's really, really helpful. So tell us about what made you to come to Atlanta.

I was invited. We have a very good and thriving community here, and the community felt that they can benefit, especially the young children can benefit from learning our ancient Indian knowledge systems. And they invited me, and I'm very grateful to come here and meet them.

Thank you. Ishanji, today's world is very fast, right? The social media and the, the, the speed with which we are going is very fast. And when you especially focused on mental health, right, it is very, very important today. So how do you think the youth today in North America especially, what is your advice on the mental health, how to keep intact?

See, whenever we are living, there is an intrinsic cost to living. If I want to live in a big house, I have to pay the tax. In the same manner, if I want to live this life in North America, the tax is mental.

Absolutely.

And that cost need to be paid. Because if we don't pay, then what will happen? Just like the government repossesses, in the same manner, our, you know, the, the anxiety or the trauma, it just takes over us. It repossesses. Then we are in our body, but we are not in our body. That is what we say mental health issues, that, that we have lost ourselves. We are repossessed by that thing that has taken over in our mind. So if you want to live here then the cost of living here is we have to bring in our life sadhana, the art of meditation, the beautiful Indian knowledge systems, because they teach us living fast is, is not bad.

Absolutely.

It is good. It is important. We need to live fast. We need to make value. We need to help the community. We need to help the economy, but at the same time, we need to have tools to deal with this space. And that is what I try to do. I give these children these tools, and when they have it, they feel that they have a new life, and they are very, very grateful. And they are a little sad also because they are thinking, why our parents did not teach us this? Why in school we are not taught this? And imagine if mental health education became part of education, and maybe that is our end goal.

Absolutely. So when you say sadhana and you talked about little bit tools to our young generation, so being in North America, definitely everyone are westernized. So what would be your advice? You have observed many cities in North America, so what did you observe in the youth? What is missing as a parent? How we can give more tools or make them do some sadhana?

There are special issues that are very unique to North America. Absolutely. And one of the big issues is the generational gap that comes out of immigration, because immigration is a type of displacement, even if it is economic, even if it is whatever it is, you know. If you are an immigrant, then you are in an alien place. So you are trying very, very hard to figure life, make a life, settle down, and you have to work very hard without any support system. And because you are working very, very hard, sometimes children are left behind.

Absolutely.

And even if children are not left behind, you work so very hard so that you can give a good life to the children. But now the children are of this nation. They have their own core value system. They have their own thought pattern. They have their own language. So you are speaking one language, they are speaking another language. And when they need help, because they are at another frequency, you are at another frequency, sometimes you don't notice that they need help. And when they seek out the help We don't have that language to talk to them. And that is what even I learned, because when I used to come here, I would come here from India, then I would have a very Indian mindset. I would talk to them as if I'm talking to Indian youth, not North American youth. So for 4 years, even I had to learn, even I had to listen. We have Dr. Sadhna here, and, uh, and, and we did research, we collected data, we understood the mindset of the North American Indian. And then we had to go back to the drawing board because you have to understand our rishis, our, our siddhas, they were, they were philosophers, they were scientists. It is a system that we developed, but like every computer, there needs to be R&D, there needs to be research, and there needs to be implementation. I think after Augustin Brigu, nobody did R&D. And that is what my guru taught me, that you must do the research, you must make these systems so that they become relevant for the immigrant child. And that is where we work a lot. We work with second generational North American youth, and they, they, they love to do these sadhanas. And, and the crazy part is sometimes they're better at it. Why? Because they don't have bias. In India, we have too much bias, you know. We, we have certain bias to a language, certain bias to a culture. We even have biases to the gods. So when I will say, okay, this is a scientific process, this is a sadhana, let's do this, then the first thing they will ask, what god, what language, what this, what that. You know, there's so many things. But a North American Indian, second gen especially, they're so pure. They have no bias, nothing at all. They're so free, they're so open. And when they do the sadhana, oh my God, they evolve so much. And I'm very happy that this is happening.

So you really touched upon a good point on the youth. So even though in India it is 100%, there's a, you know, different mindset. Even when you come here, as parents, we also can get confused, right? I see a lot of the parents suffering because my child, you know, you can— they won't listen to me, or when they get married, the cultures change. There are so many things people get worried, right? You really told that, you know, they are in this country, they know only this language, but our frequency is like, you know, you are connected to India and US. So how would you give a message to all the parents to keep them intact and continue this sadhana and make their journey smoother?

I think it will be too much for me to ask things from parents. I think it is time now I do something for them. The whole point of the Gurukul system was when the parents knew that, you know, there is this much I can do for the child and the rest of the things I can't, I have my limitations, then I have a guru. And I think lots of the times the guru need to work harder, the spiritual people need to work harder, the spiritual people must not forget our people here. They must not forget the seekers, the parents. Because what is the parent's fault? The parents didn't do anything. They, they moved here, and moving here is not a bad thing. They, they needed work. It was an economic compulsion, or whatever it was. They came. So what does that mean? Does the Guru then abandon them? Does the spirituality forget them. And I think it is not the parents. And if I ask them, I am being too much expectation. I think it is the guru and the parent that must work hand in hand to create a new generation, so that where the parents can't do, the guru does. Where the guru can't do, the parent does.

Very well said. Ishanji, I have another question. Everyone says you should have a guru for sure. Now, how do you convey that here for the North American youth? Do you think they should have a guru to be successful?

Of course they have a guru right now. Their guru is TikTok algorithm. So yeah, I am just saying there is a hidden guru or there is a conscious guru. A man who doesn't stand for something will fall for everything.

Absolutely.

So right now, the guru is the Zuckerberg algorithm, the TikTok algorithm. And once you go into that algorithm, it takes over you. It tells you what to think. It tells you how to think. The more you go into that algorithm— it is such a master algorithm they have built with billions and billions of dollars so that they understand you completely. And then once you are understood completely, then slowly, softly, you can be manipulated completely. So if you do not have Guru, do not think you do not have Guru, then every Tom, Dick, and Harry becomes your Guru. Or consciously choose your morals, consciously choose your principles, consciously choose your foundation. Go, look, find. And once you find a path, that you like, you, you, you hold on to it. I am a Shiva yogi and my path is the sadhana path. So we teach sadhana meditation. There are many different paths out of India. There is the Hatha yoga path. You can definitely— every gym in America gives yoga, you can have that. There are the bhakti path. The bhakti path is you go towards Vaishnavism. Even that is a path. So what is your calling? Because everybody has a soul agenda and no path is right, no path is wrong. It is just the vibgyor of the white light that is created from the prism of the intellect. So every single child or a person will have his own calling. So if the path of meditation resonates for you, I would love to be your guru. If not, please find a path and then stick to it.

Absolutely. I think I would definitely recommend all the parents to give the path because the kids might not know So as you really said, you need to follow some path to, you know, you have to enlighten yourself by seeing your parents and, you know, they follow the path. So next question comes to me is, who is your guru and how did you find him?

I was born to him, my father.

Your father is your guru?

Absolutely. He is a great Avadhoot from the Shivayog lineage, Avadhoot Chivanand, and Yes, I was born to him. I, I got lucky.

Absolutely, you are blessed. Ishanji, coming to the yoga, right? As you said, there are 5 types of yoga, right? So many, but most popular 5 types of yoga. You see many people coming and telling different types of yoga. In your mind now, you talk about Yoga of Immortals. So how do you relate this program Is it connected to any of the yoga, or it by itself, it's another path?

See, generally when people think yoga, they are just thinking asanas, which is a very small part of yoga. Generally when people think yoga, they only have access to Patanjali and the Patanjali Sutras. And we have to understand that it is a very— it is basically a product that has been packaged in such a manner. Whereas if a person does asana, they think they know yoga. But we have to understand, if we go deeper into the text of Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Patanjali Yoga Sutras, it's more to do with mental health rather than physical dexterity. But nobody has that time to do that research. If you think about yoga, there are so many philosophers We have amazing, amazing philosophies coming out of India, so many different. And yoga literally just means union, union with the infinite. And we have the philosophies of the Shaivites, we have the philosophies of the various, various Naats. And my objective when I am teaching to children is give them exposure to multiple schools of thought. If they do not have that exposure, then that spiritual maturity will not come.

Absolutely.

And that is what I try to do, to give a holistic education of Sanatana Dharma.

Absolutely. Ishanji, you have done a lot of research so far. So from your findings, how do you relate our advice in our current educational system? Do you think there should be some modification?

I definitely think mental health is a subject that needs to be taught. I definitely think that meditation needs to be taught, not just in education system, I think even in the healthcare system, I think even in the military. And not, not post-PTSD, we, we create programs where soldiers come back and then we try. I think in the cadet system itself, meditation is such a beautiful and powerful tool that youth need to be exposed to when they are raw, when they have not yet been exposed to the chaos of the world. Because if you do not teach children to be at peace with their mind, or at least know their mind, then we are sending them defenseless into a cruel, cruel world. And then if they come back broken, shattered, whose fault is it? Did we guide them? Did we teach them? Did we tell them about these things that can happen and what to do when that happens. I was working with a soldier, young soldier who had done many tours, and once it was done, he was sent back to the civilian world. Now, how do you switch it off? How do you deal with that PTSD? And he used to have these, these, these, these blackouts when he would have these emotional outbursts, when he would not be his own self. And he told me that through meditation I got two things. Number one, I got the awareness of when that thing is coming. Earlier it used to come as a guest. I didn't know when it would come. Now if it is coming, I am so much aware that from far I can see that, oh, this is going to happen. And two, I got the tools to deal with it. So the crazy thing is, it's not that, you know, magically the mental health issue disappear. It's still there, but now at least he has the means to manage it. And that is what I, I, I try to teach and I want to bring. And it would be amazing if education system can accept it and implement it.

Agreed, agreed, Ishaanji. I think, um, um, That was really enlightening for all of us. And definitely there should be a change. People like you with your research findings, you need to definitely involve the government to change because it's everyone's, everyone's involvement should be there to change the system. And the last question I would like to ask you is, you talked about the mental health. And today's lifestyle, if you see the heating habits, do you think that also should be inculcated by everyone on the eating habits too, to be fit and mentally fit?

Definitely. It is a holistic approach, and nutrition definitely affects the mind. But again, when a person is having mental health issues, it's very difficult to follow a pattern.

Absolutely.

So mental health comes first, even before that. Because how many times have we said we want to lose weight and have a fitness regime, and how many times because of the stress, anxiety, we don't do it? How many times we have bought all these churans and chutneys from Whole Foods and then never opened them? You have to understand, nutrition requires discipline. Discipline requires peace. Peace comes from mental health, and if you don't have it, then how can you expect somebody?

Absolutely.

So I lead with mental health and then I follow it up with nutrition. That is this path.

Thank you so much. So can you tell our audience what is your next plan in the North America? Where are your events?

I will be going to Dallas on, uh, in the end of April, but I am planning a massive, massive event in a massive, massive stadium in New York in the beginning of July, first week of July. It is a free event. All of you are welcome. Come and meet me. Thousands of people are going to come. You are most welcome. And, and it's an auspicious celebration, is Guru Purnima. Wow. So it is an amazing time because my, my Guru is going to come also. So if you want, I would love to welcome you there. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Ishanji. You, you already enlightened all of us, and we are blessed to be part of this event. And also our channel is also blessed, and everyone here in North America are blessed. And hope all the youth follows the sadhana and more tools from Guruji. If you have any questions, please do ask us. We are more than happy to help you. Thank you. Thank you again.