Swami Tattvavidananda AKA Swami T.V.

 

A Swami is is wild elephant of the spiritual universe, as described by my yoga teacher, Iswarya Chaitanya of Bangalore India. She writes, " A sadhu is like a mighty elephant.  With it’s large body mass, an elephant treads so softly on the earth that one cannot hear even the sound of a twig breaking under its weight. "

Such a one is Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswati, affectionally known as Swami TV. There are no words to describe his greatness, his loving nature, his ability to transform those that dare encounter him. The metaphor of the wild elephant alone, will suffix.

I received a call from Vimalaji of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in September 2020, asking if I wished to attend the 9 week Vedanta retreat for adults, considered a retreat for advanced Vedanta students, which I am not.

Several weeks later, I found myself, masked up, in the large Ashram auditorium, with 20 other students, out if the hundred that usually attend,  asking myself what I was going there.  The Kenopanishad was being presented in English based on the Sanskrit scripture, with Shankaracharya Bashyam (I didn't know what a Bashyam was). Swami TV was up on the high podium waving his hands and insisting that I know nothing unless I know Atma.