the Goddesses of India (Berkeley: Religious Studies Series
and Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982); Donna Marie
Wulff, “Radha, Consort and Conqueror of Krishna,”
in John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff, eds.,
Devi: The Goddesses of India (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1996).
Radha, Swami Shivananda (1911–1995)
kundalini yoga teacher
The German-born Swami Shivananda Radha
helped to spread KUNDALINI YOGA and other Indian
teachings in Canada. She founded the Yasodhara
Ashram Society in British Columbia, an important
spiritual center.
Sylvia Hellman was born in Berlin, Germany.
Before World War II, she established a success-
ful career as a dancer and writer. She and her
husband helped the persecuted escape Nazi Ger-
many during the war. Her husband eventually
lost his life in this cause. After the war Hellman
remarried, but misfortune struck again when her
second husband had a sudden stroke and died
in 1949. Distraught over her losses, Hellman
relocated to Montreal, Quebec, in 1951 with
the intention of starting a new life. It was dur-
ing this period of mourning that Hellman began
questioning the meaning of life and pursuing
a spiritual practice. In 1954, while at the SELF-
REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP, founded by Parama-
hansa YOGANANDA, she experienced a vision of
Swami SHIVANANDA SARASWATI. Feeling compelled
by this vision, she traveled to RISHIKESH, India, in
1955 to meet and study with the swami. After
only a few months, Swami Shivananda gave her
MANTRA initiation and gave her the name Swami
Shivananda Radha. From that moment forward,
she devoted herself completely to studying
Indian wisdom and introducing what she had
learned to the West. While in Rishikesh, she
encountered the eternal yogi BABAJI, the famous
guru in Yogananda’s line of KRIYA YOGA gurus,
and received an intense experience of light and
expanded consciousness.
After six months in Rishikesh, Swami Radha
returned to Canada at the request of her guru.
In 1956 she formed the Shivananda Ashram in
Vancouver, British Columbia, which was later
to become the Yasodhara Ashram in Kootenay
Bay, British Columbia. The ashram has served
as a major center in the West for the teaching
of KUNDALINI practices and has remained inde-
pendent of the various branches of Shivananda’s
Divine Life Society.
Swami Radha’s teachings rely on practical
techniques that make spirituality accessible to
modern everyday life. Kundalini and other forms
of yogic practice are used to direct individuals
toward holistic development and independence.
Radha taught what she learned from encounters
with Babaji; her methods used visualized healing
and divine energy. She often merged yogic teach-
ings with Western psychology and symbolism,
effecting an understanding between the Eastern
and Western mind.
The Yasodhara Ashram Society publishes an
internationally recognized yoga magazine called
Ascent, which Swami Radha instituted in 1969.
Timeless Books publishing company was estab-
lished by Radha in 1978. Located today in Spo-
kane, Washington, Timeless Books publishes
works on kundalini, MEDITATION, mantras, and
dream analysis.
In 1992, Swami Radha oversaw the comple-
tion of the Temple of Divine Light Dedicated to
All Religions located in Kootenay Bay. She also
founded the Association for the Development of
Human Potential, dedicated to helping individu-
als achieve their spiritual path. Over 100 members
have joined the Yasodhara Ashram Society with
affiliated centers called Radha houses located
throughout Europe and North America. The
centers serve as a continuing resource for Swami
Radha’s teachings.Further reading: Julie McKay, Glimpses of a Mystical
Affair: Spiritual Experiences of Swami Sivananda Radha
(Spokane, Wash.: Timeless Books, 1996); Swami Siva-K 342 Radha, Swami Shivananda