Jnana guru Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna (1872–1964) was a spiritual master, a śivajnani and anatha siddhar revered by Hinduism of the 20th century.
Yogaswami was trained in and practiced Kundalini yoga under the guidance of Satguru Chellappaswami, from whom he received guru diksha (initiation).
As a young adult, Yogaswami vowed to practice celibacy and renounced a place in his father's business, as he could not spare time to meditate and study the scriptures.
Yogaswami later spent years of intense tapas under the olive tree at Colombuthurai Road on the outskirts of Jaffna.
On the fourth day, he would walk long distances, returning to the olive tree to repeat the cycle.
For him, the whole of man's life had to be made a spiritual practice, and he would not admit any division of human activity into holy and unholy.
The whole nation of Sri Lanka stopped when the radio spread news of his Great Departure (mahasamadhi), and devotees thronged to Colombuthurai and Jaffna to bid him farewell.
He followed the Shaivism sect (Shaiva Siddhanta) of Hinduism, which is prevalent in South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Spiritual lineage : Maharishi Nandinath → Sundaranandar, Siddhar who later becomes Tirumular → → → Kadaitswami → Chellapaswami → Siva Yogaswami → Sivaya Subramuniyaswami → Bodhinatha Veylanswami[7] Yogaswami conveyed his teachings in over 3,000 poems and songs, called Natchintanai, "good thoughts," urging seekers to follow dharma and realise God within.
[8] Yogaswami's message to the world is "Know thy Self by thyself" (Thannai Ari-தன்னை அறி) and the path to realise the self is the 'Sivathondu'[citation needed].
Four great sayings (maha-vakyas) in the Tamil language encapsulate his message: Among the thousands of devotees of Sivayogaswamy, four disciples followed his path.
One of the four was Markandu Swamy, who worked for the Department of Survey in Sri Lanka before moving to Kaithady Ashram.
The third of the four was Santhaswamy, who was the son of Lord Viscount Soulbury, who was the last Governor-General of Ceylon during the British colonial period.
He dedicated his life to realizing the truth and highest wisdom, and to that end, he sought spiritual teachers in the west, including P. D. Ouspensky for a time.
Jnanaguru Yogaswami initiated Subramuniya into the holy orders of sannyasa and ordained him into his lineage with a tremendous slap on the back.
In the line of succession, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami was considered the 162nd Jagadacharya of the Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara.
He emigrated to Melbourne, Australia and set up the Sivathondan Nilayam centre in Hallam, which has been running for over two decades.
This meditation centre now has a temple precinct with a life-size lingam, rare vels and the Yogaswami vigraha.
He has published several books, with two major works being The Numerical Key to Success and Junior Senior, both dedicated to his spiritual Guru Sri Yogaswami.