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Swami Satchidananda, Woodstock,
and the Late '60s: A Personal Remembrance

By Narada Burton Greene

The important people of your life are those people who are so intuitively tuned in to you that they can know more about you than you know about yourself. I've often felt that way about Swami Satchidananda. I first came in touch with him about mid-1967 in New York. In those days my hands and head were filled with all kinds of creative musical ideas, but my body was stiff as a board. I was often insular, nervous, and a bit uptight. Some of Gurudev's students used to put up with my nervous antics. They literally hauled me off to the subway to 500 West End Ave., where Gurudev was living, teaching Hatha Yoga, and giving lectures. I remember a big smiling poster of him on the front door proclaiming: "Yoga is over 4000 years old, but it may be new to you... . At 500 West End Avenue the door is open to meet Swami Satchidananda. And when you leave, you may find that another door is open." That's exactly what happened—my life was not the same after that. I began to attend Sri Gurudev's lectures. I was impressed with the stillness, clarity, and quiet power than emanated from his presence.

I still wasn’t convinced enough to become a student or follower like the others, but indeed, I was curious. That Christmas, someone gave Swamiji a harmonium as a present. He said "What a lovely present, but why do you give it to me? I'm not a musician." (The crowd:) "Come on Swamiji, play us a tune!" I smirked, thinking what’s he going to do now? But in his dignified yet childlike innocence, he simply responded by playing some delightful gibberish—like a child that doesn’t know what it’s doing, but is still very musical. The smirk went right off my face. I thought, "Now you see someone who's really free. His whole life seems to be Art." Without hesitation, I applied for initiation where I received a personal mantra for my meditation. I continued to attend Gurudev’s lectures on a regular basis and slowly began to go deeper in meditation with my mantra.

Swami Satchidananda created the vibration at the Woodstock Festival. He felt the real purpose behind the aspirations of the performing artists and the huge public at that festival and mirrored it back for all. He sat there quietly in front of everyone, observing the whole thing. This interlude of quiet was followed by Swamiji's statement about his amazement at being there—that he was so grateful to be in a place where hundreds of thousands of people were gathered in the name of love and sharing of creative artistic expression, and in peacefulness. Finally after more quiet, he asked everyone to light a candle for world peace. There must have been hundreds of thousands of those little lights. And to close, came the peace chant: "Om Shanti." After that nothing was the same. Instead of just another commercial event, the promoters got into the spirit and took down all the fences—all the "walls"—and so many, many people joyously celebrated together. It was an event that may well be referred to in the centuries to come. And my teacher in his quiet modesty and dignity made it all look like it came from them, that he was only lucky to be there, as an "observer."

—Excerpted from: Memoirs of a Musical Pesty-Mystic by Burton Greene, 2001

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