About Your Teacher

Vivek Nath was born and raised in Stuttgart, Germany, to a German mother and an Indian father. Since 1997, he has lived in a small āśrama on the Hariśacandra cremation ground in Vārāṇasī—his father’s hometown—situated directly on the banks of the Ganges. His great-uncle, Śrī Kauśal Kiśor Śrīvastava, introduced him to spiritual science at an early age. Vivek’s Sanskrit studies were shaped by Śrī Vāgīsa Śāstrī, who authorized him in Veda and Vāgyoga. He attended Sampūrnānanda Sanskrit University in Vārāṇasī and studied Classical Indology at the University of Heidelberg. From age 16, Vivek received yoga instruction from R. Sriram, and he also studied Veda under Śrī Rāmanātha Śarma and Philosophy under Śrī Nārāyaṇa Miśra.

Vivek’s practice traces back to a South Indian guru in the Śrīvidyā Sampradāya tradition—he and his lineage are Samayācāris, guided by a strong female teacher. Beginning in 2004, he devoted himself to Kashmiri Śaivism under Dr. Mark Dyczkowski, serving as his closest disciple for sixteen years. Since 2012, Vivek has spent significant time practicing in the Nandadevi Mountains of the Himalayas. For the past thirty years, he has commuted between India and southern Germany, teaching since 2006. In addition to performing rituals as a priest, Vivek writes and edits—authoring a series on Sanskrit mantras and rituals (Mantraśikṣā) and another on the foundational texts of Kashmiri Śaivism (Śaivaśikṣā), both of which he is preparing for publication in English and German.