His Holiness Swami Isa is an enlightened saint of this age. The divine wisdom achieved through decades of tapas (spiritual practices) has found him a unique place among the great Indian lineage of God realized Gurus. Draped in only a white dhoti and shawl Swami Isa is a perfect embodiment of purity, devotion, dedication and supreme wisdom.

Born in 1956 in a quite village on the outskirts of Trivandrum, Kerala, His Holiness Swami Isa felt even from boyhood a strong passion for the vision of God. He was different in his thoughts and deeds right from childhood. Unlike other children who spent their free time in sport his time was spent creating, in mud, the images of Gods and Goddesses and worshipping them with flowers.

His very birth was during the auspicious conjunction of the two constellations, Sravana or Thiruvonam and Dhanushta or Avittam (Abhijit muhurtham) in the month of Thulam (Malayalam Era). He was a child with prodigious intelligence and an extra ordinary memory.

At the age of 16 he had his first experience of spiritual ecstasy. It was on a Sivarathri night. He was returning home after delivering a spiritual talk at the Keleshwaram Siva temple. It was half past midnight. Walking alone in the middle of a paddy field he happened to look at the dark sky and saw a beautiful crescent moon. Suddenly, a beam of snow-white light descended towards him. He fell on the ground entering a trace. Hours had passed. When he woke up a subtle transformation had taken place within him. It is from this day onwards that he began wearing white clothes.

Once reaching back home he realized that a monastic life alone was possible for him. Convincing his beloved parents of his yogic mastery over the panchabhoota (the five elements - earth, water, fire, air, and ether), he was granted their consent for his new life and set out on his parivrajaka vruthi (the journey undertaken by the religious mendicant dedicating himself at the feet of God). The grace of the Divine guided him through innumerable cosmic experiences on his journey.

The darsan of the sage Agasthya at Neyyar Dam, the vision of Lord Muruga and the experience of Nirvikalpa samadhi while meditating at the famous temple at Palani, the Cosmic dance of Lord Siva to the accompaniment of the divine symphony of flute, veena and mridangam at Chidambaram, the vision of Lord Dakshinamoorthi revealing the inner meaning of the Dakshinamoorthi Sthothram at Thiruvannamalai, the home of the great saint Ramana Maharshi, the Divine Mother appearing in different cosmic incarnations like Maha Kali, Maha Lekshmi, and Maha Saraswathi while sitting in meditation on the famous Sarvajna Peetom of Adi Sankara at Kudajadri near the temple of Mookambika, wild animals befriending him at Kudanchikkal hills are only some of the myriad divine experiences that awaited him.

The long journey ended at Rameswaram where the ordained rituals to complete the parivrajaka life were performed. The young saint returned home with all the grace and strength of spiritual wisdom. For a brief period he spent time in silent contemplation of God in a small hut near his ancestral home at Oruvathilkotta. Though he didn't want to be noticed by anybody, everybody began to notice him. Realizing the divine presence people from all walks of life began pouring in to seek blessings from the "Swami".

On the day of Gurupoornima in 1991 he formally accepted the name 'Swami Isa'. And that marked the humble beginning of the ashram Isalayam and its divine mission.

Spiritual seekers and ardent devotees, sensing the great divinity in Swami Isa are instinctively drawn to Him. Every devotee has the impression of having an individual and personal relation with the divine. Swami Isa guides earnest devotees to pursue the path of self-realization through his loving care and spiritual wisdom.

 Isa swami web site: http://www.isalayam.com