Ohm My Goodness

Meditation is the medication your soul needs, atleast according to uber-Zen yoga master-cum-meditation guru Sriman Japadas. If that sounds like hokey pokey to you, hear this guy out.

- Jasmine Teo

WHO IS HE? Sriman Japadas, 54. The founder of Singapore School of Meditation and Yoga (SSMY) was initiated into the #yogalyfe by a spiritual guru in the monastery where he grew up. “[Growing up,] I didn’t go to [conventional] school and I don’t have a degree,” says Sriman, who was born in the Philippines and now lives here. He dabbled in jobs as a taekwondo teacher and interpreter when he left the monastery at 19, and later went on to become an entrepreneur and motivational speaker under his birth name, Joseph Bismark (Sriman is the moniker that his guru gave him, and what most friends know him as). Now semi-retired, the father-of-one continues to be a staunch advocate of a life of austerity, vegetarianism and yoga and meditation. To promote mindfulness and meditation — something that he feels the ubiquitous hip yoga studios don’t emphasise on enough — he introduced free-for-all mantra and kirtan (group) meditation sessions at SSMY.

1 Don’t be afraid of boredom.