Reinhard Gammenthaler (born 9 May 1953) is an initiate of the ancient Ashtanga-Yoga and renowned Yoga teacher from Switzerland. He is the last disciple of Swami Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, the successor of the great seer and holy Yogi Maharshi Kartikeya. His book, Kundalini Yoga Parampara: The Living Tradition of Kundalini-Yoga, a comprehensive work on the practice and philosophy of Hatha-Yoga, has so far been published in English, German, Russian and Czech. It continues the two books by Dhirendra Brahmachari, Yogic Sukshma Vyayama (Yoga Helps Healing) and Yogasana Vijnana (Yoga Progressive) and completes them with a third part concerning the techniques of Mudra and Pranayama; it also contains detailed information on essential aspects of the original Yoga, such as diet, lifestyle, Cakras, Nadis, Marmas et cetera. Deeply impressed by the ancient Indian epic Bhagavad Gita and ancient scriptures such as the Hatha-Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva-Samhita, the Gheranda-Samhita and the Yoga Sutras of Pantajali, Reinhard has been practising Yoga according to the teachings of his Guru Dhirendra Brahmachari since 1979. After years of preparation in Switzerland and West Africa, Reinhard met his teacher in person for the first time in India in 1989. Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari accepted him as his final disciple and sent him to Mantalai, a small mountain village in a remote valley in the Indian part of Kashmir. There, in complete isolation at the Aparna Ashram, he underwent rigorous Sadhana to learn the many techniques and aspects of Pranayama, Mudra and Svara as set out in the ancient scriptures of the Yoga-Shastra. In 1993, he received Diksha (initiation) from his Guru into the Parampara (tradition as it emerges from the teachings of great Yogis like Swatmarama, Goraksha and Matsyendra) of the original Hatha- or Kundalini-Yoga. The Parampara is based on Ashtanga-Yoga (eightfold Yoga path) and consists of Hatha-Yoga (Yoga of power) and Raja-Yoga (royal path). Hatha is the foundation of sometimes very demanding physical exercises that ultimately lead to Raja, the royal path of meditation, supernatural realisation and liberation. Ashtanga-Yoga includes all aspects of Yoga, such as Bhakti-Yoga (path of devotion), Karma-Yoga (path of selfless deed) and Jnana-Yoga (Yoga of knowledge and wisdom), the synthesis of which enables the Sadhaka (aspirant to spiritual realisation) to master the perilous and strenuous ascent to the heights of self-perfection. In 2002 Reinhard began teaching Yoga and founded a school for traditional Hatha- or Kundalini-Yoga in his hometown of Bern. Since 2005 he has regularly given international Yoga workshops. At the beginning of 2020, he moved to Oberburg in Emmental, where he has been teaching at Yogahaus Oberburg since October 2022.
Reinhard appears in the documentary film Yoga – Der Ruf der Stille (2009; in German language) by Kurt Widmer for NZZ Format, where he talks about his view of Yoga and demonstrates advanced Yogic purification techniques and Asanas.
