Mark McLaughlin began practicing the Siddha Yoga teachings after a good friend invited him to participate in a satsang with Gurumayi Chidvilasananda on New Year’s Day 1996 in Palm Springs, California. He offers seva in the SYDA Foundation as a scholar, writer, and Siddha Yoga meditation teacher.

Mark is chairman of the Academic Advisory Council of the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute. He has a master’s degree and doctorate in South Asian religions and Sanskrit from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a senior lecturer of South Asian religions at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mark lives in Williamsburg with his wife, Asha, and their two sons.