Jayadev Jaerschky was born in Germany. He began his inner search in his teens and, in 1989, following a pilgrimage to India, he decided to settle in the Ananda center near Assisi and follow the Kriya Yoga tradition of Paramhansa Yogananda as conveyed by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda. In 1991, he received initiation into Kriya Yoga from Swami Kriyananda, who encouraged him to teach and, later, to write books.

Jayadev holds annual seminars in various parts of Italy. He has also taught in several European countries and in India, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

In 2007, he founded the European School of Ananda Yoga, of which he is director and where he holds courses throughout the year, training new Ananda Yoga teachers.

Jayadev is the author of numerous books on yoga: Awakening the Chakras; Yoga as a Prayer; Kriya Yoga; etc.

He sings with passion, plays the guitar and has published several music CDs: Cosmic Chants (in Italian), Love God, Meditations and Practices with OM and Open the Heart Chakra (the latter two with Peter Treichler).

Every year Jayadev leads a pilgrimage to India, to the sacred places of the Himalayas. The main destination is Badrinath, where Mahavatar Babaji, the supreme master of the Kriya Yoga tradition, is said to reside.