Author: Divya - Administrator

As the Maha Kumbh was in progress at Prayagraj, an inner Kumbh unfolded at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in February 2025.

In commemoration of the centennial of Gurdev Swami Rama’s birth, a Mantra and Purashcharana Retreat convened over 60 initiates from 13 nations for 21 days. During the retreat, a purashcharana of 125,000 guru mantras was offered by each initiate individually, dedicated in the spirit of Guru prityartham—for the pleasure of the Guru.

On purashcharana, Swami Veda Bharati has written, “I often advise new initiates to undertake a purash-charana immediately after initiation. The word purash-charana means “a foot forward.” That is the term for undertaking a special observance. A beginning observation of purash-charana, for example, would be for someone to do 125,000 repetitions of their mantra using a mala. Then the mantra becomes habitual, is absorbed.”

On the auspicious day, Swami Ritavan Bharati initiated the retreat with Guru Puja. Following this, participating initiates took a sankalpa, resolving to undertake a purashcharana of 125,000 repetitions of their personal initiation guru mantra, as received through initiation in the Tradition.

To deepen their understanding of their personal mantra and mantra sadhana, each participant received personal guidance from Swami Ritavan Bharati, as well as initiators Raghavendra Adiga and Yoong ji, who were present during the retreat.

The Swami Rama Hall served as a sacred space, dedicated entirely to the 21-day retreat. Each participant established their personal meditation seat, a space they maintained for the entire duration of the retreat. For 21 days, participants practiced their japa in the same spot, enveloped in meditation shawls, the Swami Rama Hall became a nurturing sanctuary, a womb of Guru spirit.

In the first week of the retreat, lectures and meditations on mantra sadhana were offered by Swami Ritavan Bharati, and mantra initiators Raghavendra Adiga ji, Yoong ji, and Acharya Rabindra Sahu.

To support their sadhana during the retreat and deepen their japa, the sadhakas were recommended three books: ‘Samyama: The Power of Self-Transformation‘ by Swami Rama, ‘Mantra and Meditation,’ and ‘Mantras: The Sacred Chants‘ by Swami Veda Bharati.

Swami Ritavan, in a lecture, envisioned the participants as brahmacharis seated under a tree seeking sanyasa and moksha. Further, he elaborated on the three essential components of a mantra: the bija (seed syllable), the mantra deity, and namah, which signifies both detachment (‘not me, not mine’) and surrender to the mantra deity and the Guru spirit.

Raghavendra Adiga, a mantra initiator within the Tradition, drew upon Patanjali’s Yoga-sutras to explain the process of japa, especially its role in ‘chitta vritti nirodhah’ and ‘tada drashtuh swarupevasthanam.’ He also guided meditations to inspire and deepen the practice of mantra japa

On the process of purification, Swami Veda Bharati has said, “Mantra is for penetrating through the veils and curtains of samskaras, for countering the existing samskaras, and for preventing the formation of new, undesirable samskaras.”

Acharya Rabindra, speaking on the process of japa, explained it as a practice involving the five koshas. He also inspired participants to cultivate a sense of surrender by visualizing themselves seated in the lap of their mantra deity or the guru.

In the book Samyama – The Power of Self-Tranformation, Gurudev Swami Rama explains, “For the sutras, you need a teacher to give your explanation; for mantra, once you have it, you do not need any guidance, because mantra will guide itself. Mantra helps to purify the mind of pain and misery.”

Fire offerings, offered with personal mantras, enhanced the sense of inner purification. Participants offered their inner weaknesses into the fire, with the sentiment of ‘namah’—not mine—and surrendered to the mantra deity and Guru.

The retreat’s second half brought a profound deepening of mantra practice. Participants dedicated their days to japa sadhana, and silence settled among them. A transformation occurred: walks slowed, steps gentled, breaths softened, and minds quieted. The mantra’s vibration guided their malas, as they sat in stillness. Minds and mantras united in silence, and their hearts surrendered to the Guru spirit.

As an ode to Gurudeva, with millions of mantras offered from the devoted hearts of the sadhakas, the retreat culminated in a purnahuti, a final offering puja conducted by Swami Ritavan Bharati and mantra initiator Yoong ji on behalf of all participants.

Immersed in love and gratitude for the loving grace of the Guru Lineage, participants offered flowers at the Guru’s feet, echoing the sentiment of the Guru Paduka Stotram: ‘In this endless ocean of cyclical creation, the Guru is the boat that can sail across. Devotion for the Guru establishes a state of worship-worthy dispassion (vairagya).’ Participants bowed down and surrendered at their Guru’s sacred feet.

As participants prepared to depart from their spiritual home, their hearts were filled with the Guru’s love, like leaving a mother’s home with gifts of love and blessings.

Om Shreem Gurave Namah.

Editor’s Note:

Namita is a long-term initiate and student within the Himalayan Tradition. She is also a teacher and mentor with the Himalayan Yoga Tradition – Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP). She has an AHYMSIN friendly center in Bengaluru, India – Urdhva Yoga.

We are delighted to invite all initiates and students of the Himalayan Tradition to dedicate our practices in honour of Gurudeva Swami Rama’s teachings and guidance.

As Swami Ritavan has shared, we are now celebrating 2025 in honour of Gurudeva Swami Rama’s teachings and guidance on the occasion of his birth centenary. While staying in tuned with Gurudeva through our personal initiation guru mantra practice, we are now inviting all initiates and students of the Himalayan Tradition to study one book of Gurudeva each month for the remainder of this year, imbibing the theme of “Love, Serve, Remember” into our daily lives. Rabindra Ji elaborated upon this theme for the year 2025 to study, contemplate, and practice the teachings of Swami Rama and suggested us to begin a ‘Book of the Month’ practice of Swadhyaya.

We will share three chapters/sections from each of the books, every month, in a special newsletter, dedicated to the theme of “Love, Serve, Remember” for contemplation. For the month of March, we go back to the most beautiful, the most profound, the most beloved Living with the Himalayan Masters book. This book that has ignited and fueled the flame of inner seeking within countless hearts, including yours and mine, shall inspire us once again.

We pray to the Guru Lineage to strengthen and deepen our connection with the timeless wisdom that has been passed down through millennia and hope that this eternal connection inspires us to become fit instruments through which the teachings of “Love, Serve, Remember” come alive. As we unite in practice and intention towards honouring Gurudeva Swami Rama’s teachings, we hope that this year brings abundant blessings for each of us.

I pay obeisances to Sri Guru, who revealed to me That state, which pervades the entire unbroken circle (of creation), both moving and unmoving.

As a heartfelt tribute to our Gurudeva on His 100th Birth Anniversary, sangha members are lovingly invited to recite the Akhanda-mandalakaram mantra silently in their hearts as a prayer or, if possible, offer one or more malas of the mantra. This practice will be in addition to each initiate’s ongoing japa and meditation practices with their personal initiation mantra.

On the 21^st of December 2024, on the day that was officially declared World Meditation Day by the United Nations, the founding of our non-profit Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation (AHYMSIN) Switzerland was made public. We organised an online group meditation and introduced ourselves and our vision for the future. The event was supported by the blessings of Swami Ritavan Bharati and generated a lot of interest among participants from various countries. This was a beautiful reminder for us being part of a global AHYMSIN family and gave us a lot of inspiration.

It will be our mission to spread the teachings of the tradition and to bring people together in and around Switzerland. The committee consists at present of Anna Devigili, Maria Miguel Ribeiro, Alan Richard, Lea Sellinger and John Sellinger.

We plan to hold guided full moon meditations, regular online workshops as well as retreats in the Swiss mountains.

   

It was our long-held dream to bring the various people connected to the tradition in Switzerland together and to further deepen the relationships as well as to inspire new people. Yet it wasn’t until 2024 this finally happened and Ahymsin Switzerland took shape.

With Anna returning to Zurich full of enthusiasm from a year deeply immersed in studying at the Swami Rama Dhyana Gurukulam at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama Ashram, we knew we could do it. Anna had been sharing the teachings of the tradition by running classes and workshops in Zurich.

Over the past years, regular classes as well as various workshops and retreats haven been held in Basel, Geneva, Luzern and Zurich. In 2017 John was given the opportunity to lead a teacher training program in Basel over the course of 2 years. There he was able to impart some of the content of the Himalayan tradition to a group of enthusiastic students. The program was very well received, long lasting friendships formed and some of the former students became initiates.

In Geneva, Alan and Maria, both former Gurukulam students at SRSG established a small centre and are running various programs and regular classes. They were part of the fortunate group of the last Gurukulam students, that got to learn directly from Swami Veda Bharati. They both taught various classes at the ashram and served in many other ways. In one of her last meetings with Swami Veda, Maria was asked to become a teacher of the tradition and share what she has learned with others.

In October 2024 in the beautiful setting of the Chandolin Alps we came together for our very first Ahymsin Switzerland meeting. We were all taken aback by the beauty of the unique landscape and the 200-year-old mountain village with its compact ancient wooden houses on stilts nestled on the steep slope of the mountain side. The village is located at over 2000 m above sea level and the breathtaking landscape reminded us very much of the Himalayan mountains. Meeting for the first time in such a serene setting felt like a very auspicious sign of Guru’s presence among us.

For 2025 we are planning a silence retreat in August somewhere in the Swiss Alps. From February we will start with philosophy classes initially held by John. Furthermore, we are planning online morning hatha classes and we will hold regular full moon meditations.

If you would like to connect with us and for further information, please contact us under ahymsinch@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

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We held our annual retreats in September this year, inviting Rabindra Sahu from Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) as the guide for our inward journey. For two weeks, we were blessed to share the teachings of the tradition with many people in different parts of Japan.

On the first weekend, we had three one-day workshops in Okayama and Shiga. The topics included “Understanding Body, Breath and Mind”, “Hatha Yoga as a Gateway to Meditation”, “Who am I?”, and “Bhakti Yoga: Path of Love and Devotion”. As always, the participants came from different backgrounds and experiences. The focus was on explaining the topics by giving daily life examples which the participants could relate to. By becoming their own observers or “scientists” to themselves, the participants gradually deepened understanding of themselves at different levels. Rabindra introduced some practices that can be applied in our daily lives such as sitting quietly for a few minutes before getting out of the bed and before going to bed, counting breaths for a few minutes at office, on the train, at traffic, etc. and the participants made a commitment to themselves what they are going to practice after the retreats.

During the second weekend, we had a 3-day retreat in Yamanashi, in a beautiful cottage in the forest area surrounded by mountains. This year, our theme of the retreat was “Cultivating Love Within ~ Entering the Sacred Chamber of the Heart”. We shared many learnings and laughter throughout the retreat. In the morning, we had a gentle yoga class followed by a guided meditation. Rabindra shared his wisdom and experiences on the topics of “Knowing Your Own True Self”, “Spirituality in Loving Relationships”, “Developing Strength and Willpower” and “Creating a Loving Commitment”. The topics were introduced and taught in a systematic way, which helped the participants.

Embraced by the natural environment, we had many opportunities to feel thankful to Mother nature while going for a nature walk and enjoying delicious meals cooked with locally grown vegetables. Rabindra reminded us to make deeper connections to each of the five elements—Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether—and to become aware of how nature always nurtures and nourishes without asking for anything in return. For example, the sun gives us light and helps plants to grow by burning himself. Respecting the 5 elements and developing deeper connections with them will help us lead a harmonious lifestyle within and without.

On the second night, we had a kirtan and chanted mantras while understanding their meanings and the power that the sound vibrations have. Although most of the participants were meeting for the first time, the connection became stronger each day by sharing ourgoals and knowing that we are there to help each other grow. It seemed that the participants found what they needed to work on in order to achieve their goals, with a key to access their inner chambers.

We feel grateful for those who came to the retreats and for being able to share the teachings of the Tradition with many people. Heartfelt thanks to Rabindra Sahu for sharing the teachings, his wisdom and experiences with us to help us to continue growing.

P.S. – A big tree can give shade and have abundant fruit for all the living beings. Likewise, when our spirituality matures, we can help people around like mothers nourish children. With gratitude to the masters and all the teachers who have nurtured us. I hope this small seed may someday sprout to give shades and fruit to many…

In loving service,
Yuko Metsugi

We recently concluded a deeply inspiring retreat on Swami Veda Bharati’s book­­—­­­’Bondage or Freedom’ with Rabindra Sahu at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama ashram in Rishikesh from 3 – 8 November 2024.

Bondage or Freedom Group Photo

Bondage or Freedom book answers the eternal question as to how we bind ourselves into the complexities of life and our own personalities. The answer to this eternal question is the essence of this book. Our beloved Swami Ji with his experiential wisdom and profound knowledge guides us through the efficacious ways to free ourselves from the bondages created by our own self.

The retreat was organised on request from our Hungarian family and some of the participants shared their experiences and self-reflections –

“The Bondage or Freedom retreat was truly inspirational. Rabindra Sahu covered such a depth of knowledge and shared a lot of wisdom. He showed us how we get stuck in our unhelpful patterns, how our likes and dislikes, and unhelpful attachments cause our suffering. He explained that difficulties will always arise, but suffering is a choice.

We learned the importance of not dwelling on our past mistakes as they cannot be changed. Instead, we need to focus on our thoughts, actions, and speech today as that is what we can control. To choose to be a loving person without attachments and expectations. Always aspire to learn and grow and that true success is always internal. Everything in the external world can be taken away from us instantly. Money, fame, and success can never provide true happiness. It lies within us and once it is found it stays with us.”

“From the inspirational lectures, we learned how we bound ourselves and how we can keep ourselves free. We are all very grateful for the personal examples from the teacher’s life, through which he pointed out how we can go beyond the body, what self-conquest means, and how we can expand our hearts.”

“Rabindra is an excellent teacher, and he has the ability to grab the attention of his audience. He went through Swami Veda’s book “Bondage or Freedom” and explained how and why we are bound, and how we falsely identify ourselves with our body instead of realizing that we are not the body that will dissolve eventually anyway. We cause our suffering by identifying with the body. We cause our suffering by attaching ourselves to the external world thinking that only the outside world can cause our happiness instead of going inside and exploring what is there. We heard about the importance of having a set meditation time and going back to our place of meditation every day at the same time, even if only for 5 minutes and keeping our personal mantra in mind as much as we can as it will help us on the way. We are all capable of doing what the great masters did before us, but we must believe that we can do it, and we must be persistent in our practices. The retreat was an eye-opener, and I am very grateful for the Masters and the Himalayan Tradition that I was able to participate.”

Editor’s Note:

Please write to hyptbooks@gmail.com for a physical copy of Swami Veda Bharati’s book ‘Bondage or Freedom’. For Kindle edition, click on Bondage or Freedom.

For more information on events and programs at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, kindly email us at ahymsin@gmail.com

We arrived the day before Deepawali or Diwali at the Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama ashram, our spiritual home, where we are always welcomed with open arms, understanding, and pure, open hearts. Every journey we make here feels like coming home, perhaps because this is our true spiritual home, the home of our Gurus.

The Diwali at the ashram is special as we all light 3000 diyas to celebrate this festival of light. Diyas are traditional, handmade earthen/pottery lamps (made of clay) that consist of cotton wicks and are filled with sesame oil.

We could not participate in the preparations for Diwali because our arrival was the day before the festival. When we arrived, the 3000 wicks were ready, and the 3000 diyas were waiting for us. The cotton wicks were handmade by the ashram residents and guests.

Diwali day in the ashram is special because everyone participates in decorating the entire ashram area and this time was no different. We were divided into groups and given diyas and a designated area to decorate. After placing the diyas, we went around and put the wick and oil in them one by one. It was a real team effort, bringing together all the residents and guests of the ashram who came from different countries.

At dusk, we all went around and lit all the diyas.

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It was a truly uplifting and wonderful feeling to walk around the majestically lit places being part of something beautiful and dignified on the festival of lights. Those with artistic flair created different patterns from the diyas, and some delighted the community with beautiful mandalas and rangolis.

Everyone dressed their body and soul in beautiful dresses, and we enjoyed each other’s company, and celebrated life and the light within us. We all had a sense of belonging in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition, this community, this wonderful spiritual family.

We are grateful to our masters and all the ashram residents for welcoming us with such goodwill and allowing us to participate in this soul-stirring and soul-warming festival.

On the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima (21^st July), with the blessings and guidance of the Guru Lineage, we welcomed the third batch of Gurukulam with three Indian students – Arun, Manisha and Prudhvi (left to right in the photo below).

The one-year residential program for the Gurukulam has been carefully designed and planned to encompass the teachings of the Himalayan Tradition as taught by Swami Rama and Swami Veda. The focus is to support and nurture self-observation, self-examination, self-purification, and self-pacification that leads to Self-transformation.

The daily schedule for the Gurukulam students begins at 5 am with the Yajna of the Ganpati Mantra, followed by the ashram prayers, joints & glands practice, pranayama, and guided meditation classes. They have special classes thrice each day at 10 am, 3 pm, and 8 pm. While, the afternoon breathing class and evening hatha yoga practice are shared with our visiting sadhakas. Every week, Thursdays are devoted to the practice of silence, fostering inner stillness, while Sundays are dedicated to the practice of Karma Yoga, wherein they contribute towards the ashram in some way.

With Swami Ritavan’s guidance, the Gurukulam curriculum has been designed to be essentially very dynamic in nature, thus can be adapted to the students’ needs and requirements. This year the Gurukulam students are all new to the teachings of the Himalayan Tradition. Therefore, our focus will remain on setting a solid foundation of yoga meditation practices for all of them.

In the past two months, the students have been learning about proper sitting, proper breathing, relaxation, and understanding the foundations of meditation and its practice, along with Sanskrit. All the subjects are taught in an immersive, in-depth manner.

We began with a study of the most foundational and important text of our beloved Swami Veda Bharati—Night Birds—with Gurukulam Acharya, Rabindra Sahu. This was followed by a study of one of his most beautiful books—Mind – The Playground of Gods.

In the coming months, they would be studying the teachings of Gurudeva Swami Rama through his video lectures and books, beginning with the Conscious Living. Swami Veda’s writings—You & Your emotions and Path to Successful Relationship—will also be studied. The focus will be on not just a reading or theoretical study of these books, but practical applications of the teachings in our everyday life. In the meantime, they will also continue to learn and practice the sacred art of Vedic chanting.

Swami Veda held the Gurukulam program very dear in his heart and emphasized the importance of passing down the teachings of the Tradition through long-term in-depth studies at the ashram. As we begin another year of Gurukulam, we feel both humbled and thankful to uphold his vision.

We continually seek the blessings of the Lineage and pray for our own self-purification, so that we may succeed in this endeavour. We hope and pray that the Gurukulam will offer a nurturing space to all the students for learning, practicing, and embodying the teachings of the Tradition.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our DMT trustees, AHYMSIN family members, all the teachers, ashram sahayakas, and our well-wishers who have continued to support this vision.

On Guruwar, our Acharaya and teachers surprised us by taking us on a pilgrimage to the Akshardham temple. We silently embarked on a four-hour long journey, listening to soothing chants and occasionally sharing inspiring stories along the way. Greeted by rain and welcomed by traffic, but nothing could dampen our pilgrim spirit. As we arrived at the magnificent temple and stepped through one of the ten gates, each of us was enthralled and marveled at the sheer beauty of the temple with its central majestic sanctuary and embracing arcades.

We were welcomed by the aarti as we stepped inside the main temple, bowing our heads down in reverence to Bhagwan Swaminarayan. We then paid our respects to the other idols of hindu deities Radha Krishna, Sita Ram, Laxmi Narayan, Shiva Parvati by chanting mantras at each of their altars. All of the beautiful deities were created so artistically they had a life-like quality about them. The intricate artwork of the temple left us in awe, reminding us of the immense potential within each of us. As we stood below the circular dome shaped structure, our eyes were lost above as if we were being drawn up to the heavenly abode depicted so intricately above. Just as the stone has been chiseled into beautiful forms, so too can we shape ourselves into something extraordinary if we choose to do so.

In the introductory exhibition the history of the construction was narrated to us along with a thoughtful contemplation – it took the hands of thousands of devoted sculptors to build the huge temple. How many sculptors are needed to chisel our own personality in order to come closer to Truth? Only one. We are the sculptors of our own mind and life.

We then moved on to the Hall of Values exhibition, which depicted the core teachings and short life story of Bhagwan Swaminarayan using realistic puppets. They demonstrated qualities of unconditional love, compassion, selfless service and how a devotee should have faith in his master. This was followed by the cultural boat ride, showcasing the Vedic era and the astounding gems of India’s ancient culture and contributions in the areas of science, art, literature, filling us with a profound sense of pride in our heritage. Yet, it also brought a touch of despair as we reflected on our country’s current challenges.

The thematic movie depicting the life of Swami Narayan Bhagwan was deeply inspiring. It told the story of a small boy Neelkanth who fearlessly left home in the search of moksha. On the way there he explored India, overcoming dangers and negative forces with such grace and love that it makes one question the very existence of fear itself. He traveled barefoot while clothed in a dhoti and only carried a pot for seeking alms and a mala to practice his japa. People who encountered him were deeply impressed by his strong faith and determination and soon recognised they were standing in front of an enlightened master.

One of the stories struck a deep chord; one evening the little boy was meditating under a tree despite the warnings of the villagers who told him there were ferocious lions. Neelkanth remained sitting in meditation absolutely fearless. In the night a lion came, ready to attack him but Neelkanth lovingly greeted the lion and talked to him. Through his expanded heart he saw the lion and himself as part of one and the same creation, so who should fear whom?

Many villagers wished to be graced by his stay in their village, they seeked to serve him and be blessed by his teachings but Neelkanth was immovable: no attachments neither to people nor to places. He chose to continue his journey, despite all dangers and discomforts. He was above any kind of body identification and totally fearless.

When people felt disappointed when they were not able to serve such a great avatar, he used to tell them: “Serve each other as if you were serving me. By loving each other you will love myself as well. Love knows no distance.” This sentence remains impressed in our heart and reminds us that the light of the Guru is always present within us, wherever we are, in the moment we do selfless service in their name.

Another quote that hit home was “Anger, ego, power, greed and hatred are the primary reasons for a war to start. All wars first start in mind and then manifest in the real world. So a person who takes care of thoughts and values can keep themself at peace and also the community of humanity in peace.” It makes one wonder about the real power of man and how man has been using that power with negative intention to pursue lowly goals. We truly must rise above by inculcating love towards each other and make spiritual enlightenment our goal.

Overall our visit to Akshardham in Delhi was a transformative journey through time, culture and especially spirituality. Akshardham not only celebrated India’s glorious past but also inspired us to think deeply about how we can contribute to a brighter future. Each of us has returned with a heart full of inspirations, revitalized energy and spiritual elevation that we garnered from Akshardham. We are incredibly thankful to our teachers for taking the efforts to organize this beautiful, short trip with a glorious blend of art, architecture, learning and devotion combined with various lessons of life.

Editor’s Note:

Anna, Arun, Manisha, and Prudhvi are students at the Swami Rama Dhyana Gurukulam. They went on a pilgrimage to the Akshardham temple in Delhi as a part of their Gurukulam program, along with the Gurukulam Acharya (Rabindra Sahu) and the Gurukulam Administrator (Dr Swati Saharan) on 29 August 2024.