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.