General Articles 
Why Do We Do Joints & Glands Exercises?
21 August, 2019 @ 11:50 am
What we did this morning – three-quarters at the beginning when we did the leg stretches and the ankle rotations – this was not classical yoga asanas. This was known as Joints & Glands movements. These are the preparations for classical asanas. We were preparing. Three-quarters was preparation. And then we went into just a few postures: Spinal Twist, Sitting, the Cat, and the Sideways Stretch, etc. The rest was preparation which was needed; otherwise you suffer when you practice asanas. Why do we do it? I want to relate this to what we have practiced.
Paradise on Heart
21 August, 2019 @ 11:41 am
I lived for three years, almost continuously, at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG). I felt that as my home, and people there as my family. I was a Gurukulam student, and when the program was over, I left. Then life takes its courses, back to my country, reorganize a life after three year spent only in yoga, meditation, studying philosophy… it took some time. Everything was different; any meaning of life was different. It took me quite some years to decide to come back to India (who knows who decides?). One’s own karma, fears, difficulties, insecurities…
How can I keep my practice on track if I can visit Rishikesh only once or twice a year?
12 August, 2019 @ 5:54 pm
Baba coming into our lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, my dear husband, who later became a swami, said to Baba that he wished to go to the Himalayas. So Baba queried - "Why?". My husband - "I want to find God." Long pause with Baba smilingly replied - "So God does not live in Minneapolis?"
Japa, Silence and Atma-tattva-avalokanam, part 4
21 July, 2019 @ 12:21 pm
Question: What is the distinction between atma-tattva-avalokanam and ishvara- pranidhana. Is it a matter of perspectives? Stoma: The distinction is really just the words. Ishvara pranidhana is a particular aspect of it. If you are watching for the essence of atman everywhere around you, of course you are going to be placing your mind close to divinity which is the real definition of ishvara pranidhana. And in response to that meditation on your part, Patañjali says or Vyasa says ishvara does its abhidhyana, its responsive meditation, in your mind. So it isn’t that we do meditation, we prepare the seat, and then the Guru comes and meditates our mind. That is really how it goes most of the time, at least for me.
Is kundalini yoga all about tapping into our spiritual energy?
8 July, 2019 @ 6:00 pm
Again practice, begin with subtle body work through asanas, pranayama, and through pratyahara, leading to samyama you will slowly develop the awareness and skill of the subtle levels of consciousness known as "kundalini-rising."
How much time and how many lives do we go through “neti, neti”?
21 June, 2019 @ 6:07 pm
If you live a mindful life, depending on the density of your karmic accumulation, you can substantially cleanse the mindfield in one lifetime. If you observe your life from buddhi, which is causally beyond ahamkara, this breaks the self-identification with samskaras and keeps the ego in its minimal role.
Japa, Silence and Atma-tattva-avalokanam, part 3
21 June, 2019 @ 12:32 pm
I remember when I was for a few years on the board of The Meditation Center in Minneapolis. One of the things that is important to remember about Swami Veda’s organizations is that they always ran rough. Always. No such thing as a smoothly running organization with Swami Veda. There is always lots of back and forth and contention about stuff. Being a well-trained therapist for a long time and an organisational consultant, I ran around trying to fix it. Then one day I was sitting and watching some kind of conflict go on between two people and the thought suddenly came in my mind, “Stoma, it is not supposed to get fixed. It is supposed to be this way. This is how he facilitates emotional purification in people.” And if there wasn’t enough rough running going on, he would create it! He’d give a job to somebody and then two minutes later, after that person had left, he’d call in somebody else and give him the same job. And he usually picked two people who didn’t like each other. He’d set up a big conflict about it.
2019 Spiritual Festival
8 June, 2019 @ 5:09 pm
“We are all here for a purpose; it is an on-going spiritual process. We are all here for spiritual liberation and serving that mission. For that purpose we are purifying ourselves of our pride and ego. For these reasons we train ourselves in constant self-observation: to see oneself, to hear oneself to develop this internal dialogue. I have used one criterion for all my thoughts, my words, and my actions: ‘Is this conducive to spiritual liberation?'"– Swami Veda
2019 Breath and Pranayama Intensive Workshop
28 May, 2019 @ 3:39 pm
This is a chance to come and immerse yourself in an intensive practice of Pranayama. This retreat will include the foundations and deepening of the subtleties of breathing and pranayama practices, as they are taught in the Himalayan Tradition. You will learn and practice different techniques; diaphragmatic breathing, complete breath, kapalabati, bhastrika, brahmari, ujjayi and nadi shodhanam in a systematic manner, at beginning and more advanced levels. This seminar can be attended while remaining in silence to deepen your own personal inner journey.
Silence, Svadhyaya and Steadiness of Mind
22 May, 2019 @ 10:38 am
I used to crack a joke that by the completion of the HYT Teacher Training Program the students are expected to attain samadhi. Now I’m not so sure it is a joke. There is the pedagogical side of the course where you are taught how to teach and there is the more subtle aspect of adhikari which teaches self-criticism and to know what you know clearly so you can communicate it both rationally and intuitively. There are levels of adhikari all the way from developing confidence in oneself as a teacher to communicating from mahat. So the TTP does more than teaching how to teach, it teaches adhikari by the development of sadhana for personal transformation. This adhikari is given a boost on one’s own in silence practice.