General Articles 
Dr. Sanjay Shastri on the Meaning of Havan, Yajña and Ritual
17 June, 2013 @ 1:11 am
The mantra recitations of the priests at the nearby sacred fire sifted in and out of an interesting talk by Dr. Sanjay Shastri (Sanjay Kumar) on the meaning of havan, yajna and ritual. Sanjay is a Sanskrit scholar who was trained in the noted Prabhat Ashram, received a doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and has also served Swami Veda both at Sadhana Mandir and currently at SRSG, where he is assisting with the editing of Swami Veda’s Yoga Sutras and commentaries.
THE SPIRITUAL FESTIVAL — 2013
12 June, 2013 @ 2:32 pm
The 40-day Spiritual Festival is a time period when students in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition undertake special spiritual practices to refine their meditation and lifestyles in preparation for Guru Purnima (July 22nd ).
An Invitation to You to Become Kalyana-Mitras
31 May, 2013 @ 7:41 pm
So, I send this invitation to you to become kalyana-mitras, friends on the noble path, to many initiates who need the guidance. After this forthcoming study, the initiates should be given the names of possible mentors, including yourself, to whom they can turn for advice.
Can We Live in Silence in Everyday Life?
17 May, 2013 @ 1:16 am
With Swami Veda Bharati taking a vow of 5 years of Silence, it’s a good time to be inspired and ask the question: can I incorporate some Silence into my life? At Aware Yoga, we have been enjoying Silence weekends and Silence days and we have now introduced Silence hours. What's this I hear you ask? Silence hours are an opportunity to come to Hatha class for asana and systematic relaxation, then take a walk in nature in Silence followed by an hour of Silence supported by 108 breath nadi shodhanam, japa, meditation,– you choose the combination you need. No talking from the teacher, just a group of like-minded beings enjoying the fullness that comes from Silence – together.
Shiva-Sankalpa-Sūktam
23 March, 2013 @ 4:44 pm
OM yaj jāgrato dūram udaiti, daivaṁ, tadu suptasya tathaivaiti, dūraṅgamaṃ jyotiṣāṁ jyotir ekaṁ, tan me manaḥ shiva-saṅkalpam astu.
Shiva-Sankalpa-Sūktam (from Ashram handbook)
17 March, 2013 @ 4:33 pm
ॐ यज्जाग्रतो दूरमुदैति दैवं तदु सुप्तस्य तथैवैति। दूरङ्गमं ज्योतिषां ज्योतिरेकं तन्मे मनः शिवसङ्कल्पमस्तु॥१॥
Two Wings to Fly
17 March, 2013 @ 1:42 am
Last year after my silence practice, I felt like I had never felt before. My meditations were deep and powerful, my mind was calm, my energy level was high and my love for others was intense. I only had positive things to say about my practice. People were surprised when I told them that this year I experienced almost three weeks of intense mental suffering. I would like to share with you what I learned from that suffering and I hope it helps you in your meditation practices. The two main causes of my suffering were self-condemnation and expectation. Let me try to explain how self-condemnation affected me first. One of the interesting things that I have observed in myself since beginning the practice of yoga, is a very strong idea that I need to improve myself, that I need to become perfect, so that I can experience ‘samadhi’, ‘enlightenment’ or some other over-my-head kind of thing. I do not know if that idea was there before I learned about spirituality or if the practice of yoga gave that idea a chance to manifest itself, but that is actually not so important.
An Interview with Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral
17 March, 2013 @ 1:29 am
A disciple of H. H. Swami Rama of the Himalayas, Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral has been trained by Swami Veda Bharati. H. H. Swami Rama sent Pandit Dabral to the United States in 1992 and in 1994. Trained and authorized by Swami Rama to give initiations, Panditji has initiated many hundreds of people. He is a member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti, or Spiritual Committee, and the Spiritual Director of The Himalayan Yoga Meditation Center, Calgary, Canada. He is also an international teacher within our tradition. In late August 2011, Panditji gave an extensive interview covering a multitude of questions that his family of students put forth.
Sing like the Birds Sing
17 January, 2013 @ 1:59 am
Now I have the time to complete the sharing of the lessons learned during my silence practice this year. What I want to share on the blog here is a bit too much to share in one post, so there will be one follow-up post to this one. The most important thing that I learned in my practice this year is the importance of remaining mentally free. When I use the term ‘mentally free’, I do not mean something over-your-head. I mean being free from ideas of how life should be and accepting life as it presents itself to you, by remaining free from judgments and expectations. Allow me to illustrate this concept in this article, and explain how I learned about it in the next article.
My Friend the Mantra
17 January, 2013 @ 1:56 am
When I was new to the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition, I heard two things that I didn’t understand. Both of them were about the mantra that’s given at initiation: The first was that one should “listen” to the mantra when meditating rather than “thinking” or “doing” the mantra, and the second was that over years of practice, the mantra becomes a friend in our mind that can lead us toward wisdom.