Lineage
H.H. Swami Rama of the Himalayas (1925-1996) 
A disciple of the Himalayan adept, Sri Bengali Baba, Swami Rama (1925-1996) was born and raised in the legendary Himalayan mountain caves where countless generations of yogis have been trained and initiated into the deepest mysteries of yoga. Throughout his childhood and adolescence he lived and travelled with many saints and yogis. At the young age of 24 years he succeeded the great spiritual leader Dr. Kurtkoti as Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham.
He renounced the dignity and prestige of this high office to return to the Himalayas to intensify his meditative practices. After completing an intense, eleven-month meditation practice in isolation, he emerged with the determination to serve humanity, particularly to bring the teachings of the East to the West, and directed his life toward the unification of science and spirituality. He began his synthesis of eastern and western traditions with his research work at the Menninger Foundation in the United States and helped to revolutionize scientific thinking about the relationship between body and mind.
He founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy with branches throughout the world, and the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, a 350 million dollar health and rural development project located near Dehradun in Garhwal, designed to serve this region’s population of millions of people in great medical, economic and social need. From a small outpatient clinic started in 1989, the Trust has grown into a huge medical city that incorporates an ultra modern SOD-bed hospital, medical college, school of nursing, Rural Development Institute and holistic centre.
Through his life and teachings, Swami Rama sought to combine the ancient teachings of the East with modern approaches of the West. He was a great yogi, scientist, philosopher, humanitarian, and mystic poet, all rolled into one. Having reached the heights of spiritual enlightenment, he always strove with seemingly endless energy to attain perfection in his actions in the external world. His life and teachings are the inspiration behind AHYMSIN and Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG).
Recent Articles
Working With Mind
I have not come to teach you religion, for that you already have. I have come to teach you something that you do not have, that which is missing. And that´s called a personal philosophy of life, which will support you no matter where you go. So I will tell you something about the mind and what is beyond the mind. I would like to give you both views, eastern and western, and try to explain to you the various aspects of mind and its modifications, so that there is no confusion and you can start working with yourself.
You Should Teach your Children through Example
When you make meditation a part of your life, your children will follow your example. Exemplary education is very important for children. Children imitate their parents; you don’t have to teach them to meditate. Never do that. You should teach your children through example how to sit quietly and make their minds one-pointed. When you sit in meditation, your child will also come and sit next to you and pretend to do what you are doing.
Selflessness
Sit down and think about what you have done in your life, because in the end, during the period of transition, you will have to face yourself. What have you done that is satisfying? Have you done anything selfless –totally selfless?
The Method for Inner Study
Human beings are always disappointed in the external world, yet they have not turned inward to understand anything about the internal world.
Discipline
You have to light your own lamp. No one will give you salvation. I am talking of enlightenment. All individuals have the responsibility to enlighten themselves. Do not think you cannot do it. You have that spark. You are fully equipped. You simply need to discipline yourself. Discipline is not a prison. It simply means practice.
Streams of Negative Emotion
When you study the emotions you find that there are seven main streams of negative emotions that arise from the four primitive fountains or appetites. Desire, or kama, which we have already discussed, is the first stream and the mother of them all.
Swami Veda Bharati (1933-2015)
Mahamandaleshwar Sri Swami Veda Bharati (1933- July 14, 2015), former President of Sadhana Mandir Trust, was a rare Sanskrit scholar of our time, unsurpassed in his profound depth of knowledge, philosophy and practice of Meditation. He was born in a Sanskrit-speaking family and raised in the centuries old Vedic tradition. He taught the Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtras for the first time at the early age of 9 and the Vedas from age 11. Having never attended any school, he received his M.A. from the University of London and a D.Litt. from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
From 1952-1967, he spread the Yogic and Vedic teachings in many parts of the world, including Africa and the West Indies. In 1969, he received the highest initiations into the mysteries of Meditation from his Guru Swami Rama of the Himalayas who linked him to the sacred lineage of the Himalayan Yogis. Thereafter he established and guided Meditation groups and centers in all parts of the world. He had access to 17 languages and taught Meditation in all of the major languages of the world and to followers of all religions.
In continuation with the oral tradition of the living lineage of the Himalayan Sages, Swami Veda taught: “योगः समाधिः | yogaḥ samādhiḥ | Yoga = samadhi | Yoga [is] samadhi. He proposed that the entire yoga science must be studied and practiced on the basis of this definition of yoga. All other definitions are subservient to it. He revealed the authentic teachings of Classical Yoga through his 1500 page commentaries on the (first two chapters) Yoga-Sutras. This commentary has been hailed among scholars and practitioners both as the most authentic and authoritative. He has recorded more than 3,500 hours of courses on all aspects of meditation, its texts, and philosophical systems apart from teaching the ancient texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita in an experiential context for meditation. Following on the footsteps of his Guru, he maintained a keen interest in the scientific studies of yoga mediation and subjected himself to a number of researches in the field of Neurophysiology of the Meditative states.
Swami Veda Bharati emphasized the universality of yoga as a science, which transcends chronological time, geographical boundaries, religious discrimination, and manmade sectarianism. Although he always liked to keep a low profile, he was well known for his teaching in different communities and cultures all over the world and for his expertise in instructing students in accordance with their own religion-philosophical background. During his lifetime, he participated in numerous interfaith dialogues, activities, and conferences with an aim of improving understanding among various religions. He found the experience of meditation to be the common ground among all religions. Prepared on the occasion of the United Nations 2000 World Peace Summit of Leaders in Religion and Spirituality, his short work, “Unifying Streams in Religions,” provides a fresh perspective for bringing the different faiths closer together.
In 2002, he founded Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh, which houses the headquarters of the Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International (AHYMSIN) and serves as the centre for his global network among nearly 100 groups in 26 different countries; spreading the teachings of the Himalayan Tradition. We can best repay his extra-ordinary efforts by availing ourselves of the fruits of his experiential teachings to further our own yogic practice for our own enlightenment and the welfare of all.
Recent Articles
Make Yourself Small
Always try to find opportunities to make yourself small. Always try to find opportunities to make yourself small before others in humility – mental humility – not always trying to assert your bigness, not always asserting your thought that “I am right!” Say, “I’m wrong,” and then you will grow. “Yes, I’m wrong, my mistake, my fault. Yes, it’s my fault.” And sometimes do it even if it is not your fault.
Six Steps to Liberation
Six requirements for true liberation include - 1. Shama: tranquillity, 2. Dama: control, 3. Uparati: natural turning away, 4. Titiksha: fortitude, 5. Shraddha: humble faith, and 6. Vairagya: turning away from the desires and pleasures of the world
Love, Meditation, and Service
“I have one question in mind. A person decides to go to a world-famous Meditation Centre (Ashram) in South India, for 10 days. Supposing that the person, while leaving the city finds family person seriously ill, but continues with journey to that Ashram, will it be fair? Especially if the ill person at home has no one by his/her side and needs emotional support, more than anything?
Mind, Emotions, and Spiritual Progress
A person who is making spiritual progress has total control over the functions of the mind. This moment he may be dealing with the most profound, philosophical text and someone in need of reassurance walks in; he listens to the story, gives reassurance; the person walks out and leaves no residue behind in your mind.
SVB Birthday Blessing 2009
…just this tremendous amount of love everywhere from people I did not know. And I’ve found that God has made a very, very loving world, and my prayer for you is that you find your world to be the same, and my prayer for myself is that whether someone throws roses at me or throws mud at me, I should remain the same and there should be no change in the level of my love. That’s my prayer for myself, and for you, may you find the world to be as full of love as beautiful as that I have found in traveling around to strange places, new places. Everywhere may you find the same.
75th-Birthday Blessing-2008
It was beautiful. Someone whom I have known from the age of 7, I’d never thought in those years of 1956-57 that we will be meeting here. Such a touching occasion for me. The whole history from that country where I was serving Guyana to this day here in Rishikesh. And tonight, Hungarian song-hymn sung to the tabla rhythms in Rishikesh. What can be a better demonstration of a world culture. And here we are creating this world culture so beautifully expressed. Those things make me blush.
Swami Ritavan Bharati
Present Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide:
Swami Ritavan Bharati has lived a life dedicated to serving Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati since 1970. After having been initiated at the age of 20, he transited through all the three Ashrams of Vedic life (Brahmacharya, Grihastha, and Vanaprastha) under the direct guidance of Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati. He was then initiated into Sanyasa in 2007.
He holds master’s degrees in Management, Education, Holistic Philosophy, and Eastern Studies. A highly experienced yoga meditation practitioner, he has conducted and guided numerous silence and meditation retreats throughout the world and has been instrumental in guiding the international Himalayan Yoga Tradition – Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP). He is also a Mantra Initiator within the Tradition of the Himalayan Masters. Swami Veda Bharati chose Swami Ritavan Bharati as his successor; as the Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide of SRSG and the AHYMSIN community, before he took Mahasamadhi in 2015.
A man of few words, his primary focus is on the inner life.
Recent Articles
Sacred Pilgrimage
Recently, myself and Acharya Rabindra, following our Shringeri visit some years ago, continue in the footsteps of our Parampara and just as Adi Shankaracharya once made a visit to Nashik, we did too.
Invitation to the Decade of Loving Transformation
Swami Veda has very lovingly guided us, “Plan for when you retire. There is no end to worldly involvements. If you live to be a hundred, you will still be worrying about how you are babysitting your great grandchildren. Enough, done. Serve them, help them, guide them but don’t be so attached. So, what you will do, what spiritual work you will do on yourself.”
Transitioning from Ganesha Gayatri to the essential Ganesha Mantra
Lord Ganesha, the divine force who is the remover of obstacles in our life, in our sadhana; and provides the physical and emotional stability that we all aspire for by removing such obstacles, resistances, and conflicts enhancing our clarity and spiritual understanding lighting and enlightening our path of sadhana.
New Year, and New Moon Meditations
Good tidings to you at this auspicious period of "resting", receiving the gift of void - emptiness. What is this incessant urge, desire, and need to fill? The art of fulfilment is the art of giving. Through giving you receive. By emptying you create the "space" - the opportunity to receive and thereby to be nurtured.
Tamaso-ma-jyotir-gamaya: Jyoti Meditation
OM; Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya…Lead me from darkness to light, lead me from darkness of ignorance to the to enlightenment! Let this become a prayer encompassing your entire heart and mind; an affirmation: jyotiraham, jyotiraham, jyotiraham. I am light, I am light, I am light!
Illuminating Freedom
Learn to unconfuse your mind and illuminate the darkness of bondage. Learn to unconfuse your mind with the identity that never changes. The nature of realization, the nature of purity is everything of its surroundings reflect in it without making it impure. Yet, we allow anything and everything to reflect in our purity with ever-changing thoughts and emotions as habit patterns, as our identity. The ever-changing, the impure, our false bondage becomes our identity crisis.