Articles by Swami Ritavan Bharati 
Happy New Year!
1 January, 2020 @ 12:24 am
Around the globe... Hand-in-hand, Heart-to-heart, Mind-with-mind, May Consciousness of Oneness unite, and may Peace fill and fulfill All.
Two Diwali Messages, 2019
27 October, 2019 @ 4:54 pm
Grace-filled lamps of honeyed illumination set in a row as our pools of shakti - the lifeforce of the Infinite. The One who breathes-out to fill and fulfill this river-of-light, and breathes-in to return us back to Her invisible-embrace of stillness.
Commencing the 50-Year Celebration of the Meditation Center
1 August, 2019 @ 4:13 pm
We gather together to share this journey, mindful of life, heartful of happiness, life lived with purpose. The wholeness and holiness of life we celebrate, now and in each will-filled breath; now and in each chosen sentiment-filled emotion.
Guru Purnima Blessings from the Himalayan Sages
1 August, 2019 @ 4:03 pm
“Sacred goblet where full moon flooding soma forms sahasrara atop your skull. There the guru sprinkles inspired sweet streams of poetic speech, the voice of your soul, as divine sound - mantra. These streams are beyond the touch of death; These are the beautiful waves (sundarya-lahari), the waves of Infinity that touch the shores of your mind. Shreem, unto that Guru-Shri, my prostrations, my homage, my surrender, my ‘not mine’ is offered in love.”
Swami Ritavan Replies to His Friends’ Birthday Wishes
28 March, 2019 @ 11:02 am
May God's name in each of these 625 million breaths become a prayer - song, and may the Rishis of Yore shine with the illumined light of prana in the minds and hearts of you all with their Vedic Hymn of Hamsa, (SoHam).
Shivaratri Manasa Puja
22 March, 2019 @ 11:56 am
We now find in this matrix of time and space, find this Self, the pure Self, that has taken on the ignorance, taken on the illusion as ignorance, and the samskara of many bodies again and again, where in this mandala of universe you now find yourself the bound and ignorant jīva as you sit here at this place, at this time, draw yourself to yourself and with the prayer, mukṣīya, mukṣīya, mukṣīya, you are searching through the layers and layers upon layers of that illusion. Now sit still in the very centre of the mandala that you know yourself to be. In that stillness a settling of the mind. A relaxation of the body. An intention to know yourself. Śivoham. I am Śiva.
Guidelines for 3 Year Practice
22 March, 2019 @ 11:46 am
Guidelines for 3 Year Practice by Swami Ritavan Bharati [This is a transcript of the session on 4 March 2019 at the 2019 Sangha Gathering at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh, India.] Swami Ritavan Bharati: Sarva maṅgala māṅgalye śive sarvārtha sādhike, śaraṇye tryambake gauri nārāyaṇ namo’stu te. Gurur brahma gurur viṣṇur gurur devo maheśvaraḥ, guruḥ sākṣāt paraṁ brahma tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. Ity-uktā sā tadā devi gambhīrāntaḥ smitā jagau, durgā bhagavatī bhadrā yayedam dhāryate jagat. By way of Mother Divine’s grace for each and every one and the Guru’s blessings, the Ityukta [mantra] continues to be now our mission. When we have understood that mantra we become the listeners. Again it is a verse from the Caṇḍī. It simply says thus the Divine Mother spoke, but it doesn’t say what she says. So this is the way by which we are training our higher faculties and in that way serving the Mission.
Vision for the Next Three Years
22 March, 2019 @ 11:40 am
Saumyā saumyātarā śeṣa saumyebhyas-tvati-sundarī. Parāparāṇāṁ paramā tvameva parameśvarī. Tāre tut-tāre ture svāhā. Akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāraṁ vyāptaṁ yena carācaram, tat-padaṁ darśitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. And with the sentiment of svāhā, making that mental act of surrender, of dedication, of re-initiation to that light of lights within, that source of love that radiates in all your thoughts, words and deeds, reminder of which is breathed through you, from Mother’s grace, through her shakti, through her prana. You, on all levels of your personality, you enact your karma yet you know yourself to be the atman. Atma-tattva-avalokanam, that thought you carry with you always.
What is AHYMSIN
22 March, 2019 @ 11:35 am
Recording started with Guru Prayer and Peace Prayer. Swami Ritavan Bharati: On behalf of our sannyasins, our residents, our sadhakas, of Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, the home of the sadhakas, and on behalf of Shi Hong, Senior Vice President of AHYMSIN, we welcome you. Each and every one, we sincerely open our hearts by way of inviting you back home. Back home, to a homeland of our lineage.
Advancing Guidance in Yoga Sadhana
22 March, 2019 @ 11:30 am
Are your foreheads relaxed? What did you say the topic is tonight? Advancing guidance. Advanced practices. Our beloved Swamiji simply said again and again keep your foreheads relaxed, and being the naughty student that I was for so many years, such students take a long, long, long time to learn very simple practices, like keep your forehead relaxed. Even now I am looking at the mirror, the grooves are getting deeper, I am thinking, too much thinking. Haven’t I learned anything from my teacher?