Updates from Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama

Published: 21 April 2024 | Written by

The serenity and extensive gardens that envelop Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) provide a peaceful sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of Rishikesh town. As we immerse ourselves in the teachings, the natural beauty that surrounds us helps us feel a deep connection to the nature and all its wonders. The lush greenery, the gentle whispers of the wind through the trees, the melodious songs of the birds, and the familiar mooing of the mother cows create a harmonious symphony that soothes the soul.

The serene atmosphere of SRSG in the early months of 2024 was filled with a renewed energy as sadhakas from all walks of life gathered to immerse themselves in the core teachings of the Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation. The ashram became a hub of spiritual growth and self-discovery, with each retreat and activity designed to peel back the layers of the ancient wisdom, revealing new insights and practices, to those sincere on the path.

As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, a sense of community and shared purpose blossomed among all our visiting sadhakas. It was a time of introspection, connection, and transformation, as we delved deep into our practice, with blessings and guidance of Swami Ritavan Bharati, our Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide, and other experienced teachers.

Each event and activity was a unique and memorable experience that brought joy and nourishment to all who participated. From the vibrant colors and sounds of Holi to the profound silence of our Akhanda practices to the deep contemplations facilitated by our teachers, each moments seems to have left a lasting impact on all of us. We hope that the below event summaries will serve as a reminder of the eternal teachings shared and received.

Mantra Practice after Initiation – Purash-charana with Raghavendra Adiga ji

21 Jan – 2 Feb, 2024

We began with new year with a resolve to recommit ourselves to our Personal Guru Mantras and our Mantra Japa practices. Under the guidance of Raghavendra ji, (Mantra Initiator within the Himalayan Tradition and AHYMSIN Spiritual Committee member) we received a unique opportunity to deepen and intensify our personal mantra practice through the transformative power of a Purash-charana (125,000 repetitions of the mantra).

Swami Veda has said, “The word purash-charana means a step forward. When one undertakes such observances one takes a quantum leap on one’s spiritual journey.”

16 initiates from 6 countries participated in this retreat and began their purash-charana practice of their personal mantra. They also received opportunities to seek personal guidance from Raghavendra ji with regards to any questions they had about their mantra or other practices.

Mauni Amavasya Silence Retreat with Raghavendra Adiga ji

3 – 9 Feb, 2024

Having undertaken the sankalpa for deepening of our personal mantra practice, we were blessed with the perfect opportunity to enter into silence during the Mauni Amavasya Silence Retreat.

As Swami Veda has said, “Silence is such a profound and deep experience of human existence that only when we have understood silence can we understand the inspiration that has ever flowed to humanity from the minds and mouths of the great rishis, sages and prophets.”

The silence retreat was a beautiful gathering of 36 sadhakas from 10 countries, on the sacred occasion of the Mauni Amavasya. The participants began a profound inward journey, diving into the quietude of their heart under the loving guidance of Raghavendra Ji.

We are very grateful to Raghavendra ji for his nurturing presence in both the retreats, which served as a source of inspiration for all present.

Intensive Meditation Retreat with Swami Ritavan Bharati

11 – 17 Feb, 2024

We naturally transitioned from the depths of profound silence and embarked on a journey of deepening and intensifying our meditation practice under the guidance of Swami Ritavan Bharati, our Ashram Pramukha and Spiritual Guide. During the retreat, Swami Ritavan illuminated the path to enhancing and deepening one’s already established practice of meditation through many specialty guided meditations, personal guidance from Swamiji, and returning to the teachings of meditation as taught by Gurudeva Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati.

While Swamiji unveiled the profound secrets of meditation, Rabindra Sahu (Acharya, Swami Rama Dhyana Gurukulam) offered practical guidance on how to integrate these teachings into one’s daily life and how to realign our everyday lives in accordance with our spiritual goals and aspirations.

Sadhana Panchakam: 40 Steps towards Liberation with Rabindra Sahu

18 – 23 Feb, 2024

In this special event with Rabindra ji, we studied and contemplated on a short (yet very profound) text containing only five verses by Adi Sankaracharya. The text contains 40 systematic and sequential instructions, furthering one’s journey on the path of liberation.

It was a beautiful opportunity to contemplate and reflect upon many practical ways and means which will help and guide us on every step of our sadhana.

Entrance to the Subtle Body with Swami Ritavan Bharati

15 Feb – 5 Mar, 2024

Having understood the many paths and means of sadhana, we began our inward journey towards the essence of our Self under the guidance of Swami Ritavan Bharati with this special retreat on Entrance to the Subtle Body. This retreat resonated deeply with sadhakas from all over the world. It was one of the most successful retreats at the ashram in the past many years as over 110 sadhakas from as many as 20 countries joined in, creating a microcosm of our global spiritual family at SRSG. We received students from 14 affiliated centers of AHYMSIN for this special event with Swamiji, and it certainly felt like a mini Sangha gathering.

Swami ji masterfully guided everyone on the transformative journey, unveiling the subtle realms beyond the physical. He progressively took us through the teachings on many key topics, including—body-breath-mind, pancha pranas, pancha koshas, rasana buddhi, and other concepts from Swami Veda’s Commentary on the Yoga Sutras. We began the preparations for this entrance into our subtle bodies with progressive guided practices on pranayama, exercise without movement, systematic relaxations, and specialty meditations with Swami Ritavan. As he led the group through specialty meditations, a sense of peace and clarity enveloped the room, creating a sacred space for inner exploration and self-discovery. His teachings resonated deeply, inspiring all to continue their journey of transformation with grace and determination.

This retreat was special and unique in many ways. As is the practice in the Ashram, each Thursday (Guruvaara in Hindi – the Day of the Guru) is the day of silence. The silence practice on Thursday included Akhanda Japa (non-stop recitation of the our personal guru mantra) for 24 hrs in the Meditation Hall, now called as the Swami Rama Hall. This Akhanda Japa was truly special as it was the very first time in the history of ashram that the Akhanda Japa continued for 24 hrs (9 am on Thursday – 8am on Friday).

We also went on a pilgrimage to the holy confluence at the Devprayag, where the holy rivers of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi merge together to form the holy Ganges. Almost all the members joined this beautiful excursion, along with Swami Ritavan. As we stood in awe of the natural beauty and spiritual significance of this confluence, we felt a deep connection to the Himalayas, the great Himalayan Sages, and each other. The memories of this sacred excursion will forever remain etched in our hearts.

AHYMSIN Sangha Mantra Practice and Mahashivaratri Celebrations

6 – 8 Mar, 2024

Collectively, we offered a Purashcharana (125,000 repetitions) of the AHYMSIN Sangha Mantra ‘Om Gaṁ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ’ with Yajna (fire offerings) at the big Yajnashala on 6 & 7 March, followed by Yajna Purnahuti & Sankalpa for the AHYMSIN sangha mantra practice for the next one year until the next Mahashivaratri in 2025.

On the morning of the Mahashivaratri, a lovely and loving member of our Sangha received Vanaprastha vows from Swami Ritavan Bharati – Riemke de Groot from Netherlands.

Onto our journey into the subtle realms, we celebrated the auspicious occasion of Mahashivaratri—the great night of Lord Shiva, who is the lord of all the realms. Braving the cold night, most of the seekers stayed awake the whole night to join the pujas at our Shiva Temple which is named as Sadhakeshwara (Lord of the Sadhakas) temple. We not only worshiped lord Shiva externally but also internally by invoking the Shiva principle and energy within us. Each moment came as a reminder to strengthen our Sankalpa (resolve) with “Tan me manah shiva sankalpam astu”. Each moment, seeking Lord Shiva’s Grace and blessings so that we may one day develop the ability to be in the word yet remain above it.

Himalayan Yoga Tradition – Teacher Training (Transformation) Program

Level 1 & 3 Retreat: 10 – 23 Mar, 2024

March continued the momentum of activities at the ashram with the HYT-TTP level 1 and 3 retreats. We received one of the highest number of registrations in the level 1, with 50 participants joining the retreat. We also had 10 participants in the TTP Level 3 retreat.

While Swami Ritavan and our wonderful senior teachers—Pt. Ashutosh Sharma, Sonia van Nispen, John Sellinger, Pt. Jay Prakash Bahuguna and others—spent day and night in guiding the students, many others worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the TTP such a great success, including the entire Ashram community and most importantly Pt Priyadarshan (Pierre Lefebvre).

Our Beloved Swami Veda Bharati’s 91st Birthday Celebration

24 March 2024: Full Moon Meditation & Holi Celebrations

The most auspicious day of our beloved Swami Veda Bharati’s 91st Birthday Celebration coincided with the holy full moon day of the Holi festival.

In timeless remembrance of our dearest Swamiji, we offered 24 hours of Akhanda Japa of our personal guru mantra. To quote a small verse from one of Swamiji’s beautiful poems, “play the games the masters fancy…”

This collective nonstop recitation for 24 hrs created such a beautiful, enriching, and profound energy and was one of the most special full moon days. Many sadhakas, including participants and residents, sat throughout the night as well to make the offering of their personal mantra at the feet of our dearest Swamiji. It was as if He had lovingly wrapped us all in His meditation shawl.

The Swami Rama Hall was filled with love and reverence as sadhakas from all walks of life came together to offer their personal guru mantras. The night was a tapestry of shared spiritual energy, as the mantra japa continued uninterrupted, nurturing a profound sense of connection. Swamiji’s presence was palpable, enveloping us in a cocoon of meditation and grace. It was a night to remember, where time seemed to stand still, and the collective devotion illuminated our hearts with pure joy and gratitude.

There was a unique union of love, devotion, silence and peace that night, which we had not experienced before…

One could see initiates silently sitting,

filled with light of mantra within,

throughout the night, sleep having eluded their eyes,

the loving presence of our dearest Swamiji having filled their hearts.

Narada Bhakti Sutra – Treatise on Love and Surrender with Rabindra Sahu

24 – 30 Mar, 2024

This beautiful event on Sage Narada’s treatise on love and surrender with Rabindra Sahu allowed us to fill and overfill our hearts with devotion and offered us with invaluable insights into the essence of unconditional love and surrender. In this text, Sage Narada explains the nature of perfectional, unconditional love and devotion and the ways to achieve this state.

Rabindra ji guided us towards a deeper understanding of the nature of true devotion and the various paths to experiencing this supreme bliss that is the divine love within. He also shared with us many stories of bhaktas (devotees), their absolute love and devotion, from the Puranas (mythology). As Swami Veda Bharati has said, “Knowledge without action is lame. Action without knowledge is blind. And knowledge and action both without love and devotion are heartless.”

This satsang was a soulful journey into the realms of selflessness, unconditional love, and unwavering devotion towards the Guru and the Lord. It was a beautiful exploration that left our hearts full and our spirits uplifted, paving the way for continued growth and spiritual evolution.

Navaratri Retreat – Cultivating the Divine Feminine with Rabindra Sahu

9 – 17 Apr, 2024

During this auspicious time of Navaratri, the Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama ashram immerses itself in the vibrant celebrations that honour the Divine Mother. We celebrated the sacred 9 nights of Navaratri with daily pujas, akhanda (24 hours non-stop) recitation of the Lalita-sahasra-nama (Thousand Names of Divine Mother), and a retreat on “Cultivating the Divine Feminine.” The Lalita Sahasranama recitations echo through the tranquil surroundings, filling the hearts of participants with reverence and devotion.

The retreat on “Cultivating the Divine Feminine” served as a guiding light, encouraging us all to embody qualities such as compassion, nurturing, and inner strength, mirroring the essence of the Mother herself. Rabindra ji inspired the participants to align, cultivate, and honour the feminine principles that are ever-present within us all and to nurture these divine feminine qualities within all of us. We spoke of ways of embracing feminine qualities like love, softness, subtlety, grace, gentleness, and humility in our daily life.

The celebration culminated in Kanya Pujan, a deeply moving tradition, brings together young girls adorned as manifestations of the Mother Divine. Their presence symbolizes purity, innocence, and the loving nature of the Mother.

This sacred festival serves as a reminder of the transformative energy that flows through all of creation, inviting all the sadhakas to embrace the divine within themselves and in every living being they encounter.

During most of February and March, the ashram was fully booked as family members from across the world joined the many special events. We received as many as 18 groups during this time, including three groups from Korea, two groups each from Hungary, Netherlands, and Taiwan, and one group each from Ecuador, Japan, India, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, Slovakia & Slovenia, UK, and USA. We received sadhakas from as many as 44 countries and representatives from 16 AHYMSIN Affiliated centers.

We are extremely grateful to our Ashram sahayakas (support staff) who also worked tirelessly throughout these months, behind the scenes, to ensure that all our visiting family members had a comfortable stay for their sadhana. We were overwhelmed with the love we received from everyone, whether it was the delicious treats (many, many chocolates and other goodies!), everyone’s loving understanding in sharing accommodations and facilities, their enthusiastic seva in helping and serving each other…

Navaratri truly served as a perfect culmination of these few months, a period that was brimming with abundant knowledge and enriching experiences. With the sentiments of love and surrender, we bow down to the lineage to keep guiding us on this path and bless us all with continuing purification on our spiritual journey. With each breath and each moment of stillness, it seemed that we are moving closer to the Guru Force within.

Editor’s Note: