Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Storytime" with Michael Smith - January 21, 2021
2021-01-21 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – January 21, 2021
“Storytime”
with Michael Smith
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Stories with Michael Smith

Storytime is a pleasant theme, and an easy theme, because so many stories are available to us.
Swami Veda was a storyteller par excellence, and Indian culture is filled to brim with inspiring stories —that are a joy to share and a joy to listen to.
After the CHUDALA and SHIKHIDVAJA from the Yoga Vasishtha, the stories now will be much shorter, but they will be very powerful stories with lots of things
to contemplate in terms of how they apply to one’s daily life. So, after each story there will be a chance for us to share our insights.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-01-24 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on January 24, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, January 24th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

"Practice Support Group via Zoom" with Saras Bhadri Means - Limited to 8 Participants
2021-01-26 19:00 - 20:00
“Practice Support Group via Zoom” with Saras Bhadri Means
Tuesdays: January 26 – April 13, 2021
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Limited to 8 Participants
RSVP Here.
There is no cost.

Saras Bhadri Means has been part of Himalayan tradition for the last seventeen years and feels blessed to be part of it. In Saras’ words, “It has been a roller coaster for me to learn a new language, going to grad school, and managing two small children. In all of this, my spiritual practices took a back seat and now I feel ready to make a commitment to my spiritual practices, taking them more seriously and making them the center of my life.”

In the New Year, Saras is interested in starting a support group for people who are also serious about working on their spiritual practices together. The group would meet on Tuesday evenings 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. over Zoom. The purpose of the group would be to start a new practice, continue for three months, and provide support to each other and create a community.

The first practice to be shared will be alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhanam) guided by Swami Radha Bharati.

The group format would look something like this or it can be changed accordingly.
7:00 to 7:15, check-in
7:15 to 7:30, brief meditation
7:30 to 8:00, learn and discuss new practice.

In order to make this group effective for everyone, we will only take 8 people at first. We will create a list of other interested practitioners and begin a second group later.

Cancelled - Wednesday Mornings via Zoom - Gentle Hatha Yoga (DROP IN) with Sig Martell and Rosann Chamberlain
2021-01-27 10:30 - 12:00
Cancelled – Wednesday Mornings via Zoom – Gentle Hatha Yoga (DROP IN)

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to
The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website

Time: 10:30am to Noon
Instructors: Sig Martell and Rosann Chamberlain
Fees: $12.00/class ($10.00 for seniors and students)
Drop-In Hatha Classes (Ongoing)
Everyone is Welcome! These classes are for all levels. Instructors excel at leading the class in relaxation, gentle asana (yoga positions) and pranayama (breath). Relieve stress, achy joints, improve balance at all levels and increase your sense of well being. No registration necessary, just show up!

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Tibetan Medicine: Create a Healthy Mind and Body" Faculty, Dr. Miriam E. Cameron and Dr. Tenzin Namdul - January 28, 2021
2021-01-28 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – January 28, 2021
“Tibetan Medicine: Create a Healthy Mind and Body”
Faculty, Dr. Miriam E. Cameron and Dr. Tenzin Namdul

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to
The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7-8:30 p.m., Thursday, January 28, 2021
The Meditation Center, Minneapolis, via Zoom
All of us want to be happy and avoid suffering. Yet, too often we make choices that sabotage us. Tibetan medicine, Tibet’s ancient science of healing, teaches that the purpose of life is to be happy, and that after our basic needs are met, happiness results primarily from our own thinking.
Tibetan medicine describes the intricate relationship between mind and body. Dr. Cameron and Dr. Namdul will explain how to use Tibetan medicine for self-care as a complement to Yoga and modern medicine. Tibetan medicine and Yoga empower us to make mindful, informed choices that create health and happiness for ourselves, others, and our planet.
About the Speakers
Miriam E. Cameron, PhD, MS, MA, RN, is Lead Faculty, Yoga & Tibetan Medicine Focus Area, and Graduate Faculty, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minnesota. Since 1994, she has done scholarly work involving Tibetan Medicine, Yoga, Nursing, and Bioethics. Swami Veda Bharati and Swami Radha Bharati helped her to create the Bakken Center Yoga Program, including the course, “Yoga and Ayurveda in India,” at SRSG Ashram, Rishikesh. She has published over 65 articles, nine book chapters, three monographs, three internet modules, and four books, including ”Karma and Happiness: A Tibetan Odyssey in Ethics, Spirituality, and Healing,” with the foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Tenzin Namdul, PhD, DTM, is a Tibetan Medicine Doctor, Medical Anthropologist, and Graduate Faculty, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, and Postdoctoral Researcher, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota. Namdul served as Director, Clinical Research Department, and Faculty at Men-Tsee-Khang, Tibetan Medical Institute, in Dharamsala, India. He has published several research articles and an internet module about Tibetan medicine.
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Cameron and Dr. Namdul have collaborated to create resources involving Tibetan Medicine:

Graduate courses: “Traditional Tibetan Medicine: Ethics, Spirituality, & Healing,” 8 weeks online each semester; and “Tibetan Medicine, Ayurveda, & Yoga in India,” May Session at Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamsala.

FREE Publications: “Constitutional Self-Assessment Tool (CSAT) and Lifestyle Guidelines Tool (LGT),” and “Overview of Tibetan Medicine”.

New book: Tibetan-Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy, with a Blessing by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

You can contact Dr. Cameron and Dr. Namdul at: camer008@umn.edu and namdu003@umn.edu.

Full Moon Meditation with Swami Ritavan Bharati - 9:00 p.m.. – 10:00 p.m.
2021-01-28 21:00 - 22:00
Thursday, January 28, 2021
FULL MOON MEDITATION
9:00 p.m.. – 10:00 p.m.

View and listen here to Swami Ritavan’s
Full Moon Meditation Message and Blessings

Swami Ritavan invites you to join us for a group meditation starting at 9 o’clock in the evening. Or if you are not able to be present during the zoom meeting, meditate wherever you are at that time.

Swami Ritavan Bharati has said, “The full moon meditations are an opportunity for us to come together in connecting with the universal mind-field bringing unity, harmony, peace, and love. Go into your silence; exhale-release, inhale-accept, forgive and fulfill, with purified heart and mind receive the blessings of the Lineage.”

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-01-31 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on January 31, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, January 31st, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: Prayer, the Language of Love" with Pandit Tejomaya - February 4, 2021
2021-02-04 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom with Pandit Tejomaya
“Prayer, the Language of Love”
February 4, 2021
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.
7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Pandit Tejomaya
7:30 p.m. – Presentation by Pandit Tejomaya

Prayer is the language of love. So says Swami Rama.

Join Pandit Tejomaya for an exploration into the beautiful role that prayer can play in life of a sadhaka.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-02-07 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on February 7, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, February 7th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

“Silence Day” Mauni Amavasya on Thursday, February 11, 2021
2021-02-11 00:00 - 23:30
“Silence Day” Mauni Amavasya,
Thursday: February 11, 2021

Mauni Amavasya (Silence Day) is an annual observance. The observation of Silence Day is a practice that Swami Veda Bharati invited us to practice.

Swamiji wrote:
There is an annual silence day in the traditions of India. It is called Mauni Amavasya. Mauni means ‘of or for silence’, and amavasya means ‘no-moon day.’ It occurs on the no-moon day of the Maagha month in the Hindu calendar when sun and moon are both supposed to enter the sign of Capricorn (makara rashi).

It is held in the tradition as the day when Manu, the Archetypal Man first appeared on earth; he wedded Shata-roopa (She of a Hundred Beautiful Forms) and generated humankind.

…Whether you accept the story or Manu or not, we do need to institute a day of silence every year… Read more.

Michael Smith wrote, “…Before Swami Veda left his body in 2015, he counseled his students to observe this Silence Day, and even to encourage others around the world to do the same – so that it would become a global practice!

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Celebrate The Ancient Traveler with Music and Poetry" with Chris Young, Swami Radha Bharati, Georgeann Bianchi, and Christopher Palbicki - February 11, 2021
2021-02-11 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – February 11, 2021
“Celebrate The Ancient Traveler with Music and Poetry”
Music by Chris Young
Readings by Swami Radha Bharati, Georgeann Bianchi, and Christopher Palbicki
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 p.m. – Kirtan with Chris Young and Readings by Swami Radha Bharati, Georgeann Bianchi, and Christopher Palbicki
To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe
to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Let us celebrate together this Thursday with the music of Chris Young and readings from Swami Radha Bharati, Georgeann Bianchi, and Christopher Palbicki.

Introduction and Reading “The Ancient Traveler” – Swami Radha Bharati-

Chanting OM/Guru Prayer – Chris Young

Reading – Georgeann Bianchi

Hanuman Chalisa – Chris Young

Poem: For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet by Joy Harjo –
Christopher Palbicki

Mere Gurudev – Chris Young

The Community

Chanting OM

“The Ancient Traveler”
by H.H.S. Swami Rama

“The most ancient traveler in the universe is love. It is love that travels from the unknown to the known, from eternity to eternity.

Those who want to realize the greatest delight should realize themselves in others. This is the definition of true love.

The spirit of love is boundless and emancipates our being from illusory bonds and superimpositions. It is unity that will lead us to Truth. That which is the beginning and the end of the phenomenal world is divine…”

(The Essence of Spiritual Life, pages 94-95)

"Vegetarian Sri Lankan Cooking Class via Zoom" with Lakmal Rozumalski Ph.D. Saturday, February 13, 2021 10:00 a.m. - Noon
2021-02-13 10:00 - 12:00
For Valentine’s Day
Treat Yourself and Loved Ones
to a New Culinary Experience
That You Can Savor and Share with All
Vegetarian Sri Lankan Virtual Cooking Class

“Coconut Roti and Coconut Curry”
with Lakmal Rozumalski Ph.D.

Saturday February 13, 2021
10:00 a.m. – Noon

Suggested donation: $25.00

Register here

Register early to receive your recipes and list of ingredients for the coconut roti and coconut curry dishes, so if you would like, you can prepare the dishes with Lakmal in real time.

The Zoom link will be sent to you the day before the cooking class.

f for any reason you are not able to attend the class at the scheduled time, you can still participate in this as the class will be recorded. A link to the replay video will be sent to you for later viewing if you have registered. Recipes will be provided to you after you register.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-02-14 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on February 14, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, February 14th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Awakening into Spring: Taking care of yourself as winter slowly starts to thaw into spring…" with Nikki Strong, Pernu Menheer, Saraswati Bhadri,and Charles Crenshaw- February 18, 2021
2021-02-18 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – February 18, 2021
“Awakening into Spring:
Taking care of yourself as winter slowly starts to thaw into spring…”
with Nikki Strong, Pernu Menheer, and Saraswati Bhadri
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

7:00 p.m. – Guided Meditation with Charles Crenshaw
7:30 p.m. – Talk with Nikki Strong, Pernu Menheer, and Saraswati Bhadri

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe
to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Gentle self care practices and tips… for this time of year. Please wear loose comfortable clothing and be ready to have some fun learning gentle movements, self massage, and general lifestyle suggestions for taking care of that precious one… that is you!

"AGING AS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY: Finding Wholeness and Balance in Later Life" with Randall Krause - February 20, 2021
2021-02-20 09:30 - 12:00
“AGING AS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY:
Finding Wholeness and Balance in Later Life”
with Randall Krause

Saturday: February 20, 2021
9:30 a.m. – Noon
Cost: $25.00
Limited to 16 participants.
Register here.

Sage-ing offers a new vision of aging as a time for deep reflection and spiritual growth and invites us to nourish and integrate our whole self—body, mind, emotions and spirit. We will spend time considering how we nurture each of these areas of our lives. We will also dive into contemplating the spiritual aspect of our own lives and develop a plan for next steps.

Randall Krause served as an attorney, a mediator, a life coach, and a yoga teacher. He is a senior mentor and senior teacher in the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition. For many years, he ran a multi-million dollar business. Now retired from that business and well into his sixties, Randall is an Intern in the Sage-ing International Certified Sage-ing Leader Training program.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-02-21 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on February 21, 2020
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, February 21st, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Storytime" with Michael Smith - February 25, 2021
2021-02-25 19:00 - 20:30
THURSDAY SATSANG VIA ZOOM – February 25, 2021
“STORYTIME”
WITH MICHAEL SMITH
7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Stories with Michael Smith

Storytime is a pleasant theme, and an easy theme, because so many stories are available to us.
Swami Veda was a storyteller par excellence, and Indian culture is filled to brim with inspiring stories —that are a joy to share and a joy to listen to.
After the CHUDALA and SHIKHIDVAJA from the Yoga Vasishtha that we heard last yearn 2020, the stories now will be much shorter, but they will be very powerful stories with lots of things to contemplate in terms of how they apply to one’s daily life. So, after each story there will be a chance for us to share our insights.

February 2021 Virtual Silence Weekend Retreat with Swami Radha Bharati, Jim Nelson, Emilio Bettaglio, and Daya Seeley -
2021-02-26 19:00 - 21:00
February 2021 Virtual Silence Weekend Retreat
with Swami Radha Bharati, Jim Nelson, Emilio Bettaglio, and Daya Seeley
February 26-28, 2021
Cost: $60.00
Register here.
Hatha Yoga Sessions, Contemplative Walks,
Breathing/Pranayama, Subtle Body Practices, and Meditations

“Sprinkle silence out the windows of your eyes, of your senses, out of your heart and through your words. Convey your inner peace, stillness and emotional equilibrium. See how this silence “speaks” to other minds at that deep level. Silence impacts the psyche as no spoken word can.”
-Swami Veda Bharati-

Read here the silence weekend retreat schedule.

Full Moon Havan from 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. and Full Moon Meditation from 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. - February 27, 2021
2021-02-27 20:00 - 22:00
Saturday, February 27, 2021 Via Zoom
Full Moon Havan fron 8:00 p.m.. – 9:00 p.m.
and
Full Moon Meditation from 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

To receive the Zoom link for this event, please subscribe to
The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Emilio Bettaglio will be officiating during the Haven

All are invited to virtually participate in the havan officiated by Emilio Bettaglio at 8:00 p.m. If participants wish, they may join the process by performing their own puja in their homes. All that is needed is a large bowl, such as a clean salad or mixing bowl, some water to fill the bowl about two-thirds full, a candle, and some flower petals. For those who are interested in participating with their own flower/ water havan at home, flower petals can be obtained at most flower shops. Approximately 200 offerings will be made into the havan, each with a petal offering.

The mantras for the full moon puja on Saturday:
*11 Akhanda Mandala
*108 Saumya
*11 Maha Mrityunjaya

Cancelled - Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-02-28 08:30 - 09:30
Cancelled – Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on February 28, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Cancelled due to the silence retreat. Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation next Sunday, March 7th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Cancelled "The Human Urge for Peace, What is Right with the World" Book Club/Study Group via Zoom - Facilitated by Swami Radha Bharati, Jim Nelson, and Michael Smith
2021-02-28 10:00 - 23:30
Cancelled – Book Club/Study Group via Zoom

Facilitated by Swami Radha Bharati, Jim Nelson, and Michael Smith
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

“The Human Urge for Peace, What is Right with the World”
by Swami Veda Bharati
To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

There will be one zoom link for both Sunday morning meditation and the Book Club. You can join and leave the meeting according to your schedule and needs.

Sunday Morning Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Book Club/Study Group
Facilitated by Swami Radha Bharati, Jim Nelson, and Michael Smith
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

THE HUMAN URGE FOR PEACE:
WHAT’S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
by Swami Veda Bharati

You can purchase the book online at https://themeditationcenter.org

“It is my hope that after reading this book, you will have a greater understanding, not only of what is right with the world but how the beauty of that which is right can be applied to beautify what has become “ugly” in so many eyes. May the reader enjoy what is beautiful in the world.” (Swami Veda Bharati)

“This needs to be our handbook for these times of discord and conflict on so many levels.” (Swami Ritavan Bharati)

__________________________________

The Human Urge for Peace:
What’s Right with the World
by
Swami Veda Bharati

Drawing on myriad examples gathered from his lifelong travels around the globe, Swami Veda – a teacher of yoga and meditation and tireless peace advocate – offers a visionary plan to create and sustain lasting peace in the world.

He invites his readers on a spiritual journey, to free their minds from internal conflict using contemplative methods common to all religions and then to join in bringing education for peace into the family, schools and colleges, the workplace, and ultimately a global confederation of cultures, nations and religions.
_________________________________

The Human Urge for Peace: What is Right with the World takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and space to observe how people of many different cultures and religions manage to live peaceably and equably together.

Examples are provided where communities with two religious or ethnic groups, even in war-torn countries like India and Pakistan, respect or even share holy sites and celebrations. Swami Veda identifies the common threads shared by all religions past and present, especially the contemplative traditions of silence and meditation whereby the mind is trained to become calm and free of conflict, and he suggests ways that religious leaders and educators can train parents and students alike to maintain calm, peaceful, harmonious and conflict-free minds.

Swami Veda invites readers to “Give way to our natural human urges –the urge to give, the urge to share, the urge to make sacrifice for others, the urge to knowledge, the natural urge to peace. ” This is “ what is right with the world.”

Enough has been said about what is wrong. It is true that much work needs to be done before the conflicts that lead to violence and war cease to arise, in individuals, ethnic groups, religions or nations, but the path toward peace is one of looking for positive examples, both past and present, and emulating them.

In the final chapter Swami Veda outlines his proposal for a World Council of Ethics and Peace and gives his recommendations for instituting planet-wide educatio for ethical conduct and peace.
_________________________________

Swami Veda asks religious leaders to honor their commonalities with other religions and separate themselves from “divisive concepts binding ethnicity and religion”which may be used to create dissension and increase hatred.

Swami Veda invites readers to “Give way to our natural human urges – the urge to give, the urge to share, the urge to make sacrifice for others, the urge to knowledge, the natural urge to peace.” This is “what is right with the world.”

Enough has been said about what is wrong. It is true that much work needs to be done before the conflicts that lead to violence and war cease to arise in individuals, ethnic groups, religions, or nations; but the path toward peace is one of looking for positive examples, both past and present, and emulating them.

In the final chapter Swami Veda outlines his proposal for a World Council of Ethics and Peace and gives his recommendations for instituting planet-wide education for ethical conduct and peace.

Swami Veda asks religious leaders to honor their commonalities with other religions and to separate themselves from divisive concepts that bind and religious extremism which can be used to create dissension.

Teachers and students of Peace Studies will find much of special value to them in Swami Veda’s book.

__________________________________

Swami Veda Bharati (1933-2015) was born into a Sanskrit-speaking family in India and began his education in the ancient texts of yoga philosophy at the age of five. He received a doctoral degree in Holland and taught Sanskrit at the University of Minnesota. For over 60 years Swami Veda traveled to every continent, where he established yoga and meditation centers, lectured at universities, and worked with peace foundations including the World Parliament of Religions and the UNESCO Centre for Peace Studies. He also wrote many books about yoga and meditation, including a translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and several volumes of stories and poems. His residence for the last 20 years of his life was at Swami Rama Sadhaka Gram (SRSG) at the foothills of the Himalayas in Rishikesh, India, where he guided thousands of students of all ages on the paths of inner peace and social harmony.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Storytime" with Michael Smith - March 4, 2021
2021-03-04 19:00 - 20:30
THURSDAY SATSANG VIA ZOOM – March 4, 2021
“STORYTIME” WITH MICHAEL SMITH
7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Stories with Michael Smith

Join Michael on Thursday, March 4th, for “Storytime.” Storytime is a pleasant theme because so many tales and parables in the tradition are available to us as teaching tools and for pure enjoyment. Many times animals are the vehicles for the teachings within the story. Swami Veda loved the story of “Dattatreya and his 24 Gurus”, many of which were animals.

Swami Veda was a storyteller par excellence, and Indian culture is filled to brim with inspiring stories —that are a joy to share and a joy to listen to.

The stories told will be very powerful stories with lots of things to contemplate in terms of how they apply to one’s daily life. So, after each story there will be a chance for us to share our insights.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-03-07 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on March 7, 2021
8:20 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, March 7th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Shivaratri Commemoration" - March 11, 2021
2021-03-11 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – March 11, 2021
“Shivaratri Commemoration”
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7:00 p.m. – Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 p.m. – “Shivaratri Commemoration”
“A Shivaratri Message” from Swami Ritavan Bharati
During this Shivaratri time, resolve to return to the light of life and love in your meditations.
Remember your Shiva-sankalpam, “Tan me mana shiva sankalpa astu”.
(That which is the absolute knowledge, that which is the reservoir of the mind-stuff;
That which is memory and steadfastness and sustenance;
That which is the light hidden within all beings;
That without which no action can be performed.
May that, my mind, be filled with beautiful, benevolent, beneficent, peaceful, Siva-like, divine thoughts, feelings, sentiments, emotions, resolves.)
They are all contained in the word ‘Shiva-sankalpam’

Wherever there are Shiva temples, that Shiva there has a name. The ashram temple for Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama is named: Sadhakesvara, the Lord of the sadhakas – those who are aspiring to become as Shiva, those who are aspiring to know the truth of “Shivoham”. Within the walls resides “Sphatika-Jyotir-Linga” – ‘the linga of light’. The Temple and Crystal Lingam were given these names at the first consecration. As a meditation temple, here, a sadhaka performs their interior mental worship – manasa-puja. In this meditation, one dissolves all identification with name and form. Through pralaya, one withdraws their conscious identity with body, with senses, with sense-objects, with memories of the experiences of sense objects, so as to become that very jyotir-linga as Shivo ’ham – I’m Shiva, jyotir aham – I am a being of light.

Everyone who perform a worship to Shiva says – Shivo ’ham – I Am Shiva. Then, if you are Shiva, who is the worshipper? Who is the worshiped? This mystery is unveiled only when one truly enters “within”. In this internal worship – manasa-puja, each external devolute is disolved into its corresponding cause. As our consciousness dissolves the external forms and as awareness moves into subtler and subtler energies, all that remains is the causal body – linga-matra, and then alinga – just an amorphous form of light, an amorphous form of the presence of energies. That subtlest form of divine being is called the linga – just an indication of a mere presence – like a crystal lingam. That is why in our Shiva temple you will find the crystal-lingam. It has no head, face, senses, arms, legs – they have all been dissolved and absorbed into the linga-matra the ‘mere presence’ of light reflected in the crystal. Shivo ’ham – I’m Shiva, jyotir aham – I am a being of light. (redacted from Swami Veda).

Read here the essay ” Shivaratri Explained” by Swami Veda Bharati.

Listen here to “Shivaratri Manasa Puja”

https://themeditationcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Shivaratri-Manasa-Puja-2010_SVB-EDIT2.mp3

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-03-14 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on March 14, 2021
8:20 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Join for Morning Prayers: 8:20-8:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, March 14th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Vivekacudamani, Crest Jewel of Discrimination" with Carol and Charles Crenshaw - March 18, 2021
2021-03-18 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – March 18, 2021
“Vivekacudamani, Crest Jewel of Discrimination”
A Discussion with Charles and Carol Crenshaw
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Presentation by Charles and Carol Crenshaw

Charles and Carol Crenshaw will cover some key verses in Sri Shankara’s Vivekacudamani, Crest Jewel of Discrimination. This classic Vedantic scripturecdiscusses a range of spiritual topics in 580 verses. This session will highlight: The nature of bondage and how to overcome it and the state of samadhi and how to attain it.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-03-21 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on March 21, 2021
8:20 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Join for Morning Prayers: 8:20-8:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, March 21st, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

Remembrance of Swami Veda's 88th Birthday - Listen to Swami Veda’s Birthday Blessing.
2021-03-24 00:00 - 23:30
REMEMBRANCE OF SWAMI VEDA’S 88TH BIRTHDAY!
ON MARCH 24, 2021
Listen to Swami Veda’s Birthday Blessing.

“Love-Mantra” by Swami Veda Bharati
Lady of the universe invites you to her mansion
just above the heart gorge
Over full cups of ambrosia she grants your three eyes
her vast grandeur’s vision
View of magnificent worlds stretched out as far as
soul-falcon’s wings can fly
Eternity!- She says – and all this, too, Soul,
Is, had been your own estate, you forgot?
LOVE, she names this grandeur-sharing of Herself with you
and thenceforce
the only word gods living secretly in your ears can hear is
LOVE

(Courtesy of AHYMSIN.org. Taken from a hard copy made and distributed in 2008.)

Thursday Satsang via Zoom: "Patañjali in Eternity: the Legend of Śhri Patañjali – the Ṛiṣhi Sage of Yoga" with Salvatore Zambito
2021-03-25 19:00 - 20:30
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – March 25, 2021
Patañjali in Eternity: the Legend of Śhri Patañjali – the Ṛiṣhi Sage of Yoga
with Salvatore Zambito
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter
on the home page of this website
7:00 p.m. – Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Talk with Salvatore Zambito

Join Salvatore for a talk on “Patañjali in Eternity: the Legend of Śhri Patañjali – the Ṛiṣhi Sage of Yoga”
Swami Veda included it in his second edition of his elucidation of the “Samadhi Pada”

Salvatore Zambito is a well-known mystic, rogue scholar, and world-traveling recluse.
In 1967, while a sophomore in college, Salvatore discovered Hatha Yoga and massage. This was the beginning of his active and very personal bodymind research in transpersonal psychology and anatomical kinesiology.
He began his exploration of yoga as a student of Hatha Yoga with the Sivananda Yoga Centers in Chicago and Val Morin, Canada. He was gently coerced into becoming a teacher in 1969. The Yoga-Sutra of Patañjali entered his life in 1969.
Through the years, Salvatore has established several yoga centers in America and taught yoga related subjects at institutes and universities around the world. From 1980 to 1986 he taught Yoga and Stress Management at Boise State University. During this period, he also served as BSU’s Chief of the Anatomical Kinesiology Laboratory, where he directed cadaver dissection and prosection, and served as a teaching assistant. He provided stress management consultation to the Boise business community and taught stress management strategies at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise and Mercy Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho.
Salvatore always looks for interesting areas to explore. In 1980 he researched, proposed and administered one of the first two national pilot programs for the application of Hatha Yoga as a functional improvement and comfort modality for Multiple Sclerosis. He administered the program for several years.
In 1988, Salvatore’s research finally took him to India, where he lived for two years. To his surprise, he found himself teaching in ashrams and universities there. Salvatore returns to India regularly to study and teach.
Salvatore is the author of “The Unadorned Thread of Yoga: The Yoga-Sūtra of Patañjali” in English, which presents each of the 196 sūtras, with text analysis and twelve authoritative translations.
In addition to his expertise in yoga, Salvatore is a structural bodyworker in the Rolfing tradition and a licensed massage therapist in the State of Washington. He has created a 400-hour course of bodywork instruction (Dimensional Integration™) accredited through IMSTAC (International Massage and Somatic Therapies Accrediting Council). His years of yogic breathwork, hands-on bodywork and cadaver dissection led to The Wind of Life, a workshop that addresses the dimensions of human respiration. This set of seminars provides techniques to open and balance the respiratory capsule through movement education and manual therapeutic facilitation.
Salvatore is the founder of the Yoga-Sūtras Institute. His teaching areas span meditation, the “Yoga-Sūtras of Patañjali,” anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology. He is on staff at several yoga centers and ashrams around the world.
Salvatore lives with his wife, dogs, and a flock of pampered chickens on a tiny hobby farm in western Washington State.
Bio courtesy of The Yoga Sutras Institute.

Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
2021-03-28 08:30 - 09:30
Via Zoom – Sunday Morning Guided Meditation
with Swami Radha Bharati
on March 28, 2021
8:20 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Join for Morning Prayers at 8:20-8:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Meditation: 8:30-9:15 a.m.

To receive the zoom link for this event, please subscribe to The Meditation Center’s e-newsletter on the home page of this website.

Join Swami Radha Bharati on Zoom for a guided meditation on Sunday, March 28th, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
