Sadhana Mandir Ashram has been the personal spiritual seat of Swami Rama ofthe Himalayas. A flower-filled island of peace, at the banks of the Holy Ganges, surrounded by the foothills of the Himalayas, the Ashram still vibrates with the energy bequeathed here by the Master Saint. It is now being served by Swami Veda Bharati, as President and spiritual preceptor, on whom Swami Rama conferred one of the highest yoga initiations in 1970.
The ashram is an international center for the study and practice of meditation, and its attendant sciences, texts and philosophies, as handed down in their traditional purity by the lineages of the Himalayan masters (about whom please read Swami Rama's Living With the Himalayan Masters).
The meditation and study program for each student, as well as for visiting groups from numerous countries, is individually tailored by the resident preceptor, Swami Veda Bharati. One may choose to stay at the Ashram for any duration, from one day to one year, and a program will be arranged according to one's needs, level, and capacity. There are also opportunities for offering one's services at the Ashram, depending on your area of expertise and interest. There are several programs available :
(1) For complete beginners, individual instruction in hatha-yoga as meditation; preparations for meditation; principles of sadhana (spiritual practices) and basic philosophy; meditation in daily life; mantra initiation and guidance in using the mantra. The hatha-yoga is guided by the resident expert Ashutosh Sharma.
(2) For initiates (including those who have been initiated in other traditions), intermediate and advanced steps in sadhana, as guided by Swami Veda. Entry into subtler meditations and levels of silence may be taught. A number of other highly qualified and expereinced teachers provide instruction from time to time.
(3) There is a one-month program for the study of the writings of Swami Rama, prepared by Swami Jnaneshwar (who hails from USA, received Swami Rama's grace and blessing, has made a thorough study of Swami Rama's writings, and serves the Ashram through this study program).
(4) Special meditation retreats, and advanced seminars on ancient philosophical texts are also organized. Those in health professions may also benefit from visits to the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, a thirty minutes drive from the Ashram.
How to get there? What to bring? Costs? Just send us a fax or e-mail. All the inquiries should be addressed to the Ashram's President at the address printed in the title, or use phone, fax or e-mail.
Tel : 91-135-431485 and 433886 Fax : 91-135-431582
e-mail : <tadit@nda.vsnl.net.in>
We specially welcome groups. Do bring one from your city.
When Swami Veda Bharati, as a spiritually ambitious young man in the kumbh mela of 1952, inquired from the visiting yogis as to who the greatest yogi in the Himalayas was, it was the name of Swami Rama that was given unanimously. Then, and often again whenever such an inquiry was made, it received the same answer.
Swami Rama, born in the Himalayas, was raised by his spiritual Master in the legendary caves of the yogis where countless generations of yogis havebeen trained and initiated into the deepest mysteries of the sacred science of yoga. A monk in the Shankaracharya Order, he held the highest position as a Shankaracharya, which he then renounced to continue to serve the Himalayan Tradition.
All sciences are open to a yogi. He was a scientist who offered himself for scientific experiments to be conducted on a yogi; philosopher who wrote fortyfive books; a poet who tranlsated an epic in three months; an architect, sculptor, painter. The most well known names in the classical music of India gathered around him to accompany him in his music sessions. Dog trainer; horse trainer; it was a delight to watch him at tennis. Enlightened guide to disciples. Master of the Art of Life.
Uncountable thousands around the world came to him asking for gifts tangible and intangible. When he gave with the right hand, his left hand did not know. One meets people in all walks of life, in highest professions, who tell us how he blessed, guided, created their success in life. He would sit for hours in the company of a one-buffalo farmer while princes waited outside his chamber. When he granted funds for establishing the library of a University in the Garhwal Himalayas, he did it on the condition that his name would not be given any public association with it. As he prepared to leave his body, he left strict instructions to build no memorials, establish no shrines nor a museum, and do nothing else to commemorate his name. His memorial is in the hearts of his disciples who miss the love they received in abandon.
A philanthropist who created a Medical City in four years where there were only farmers' fields, and gave subtle hints on surgery to surgeons. A superb administrator who taught leaders how to lead and managers how to manage. Equally at home in the East and the West, he was a both a scientist and an accomplished mystic, a siddha. Above all, he was a direct descendant of the lineage of yogis, going back thousands of years, who are the founders and keepers of yoga, the source of all paths of meditation, and who confer the direct experience as initiation into the mystery of Consciousness.
Swami Rama has left many disciples behind, none anywhere near his stature and calibre, to carry on the various assignments of his work. What we all most remember about him is the magnetic, charismatic power of love, such that as he walked one felt pulled to simply walk behind him. The full impact of his spiritual legacy will be realized perhaps in a century.
Coming to his Ashram even for the first time, one experiences the special energy, inspiration and the pull to a mental silence.
The history of humanity is not the history of tool making or of social organization. It is the history of mind's unfoldment. The Himalayan tradition believes that even if one weaves no clothing nor owns a stone to crush wild nuts, one may be a saint, a sage, a philosopher, a wise (wo)man. And what use that we land a man on Mars but have conquered not the god of war who dwells within the mind, nor can curb our anger, nor can slow down our breath, nor can lower our blood pressure withot the aid of an agency external to us? The Himalayan tradition advocates complete self-sufficiency of a human being without dependence on any object external to his spirit and mind.
For this the Tradition teaches specific methods of training the human mind. It awakens the energy called Consciousness and instructs it s disciplines into the meaning of "Thou art That" - till one's very being knows, "I, indeed, am That". The methods taught are scientific, systematic and entirely internal. And then comes the mystery of initiation, the direct conferring of the energy of Consciousness into the disciple till the disciple becomes a Master in his own right.
When Swami Rama demonstrated in a laboratory condition that he could alter the count of living or dead cells at will as the scientists drew his blood, he was asked, "Swami, how do you do that ?" And he answered, "They are my blood cells; are they not ?" The power, not a process, called Consciousness is realized within as the ultimate in yoga asit has been taught by the Masters of the Himalayan Tradition, in an unbroken lineage for countless millenia. The Upanishads, Bhagavad-gita, and countless other scriptures are simply revelations of the truths thus experienced. The teachers of the tradition have taught in all known civilizations of the world and have left their mark in the writings and records everywhere.
One trained in the Himalayan Tradition knows all the paths of meditation as they diverge from it and converge into the same as their origin. The teachers of the Tradition live for others only : that the suffering of many may be alleviated. They wander -as the Buddha said to his first batch of his disciples - "Wander, ye monks, for the benefit of the many, for the comfort of the many". An Ashram of this Traditions beckons you to come and receive compassionate love in a world that causes much suffering. That love is Meditation, and its highest from is enlightenment.
For further information about the Ashram's meditation programs, write to:
Spiritual Director, Sadhana Mandir Trust, P.O. Pashulok, Rishikesh UP 249203 INDIA.
Phone 91-135-431485; Fax 91-135-431582. E-mail: tadit@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
In Europe: Wolfgang Bischoff, Director, Himalaya Institut, Hagener Allee 70, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany. Fax 49-4102-51220.
FOR A FREE CATALOG of lectures on audio tapes by Swami Veda Bharati on all aspects of yoga science and philosphy, write to: John Zavrel, Rishikesh Foundation, 10545 Main Street, Clarence, NY 14031 (USA).