Satsang: Interfaith Celebration of Easter and Passover, The Divine Mystery

ONLINE | By donation $0, $5, $10, $15

Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

Jesus Christ showed us that not only He could be resurrected, but so can we. With great selflessness, He allowed Himself to be killed to demonstrate that even when our bodies die it doesn’t mean our Self (or soul) dies. He appeared to others after his bodily death to make clear His essence was still alive. We will contemplate with Swami Vimalananda this great truth and give our humble thanks to Jesus for his ultimate selflessness.

Surya will introduce the great festival of liberation and the profound rituals and ceremonies of Passover. Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the Jewish religion’s most sacred and widely observed holidays. We will open a discussion about the holy day’s mystical and practical significance in Jewish, Christian and Yogic traditions. There will be time for personal sharings. Snehan Born will complete the program with an interfaith ritual to the Light.

Satsang, is a special time for us to come together as a community. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. Satsang offers an opportunity to come together to share spiritual teachings. The philosophy of Integral Yoga is explored, often through an informal discussion. Although spiritual paths may diverge, the act of sharing spiritual teachings with others is inspiring and creates a solid foundation for continued practice.

People of all faiths are welcome.

Swami Vimalananda, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

Surya Stuart Dick, Bio coming soon.

 

 

Snehan Born, e-RYT500, has four decades of experience with yoga and has been teaching Integral Yoga since 2000. Snehan resides at the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco, where he serves as assistant to Swami Ramananda, teaches yoga classes and is a lead teacher trainer. He has also led trainings at Satchidananda Ashram, Yogaville, Virginia, The Integral Yoga Institute in New York City and privately in Hawaii where Snehan co-created the Metamorphous Yoga Studio. Snehan is certified in all levels of Integral Yoga Hatha and has received additional certifications in Pranayama, Meditation, Raja Yoga and Stress Management from Integral Yoga and “Life of a Yogi” certification from Sri Dharma Mittra. In 1997 Snehan studied with Deepak Chopra in Goa, India and again in 2001 in Agra, India where he was asked to teach an Integral Yoga class to about 250 participants. Also, in 2001 he received “Conscious Eating”, a live foods certification from Dr. Gabriel Cousens at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona.
Snehan has lived and traveled extensively within India (over 9 trips) and practiced with many teachers there. He has taught yoga all over the US as well as in India, Nepal, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan and Europe.

2022-03-16T17:53:26-07:00March 16th, 2022|Tags: , , |

Satsang: Surrender

Online | Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 Sliding scale, pay what you can.

 

Surrender can seem like jumping off a cliff and hoping we will live when we hit bottom. It is stated in many scriptures that surrender means letting go of all our opinions, all our desires and attachments. Do we truly believe and trust that there is a God and God will truly take care of us? Do we truly believe that surrender is for our ultimate good? Do we truly believe that if, and when, we surrender we will live in a joyous state of being? What is keeping us from trusting and surrendering? Join us in this exploration.

Satsang, a special time for us to come together as a community and an opportunity to share spiritual teachings. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. The philosophy of Integral Yoga is explored, often, through an informal discussion. Although spiritual paths may diverge, the act of sharing spiritual teachings with others is inspiring and creates a solid foundation for continued practice.

People of all faiths are welcome.

Swami Vimalananda Ma, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

2022-02-04T21:31:57-08:00December 30th, 2021|Tags: , , , , |

Satsang: Guru Purnima

Online | Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 sliding scale, pay what you can.

Join us for this special occasion to celebrate our Guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda. We will be offering this online and also in-person with a very limited capacity.

Guru Purnima is an annual occasion that offers us an opportunity to show our appreciation and love for our spiritual teachers on the full moon. We’ll celebrate with a short video of Sri Swami Satchidananda and a discussion of his life and teachings.

All are welcome. Pre-registration required for all in-person attendance.

 

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Swami Vimalananda Ma, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

 

The Spiritual Journey of Death and Rebirth

by Swami Vimalananda

He’s alive! He’s alive! What an amazing discovery! Jesus survived death on the cross and appeared from the cave alive. There are so many stories of near death experiences which end up with a person no longer fearing death. These people often report that their journey from then on is one of love, to love everything just the way it is.

We have evidence all around us of seeming death only to see rebirth: the trees dormant in the winter, bring buds, blossoms, and then leaves in spring; the wildflowers that rise out of the soil pointing out to us the glories of new life.

As I am in the throes of old age, with a slower moving and creaking body, I can see what Sri Gurudev meant when he said, “I will be a prisoner in my own body.” What freedom there is in casting off the worn-out and entering into a fresh, healthy, growing body, like a new life bursting into fullness with abundant energy and vitality. It is like a road ahead appearing to end at the horizon only to stretch out to the next horizon, the next, and the next.

It is the resurrection that shows us how Jesus led his life and offered up his body for all of us to see — it is all about love and everlasting life.

Happy Easter!

Love is the Funeral Pyre
by Hafiz

Love is
The funeral pyre
Where I have laid my living body.
All the false notions of myself
That once caused fear, pain,
Have turned to ash
As I neared God.
What has risen
From the tangled web of thought and sinew
Now shines with jubilation
Through the eyes of angels
And screams from the guts of
Infinite existence
Itself.
Love is the funeral pyre
Where the heart must lay
Its body.

Please join us for a Satsang to celebrate Easter on Saturday, April 3. On this evening, we will contemplate the spiritual presence and resurrection of Jesus as Swami Vimalananda clarifies how the same truths are found in the teachings of Yoga. We will make time for discussion and personal sharings and Swami Ramananda will offer a meditative worship ritual called puja. People of all faiths are welcome. Details HERE.

 

Swami Vimalananda Ma, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

 

 

 

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential. He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

2021-04-02T15:19:51-07:00March 22nd, 2021|Tags: , , , |
Go to Top