The 2013 subscription to SwamiVeda.com lectures is now available! The subscription includes 52 lectures that will certainly inspire and move any aspirant on the path of The Himalayan Tradition. Please go to http://www.swamiveda.com to subscribe! [Courtesy of Tom Prideaux]

Below is a commentary from Michael Smith on this year's subscription:

"When we think of the great spiritual texts of the world, we think of the Bible and the Qur'an, the Tao Te Ching, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.

"The Bhagavad Gita, many people in India have memorized. Others read the entire text every day. Swami Veda just gave a lecture series on the Bhagavad Gita using three commentaries: Swami Rama's Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, the Commentary by Shankara, and the text of Madusudana Sarasvati, a former incarnation of Swami Rama.

"I heard Swami Rama say once, 'There are only two spiritual texts you need to study: the Sermon on the Mount and the Bhagavad Gita.'

"One time I asked Swami Veda if I should learn Sanskrit, and he said, 'You should learn Sanskrit if only for one thing: to read the Yoga Vasistha. The poetic language of the Yoga Vasistha is exquisite.'

"Of the Upanishads, the Kathopanishad is one of the most famous, and Swami Rama wrote a commentary on it called Life Here and Hereafter. It is a story of Nachiketas, who is cursed by his father and sent to Yama, the god of death. The dialogue between Nachiketas and Yama about the Nature of the Atman and of life and death has a number of passages which are memorable.

"'This universe is a tree eternally existing, its root aloft, its branches spread below. The pure root of the tree is Brahman, the immortal, in which the three worlds have their being, whom none can transcend, who is verily the Self.'

"'That which is the source of the sun and of every power in the cosmos, beyond which there is neither going or coming, is the Self indeed. For this Self is supreme!'

"'As air, though one, takes the shape of every object which it enters, so the Self, though one, takes the shape of every object in which it dwells.'

"'The immortal Self is the sun shining in the sky, the wind blowing in space; he is the fire at the altar; he is the guest dwelling in the house, he dwells in all human beings, in gods, in truth, and in the vast firmament; he is the fish born in water, the plant growing in the earth, the river flowing down from the mountain, He the changeless Reality, the illimitable!'"

The next teacher training retreat scheduled for Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh is for Level 1, 24th March 2013 - 6th April 2013.

In March [24th March 2013 - 6th April 2013], Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama will host a two week Himalayan Yoga Tradition - Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP) training session. A comprehensive education in the Himalayan Yoga Tradition will be presented to the students by the highly acclaimed AHYMSIN international faculty of senior travelling teachers.

For more information, please see: http://www.himalayanyogatradition.com/india.html

Each second a new year begins. May all the 31536000 years from 31 December 2012 to 31 December 2013 be cause for celebrations and serve for you as gateways to the Non-temporal.

Swami Veda invites you to sit with him in meditation for an hour where ever you are, in your home or with friends. Total beginners, non-initiates and initiates are welcome. CLICK HERE for information.

Dear Affectionate members of our spiritual family, and our leaders, teachers,

As the time is approaching fast for me to enter silence, also as the current life crosses the threshold of 80 years, it is time to give you all reminders of the principles by which you will continue the relationships within the family to make our mission of serving the Guru continuously more successful.

The attached papers are sent with great concern that some of us may forget these ancient principles and their practical applications in making long term or day to day decisions about the Ashram and the spiritual family.

It is by neglecting these principles, after this self is silenced by meditation or by death, that divisions could occur and our service to the ancient Mission of the Gurus would suffer. It is to prevent such occurrence that the attached compositions are presented to you.

Sadhana of sitting down with eyes closed is easy to undertake. The sadhana of applying yamas, niyamas and chitta-prasadanam in daily practical life is a more difficult one.

Let the attached presentations form the theme for group discussions during our gathering in SRSG in February-March 2013.

For those who are unable to come to this event, wherever you are please (a) contemplate (b) discuss (c) undertake this sadhana.

With love and blessings in Gurudeva
Swami Veda Bharati