VO L U M E 9 | I S S U E 1 |

Light of the VedasB I M O N T H LY N E W S L E T T E R O F A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E O F V E D I C S T U D I E S

W W W. V E DA N E T. C O M

2014New Year!May Shakti embrace us in her auspiciousness and may our celebrations be filled with deepening light, harmony, love and bliss!

May our dharmic experiences color the deepening hues of Agni, the sacred fire that initiates us into spiritual bliss through Shakti Sadhana. The sacred presence of fire in the cosmic universe is a witness to the unfolding of the sacred events in one's life.

May our lives unfold as divine grace through Tapas, the emerging inner flame of aspiration born of inner discipline. The perfection of Tapas arises from sweet surrender, trusting in the cosmic universe and its auspicious ways. Surrender is to concede, a yielding and reconciliation with divinity. Tapas is the sacred offering of oneself into the fires of the cosmic universe where we embrace all life as a sacred ritual.

The flame of Tapas burns away the residual samskaras of the mind lying in the subconscious and unconscious. The fire of Tapas sanctifies our inner and outer existence bestowing upon the seeker an inner heat and light that awakens the Shakti within us. Shakti is the fire that ignites our sadhana and directs us on the spiritual path. Tapas manifests the point of stillness, transforming our sadhana into our higher timeless reality.

May we raise our hearts in prayer for peace, happiness and well-being to pervade the entire universe.

May the rays of Suryadeva shine upon us with the grace of wisdom!

May the rays of Chandra harmonize our inner being!

May the divine grace of Shakti manifest our Drishti Yoga (Yoga of Seeing)

To follow the Pure Light within us!

May Agni guide us in lighting each other's inner lamps

Drawing the inner guru within us

To experience our deeper soul stirrings!

Jai Ma Guru!

Vamadeva Shastri and Yogini Shambhavi

Message for the

Turning �om the body into the most inward state,into the root center and abode of Kundalini, thoseof steady wisdom gain eternal adherence in their own nature.

Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni

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2014

At the end of 2013 we look back on a great year of important new developments.

In 2013 Vamadeva started a new alliance with the Kerala Ayurveda Academy (KAA) for advanced training for our students, as well as helping KAA with program development. He released a special “Soma and Rejuvenation” audio course of twelve hours through Floracopeia and Medicine Crow in September that had over three hundred participants from throughout the world.

Vamadeva joined the Chopra Center University at the beginning of the year to guide their Primordial Sound Mantra Meditation teacher training. Along with Yogini Shambhavi, Vamadeva enhanced and updated the original mantra program, which he helped devise along with David Simon more than twenty years ago.

In 2013 Shambhavi helped organize successful Yoga Shakti retreat programs in India (Ma Ganga

Light of the Vedast VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 1 | AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF VEDIC STUDIES | PAGE 2

2013Summary NewsYoga Shakti Retreat March 2013), Germany (Freiburg) and Italy (Orta).

Vamadeva and Shambhavi taught at several places in the USA including the April 2013 NAMA (National Ayur vedic Medical Association Conference), in which Vamadeva was a keynote speaker. We continued our alliance with Sivananda, along with Swami Sitaramananda and Durga Leela for various programs and courses.

Relative to publications, Vamadeva nished a new extensive book (more than four hundred pages) called Vedic Yoga: The Path of the Rishi, which is now under production with Lotus Press and should be ready early next year. The book shows in detail, translating Vedic texts, the Vedic origins of Yoga going back to the most ancient Rigveda itself.

Mahesh Prabhu of Technoved meanwhile has brought about many wonderful changes in our website and will bring more in the coming year.

CalendarMarch 3 – 10 ~ Pre-Retreat Yoga Tour in India

March 10 – 20 ~ Yoga Shakti Tantra & Jyotisha Retreat in Kumaon Himalayas

April 26 - 28 ~ Chopra Center Mantra Meditation Teacher Training Program in San Diego.

May 15–26 ~ Russia, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Programs in Vedic Astrology, Yoga and Ayurveda with Yoga Flow and Rami Bleckt.

May 28 – June 8 ~ Bulgaria Programs in Ayurveda.

June 19 - 22 ~ Council of Vedic Astrology Conference in Seattle, Washington.

July 4 – 6 ~ AAPNA Yoga Ayurveda Conference in Asheville, North Carolina.

August 18-24 ~ Yoga Shakti Tantra, Mantra & Karma Retreat in Santa Fe (NM).

Sept 1 ~ Sivananda Ashram Grass Valley CA with Swami Sitaramananda.

October 15 – 20 ~ Chopra Center Mantra Meditation Teacher Training Program in San Diego.

October 25 – Nov. 15 ~ India Programs.

More details and other programs will be noted on our website.

March 10-20, 2014, Ranikhet, IndiaJai Ma Guru !

Shakti Yoga empowers our Higher Prana and Inner Self awareness for total well-being and harmony. Vamadeva Shastri and Yogini Shambhavi welcome you in joining us for our beautiful sacred Yoga Shakti Tantra & Jyotisha Retreat March 10-20, 2014 based on Shakta Tantric teachings of the Mother Goddess – during the auspicious Holi festival and the Shaktis of the Lunar Constellations (Nakshatras).

The retreat in Ranikhet (Kumaon Himalayas) from March 10-20, 2014 will highlight the deeper authentic teachings of the Dasha Mahavidya (Ten Wisdom Goddesses), based on the ancient doctrine and practices of Shakta Tantra. The teachings will draw from the mantric works of Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, the great modern seer whose wealth of yogic knowledge written in pure Sanskrit verses has hardly yet been experienced. The teachings will reect ancient rituals, Mantra Yoga and Shakti sadhana.

May Uma, the Mother of the Universe with love,By the nectar of her moonlight smile,Grant her grace to we who are aficted by ignorance and pain. ~ Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni

Awaken the Shakti of the Dasha Mahavidya (Ten Wisdom Forms), the most important Siddha Vidyas amidst powerful Himalayan temples. Become immersed in the deeper teachings of Vedic and Tantric wisdom, Jyotisha, Raja Yoga, Ayurveda, and Vedanta in the Himalayan homeland of the great immortal Yogis. Celebrate the Holi festival of colors drawing in the mystic Soma of the Full Moon.

The SUN and MOON are the two main auspicious planets, which according to Jyotisha, make or mar our bhagya (good fortune). So, it is very important to nurture and propitiate these two planets or else most Raja Yogas will not play out its full benets in our lives.

The Shakti or Goddess force reects the powers of the Sun and Moon in our lives through its lunar and solar energies.

Deepen your experiential wisdom of the Dasha

Mahavidya from Ma Kali to Sundari Learn the Shaktis of the Nakshatras to experience the

Moon's Soma Chant ing o f Tantr ic Mantras wi th Shakt i

empowerment rituals

Light of the Vedast VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 1 | AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF VEDIC STUDIES | PAGE 3

Yoga Shakti Tantra & Jyotisha Retreat

Manifest your Sankalpa Shakti or sacred intent for your highest aspirations

Shakti Yoga Asana and Pranayama to develop stillness for Tantric Sadhana

Harmonize the sacred Chakras with their cosmic counterparts

Ceremonies and rituals in Devi and Shiva temples in the Kumaon Himalaya

Meditate in Mahavatar Babaji's cave amidst owering Rhododendron forests

We will continue with our sacred Yantra teachings and creativity as an expression of Shakti through the creation of owers. Pandit Sri Dinesh Chandra Shastri will also grace us with all the powerful pujas and havans.

We feel Ranikhet (Deva Bhoomi) should be a wonderful experience !

We have the Shakti of Ma Durga at the wish-fullling temple of Jhoola Devi, Ma Kali's eminent role as a Goddess of transformation at the Kalika temple and Shiva's pranic power at Jageshwar.

Our sacred sojourn guides us through the locales of Ranikhet, Kainchi Dham (Neem Karoli Baba ashram), Dunagiri, Almora and Jageshwar. The Kumaon Himalayan region in the ancient texts is referred to as Deva Bhoomi, the land of the Gods and Goddesses, below the most powerful mountain of Nanda Devi.

The blessings of the Divine Mother nurtures, sustains and prepares us for the quintessential bliss and peace of Lord Shiva. We will visit the eclectic Goddess temples of Durga, Mahakali, Shailaputri and Parvati. In the famous Shiva temple of Jageshwar (Yogeshwara), we will honor Shiva as Mahamrityunjaya, who takes us beyond all death and suffering, in the largest temple complex in the region, dating from the eighth century and the older Lakulish Shiva Yoga tradition.We will also visit Chitai Golu Devata - a temple where we pray for correcting any injustice which is being done to us.

We will spend a day trekking through owering Rhododendron forests to the Maha Avatar Baba's cave where we will meditate and connect to his energies.

We are offering an interesting spiritual tour for those who wish to spend more time in India.

http://shaktiretreat.vedanet.com/

Experience the sacred land of India initiating your experience with powerful sacred temples in Delhi – Swaminarayan Akshardham and Shanidham (Saturn temple), and Lord Brahma in Pushkar, Rajasthan.

This is one of the rarest Brahma temples where worship continues since ancient times. This sacred tour draws us into the heart of India, to Agra (Tajmahal), Jaipur (The Pink City), Pushkar (sacred place of Brahma), Siriska (Bird Sanctuary) and Nainital (Naina Devi Temple) before the retreat. The group will join up at the Kainchi Dham ashram of Neem Karoli Baba with the Yoga Shakti group and then drive to Ranikhet. Please share this with your group of students, friends and family.

We would like to offer you the early Bird prices for both programs.

For further information please contact Y o g i n i S h a m b h a v i a t yoginishambhavi@aol.com.

Light of the Vedast VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 1 | AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF VEDIC STUDIES | PAGE 4

PRE-Retreat Yoga Tour March 3-9, 2014We are offering an interesting spiritual tour forthose who wish to spend more time in India.

www.vedanet.com