- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
Be the Light
Christmas and New Year Unity in Diversity Symposium
December 22, 2022 – January 1, 2023
Sign Up for The Symposium:
Join us this holiday season for a joyous celebration during our annual Christmas & New Year Unity in Diversity Symposium. World-renowned spiritual leaders, musicians and artists from different religions and spiritual traditions will inspire us and help us navigate this time of change and new beginnings as we move forward towards a bright future. Through live lectures, workshops, concerts, and performances, we will deepen our understanding of the spiritual path and how we can march forward towards a bright future for ourselves and humanity. We will reflect on the past year and establish a new, enlightened vision for the coming year.
The teaching of Unity in Diversity was at the core of Swami Vishnudevananda’s mission. According to yoga and Vedanta philosophy, the one God or Ultimate Reality manifests as a multiplicity of names, forms, shapes, and colors. There is an underlying unity which supports our manifested diversity. “Unity” and “diversity” are one and the same and their essence is our own essence: pure existence, pure consciousness, and pure bliss.
Join us for this spiritual gathering and gain a direct glimpse of this truth. Through talks, concerts, spiritual practices, discussions, and more, we will participate in breaking down artificial barriers and experience the unity in our diversity.
This program is offered for free to all. If you are able to make a donation to help secure the future of the ashram it is very much appreciated.
Daily Schedule
*keep an eye on the schedule for updates and changes
December 22
evening satsang
Symposium Opening | Swami Sarvapriyananda – RECORDING
December 23
evening satsang
The Birth and Life of Rabbi Moses | Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz – RECORDING
December 24
noon workshop
The Never-ending Story: Stories from the Past for Us to Bring into the Present and Extend into the Future | Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz –RECORDING
evening satsang
Christmas Celebration | Krishnan Namboodiri – RECORDING
December 25
noon workshop
The Never-ending Story: Stories from the Past for Us to Bring into the Present and Extend into the Future | Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz – RECORDING
evening satsang
The Heart of the Universe | Snatam Kaur and Sopurkh Singh – RECORDING
December 26
evening satsang
The Heart of the Universe | Snatam Kaur and Sopurkh Singh – RECORDING
December 27
evening satsang
Pre-recorded interview | Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – RECORDING
December 28
evening satsang
Q&A on Spiritual Life | Swami Swaroopananda
December 29
evening satsang
He is Born: The Divine Christ Child | Bishop Trevor Williamson – RECORDING
December 30
evening satsang
Special Program! Kirtan with Snatam Kaur and Gaura Vani – RECORDING
December 31
evening satsang
Heart Wide Open New Year’s Kirtan with Gaura Vani and Family – RECORDING
January 1
noon workshop
Heart Wide Open | Gaura Vani and Family – RECORDING
evening satsang
Heart Wide Open | Gaura Vani and Family – RECORDING
Requirements and Recommendations:
- No experience necessary. This program is open to beginners as well as advanced practitioners.
- Viewing Device: Desktop or laptop computer will provide the best experience, although you can also connect via a tablet or smartphone.
- Internet connection: High-speed broadband wired or wireless is best.
- Video: Download Zoom to your computer, or install the Zoom app to your device. For interactive group sessions, a webcam or integrated camera will allow others to feel more connected with you.
- Audio: Headphone speakers are recommended. If you wish to participate vocally, a headset with a microphone will be ideal.
Swami Swaroopananda
Swami Swaroopananda is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda. A practicing yogi from a very young age, Swami Swaroopananda has dedicated his life to the practice and teaching of yoga. He taught in Yoga Teacher Training Courses around the world and is currently teaching advanced yoga philosophy courses and lectures internationally. He is Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat and acharya (spiritual director) for the Sivananda centers and ashrams in the Bahamas and the Middle East. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.
Swami Sarvapriyananda
Swami Sarvapriyananda is the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York. He joined the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1994, received sannyas ten years later, and served in the Hollywood Temple. He was the acharya of the monastic probationers’ training center at Belur Math, and also served as the vice principal of the Deoghar Vidyapith Higher Secondary School. He regularly gives retreats and spiritual talks throughout the United States.
Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz
Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz is the author of the best-selling novel The Seventh Telling: The Kabbalah of Moshe Katan. His story collection, The Curse of Blessings, has been widely translated. His rabbinic career includes 12 years at Temple Israel of Greater Miami as rabbi and scholar-in-residence, as well as more than 20 years as director of the Havurah of South Florida. He currently is program director for the Center for Jewish Life in Miami. His recent publications include The Kabbalist’s Aleph-Bet, an adventure through the Hebrew letters, and Beyond Prayer, eighteen lessons to enhance rabbinic prayer or replace it.
Snatam Kaur
Snatam Kaur is an American kirtan singer and peace activist, who learned to sing in the Sikh musical style with her mother. One of the most popular New Age artists of our time, she has been recording music since 2000; Her best-known CDs include Shanti, Grace, and Liberation’s Door. Her music can be heard around the world in venues from yoga studios to schools to Hollywood films and in the homes of her fans worldwide. Snatam Kaur has an amazing ability to transform traditional chants into a contemporary sound that appeals to the modern ear and awakens an ancient yearning in the soul. While traveling the world on tour she also teaches yoga and meditation to children and adults alike, a part of her commitment to give people tools for a daily experience of inner peace.
Sopurkh Singh
Sopurkh Singh began studying Kundalini Yoga and Meditation with his teacher Yogi Bhajan in 2000. He now teaches retreats, workshops and classes all over the world with his wife, Snatam Kaur.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo became a Buddhist while still in her teens. At the age of 20, she traveled to India and become one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. The international best-seller Cave in the Snow by Vicki Mackenzie chronicles Tenzin’s 12 years of seclusion in the Himalayas. In 2008, the head of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage gave her the rare title of Jetsunma (venerable master). Deeply concerned with the plight of Buddhist nuns, Jetsunma Tenzin established Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in India. She has written two books: Reflections on a Mountain Lake and Into the Heart of Life.
Bishop Trevor Williamson
Bishop Trevor Williamson presently serves as the Founding and Senior Pastor of the Trinity Global Cathedral Baptist Church in Nassau, Bahamas. Along with his wife, Pastor Sharon Williamson, he leads The Trinity Global Cathedral Gospel Choir. The choir provides musical, educational, and social opportunities in Nassau for people of all ages and walks of life to come together and sing with soul.
Gaura Vani
Gaura Vani started studying sacred music in Vrindavan, India, at the age of six. Today, he shares the magic he received and performs extensively with his kirtan ensemble throughout the world. His albums include Ten Million Moons and Nectar of Devotion.
Krishnan Namboodiri
Krishnan Namboodiri is a Tantric priest from South India, trained in the classical tradition of mantras (sacred sounds), pujas (prayer ceremonies), homas (fire rituals), and yantras (sacred geometric designs). He performs many daily and special rituals for the ashram.
Swami Hridyananda
Swami Hridyananda is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and senior staff at the Yoga Retreat. She has spent over 35 years teaching different aspects of yoga, as well as teaching in Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Courses. She also teaches meditation, thought power, chanting, and supports individuals on their inner transformative journey.
Swami Brahmananda is a monk and senior teacher of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and is the current Manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas. Swami Brahmananda joined the Sivananda organization in 1999 and was initiated into Sannyasa (monasticism) in 2006.
A long-time practitioner of yoga, meditation and philosophical studies, he regularly teaches meditation and yoga philosophy for the Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training Courses as well as the Advanced Yoga Teachers’ Training Courses. He also teaches online courses on the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and Vedanta. Swami Brahmananda is a much-loved, inspiring, and knowledgeable teacher.
Swami Paramananda
Swami Paramananda is the manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch and longtime teacher of Sivananda Yoga Teacher Trainings in the Bahamas, New York, and India. A much-loved teacher admired for his humor, warmth, and devotion to the practice, he seamlessly weaves classical yoga teachings into modern daily life.
Jnaneshwari Chaitanya
Jnaneshwari Chaitanya is a senior teacher of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. She joined the Sivananda organization in 2001 and was initiated into Brahmacharya in 2016.
An experienced and devoted practitioner of Yoga, meditation and philosophical studies, she regularly teaches Yoga and Vedanta in the ashram programs and the Bhagavad Gita in Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Courses. Jnaneshwari Chaitanya is known for her clear and pure way of communicating yogic knowledge and its application in daily life.
Rukmini Chaitanya
Rukmini Chaitanya is a senior staff member of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, and the personal assistant to Swami Swaroopananda, the Acharya, or spiritual director of the Ashram. She regularly teaches the Bhagavad Gita during the Sivananda Yoga Teacher training as well as other courses on the Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, positive thinking, meditation, and yoga philosophy.
Rukmini Chaitanya is known for her enthusiastic and inspiring teaching style as well as for her devotion to the lineage and the scriptures. She is dedicated to each of her students and has an innate desire to share knowledge with them. She brings a great deal of clarity to every topic and is highly appreciated for her capacity to unfold complicated topics and present them in a coherent and pure way.