- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
Who am I?
The Practice of Vedantic Inquiry
Certification Course with Rukmini Chaitanya
10-WEEK LIVE ONLINE COURSE
May 18- July 27, 2022, Wednesdays, 6:00-7:45pm Eastern
We often feel the most insecurity and fear when we don’t know who we truly are. So that brings up the questions:
How deeply do you know yourself? Do you feel called to dig deeper?
According to yoga and Vedanta, we have forgotten our true nature and we follow the spiritual path in order to remember.
The goal of Jnana Yoga, or the Yoga of Knowledge, is to gain an understanding of your true Self, beyond your ego, attachments, and preferences. We use yogic and Vedantic teachings to transcend the ego, purify the mind, and connect to the deepest parts of your true Self. When you do, suffering falls away, and the soul becomes free.
In this course, you will dive deep into the Upanishads, ancient scripture based in Vedantic philosophy, to learn how to deepen your connection to your inner Self. Taught by senior teacher Rukmini Chaitanya who has studied Jnana Yoga under the tutelage of Swami Swaroopananda, the Acharya or spiritual director of the ashram, this course is designed to help you gain clarity for the timeless question, Who Am I?
During this course, you’ll be guided through meditations, contemplations, and reflective self-inquiry to help you more deeply understand who you truly are. The more you inquire “Who Am I?,” the more love, trust, and happiness can enter your heart.
Vedantic meditations help the practitioner to remove limiting ideas regarding oneself and the universe. These meditations do not require a particular time, place, or posture. Rather, they can be practiced throughout the day, while engaged in activity.
Knowing your true nature is essential for happiness. In this course, you will learn techniques in order to connect with and know your true nature while you are doing your daily tasks. These techniques focus on contemplation and analysis in order to reclaim what you already are.
During this transformational journey you’ll discover
- The practice of negation: How union with the Absolute is achieved by negating our identification with the body, mind, name, form, intellect, senses, and all limiting ideas.
- The practice of the Silent Witness: Learn how to observe the play of life as though watching a movie, without identifying with it.
- Eliminating Names and Forms: Recognize how the essence of every sentient being and insentient object in the universe is absolute existence, consciousness and bliss. Through this meditation, all differences are eliminated. Only the oneness remains.
- Discover the method of absorption, merging the effect into the cause, until you reach the causeless cause, your true Self or Brahman.
- Absorb the gross into the subtle by breaking down the components of the body and its functions into the five basic elements called Tanmatras. By negating the ideas of possessiveness and attachment to the illusory qualities of the body and mind, one can achieve emancipation.
“Vedanta must enter your bones, nerves, cells and interior chambers of your heart. Even a little of real practical Vedanta will elevate you quickly and make you immortal and fearless. We should become absolutely fearless. That is the sign of life in Atma. No more words. No more talk. No more arguments, heated debates or discussions. No more study. No more wandering. Live in OM. Live in truth. Enter the silence. There is peace. Peace is silence.” – Swami Sivananda, Sadhana
If you feel a calling to know your soul’s essence more fully, and to experience more inner peace and stability as a result, join us! These teachings are specifically designed to help you grow on your spiritual path.
It is not necessary to have a background in Vedanta in order to register for this course.
This course is approved for 10 hours of continuing education credits (CEUs) with the Yoga Alliance.
What you'll learn:
- Laya Chintana is the method of absorption. The effect is absorbed in its cause.
- Margining into the intellect, which in turn merges into the unmanifested universe, which then merges into the Supreme Imperishable Brahman.
- The elements of creation merge with each other, starting with the grossest and proceeding to the subtlest. The processes of merging is: earth into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into ether, ether into the unmanifest, and the unmanifest into Brahman.
- The microcosm merges with the macrocosm. The individual merges with the universe, the soul merges in Brahman. All external attributes gradually merge into their Source.
- Panchikarana is a method that further develops the concept of absorption of the gross into the subtle by breaking down the components of the body and its functions into the five basic elements called Tanmatras. When it is seen that these are not the Self, they may be either absorbed into each other or discarded by negation. In either case, one arrives at the Self, which is beyond them all
- By negating the ideas of possessiveness and attachment to the illusory qualities of the body and mind, one can achieve liberation.
- Negative emotions, such as anger, delusion and fear, belong to the ether portion of the five elements. Therefore, they cannot be the Self or Atman. They are negated and identification with them becomes impossible.
What people are saying about Rukmini Chaitanya…
– Doug Habig
– Jun Ishida (Jyoti Dev)
Additional Information:
Offered as 10 weekly sessions on Wednesdays, May 18, 25, Jun 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Jul 6, 13, 20 6:00-7:45pm ET
This program is offered live through Zoom webinar with the availability for students to interact through Q&A with the presenter.
For enrolled students, a video recording will be available after each class in the event you miss a class or would like to review the content.
It is possible to register and take the course at any time. You can catch up on any classes you miss with the recordings.
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.
Course Includes:
- 17.5 hours of live online course
- Recordings of each class will be available
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.