- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
July 5th – Sept 20th, 2023
Self-Surrender and Self-Knowledge Cultivating Equanimity and Non-Attachment
Swami Brahmananda
12 WEEKLY SESSIONS, Wednesdays, 6:00-7:45pm ET
Course Description:
Join this 12-week course with Swami Brahmananda to learn what makes our spiritual life fulfilling and fully integrated with our everyday activities. Throughout this course you will learn how to overcome emotional disturbances and attachments and gain tools to cultivate mental equanimity and inner strength based on the teachings of Yoga and Vedanta as taught in the Bhagavad Gita. The teachings and practices are meant for new and experienced students alike.
The Bhagavad Gita is acclaimed as the teaching that guides us how to put in practice and apply directly in our life the sublime teachings of Yoga and Vedanta. Throughout the Bhagavad Gita the attitude of surrendering oneself to the Divine and accepting life’s dualities and challenges as God’s grace is given as a means for attaining peace and equanimity. When the mind is thus purified from binding attachments and emotions one can attain Self-knowledge and abide in one’s true nature as the all-pervading, limitless Self.
What You'll Learn:
The course is an in-depth study of the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the Bhagavad Gita containing some of the most significant, most illuminating, most inspiring and most mystical portions of the Bhagavad Gita.
Some of the topics included are:
- What makes our spiritual life fulfilling and fully integrated with our everyday activities
- How to cultivate mental equanimity
- How to overcome emotional disturbances and attachments
- How to attain Self-knowledge and inner freedom while engaging with the world
- Teachings that are important and very instructive to all persons who wish to attain happiness, prosperity and blessedness, and to seekers in particular, who wish to attain success in their spiritual life.
- The intimate connection between ethics and spirituality, between a life of virtue and God-realisation and liberation.
- Sri Krishna declares that the Supreme Being is the source of all existence, and refers allegorically to this universe as being like an inverted tree whose roots are in Para Brahman, and whose spreading branches and foliage constitute all the things and factors that go to make up this creation of variegated phenomena. This is a very mysterious “Tree” which is very difficult to understand, being a product of His inscrutable power of Maya; and hence a marvelous, apparent appearance without having actual reality. One who fully understands the nature of this Samsara-Tree goes beyond Maya. To be attached to it is to be caught in it. The surest way of transcending this Samsara or worldly life is by wielding the excellent weapon of dispassion and non-attachment.
Additional Information:
Offered as 12 weekly sessions on Wednesdays, July 5, 12, 19, 26, Aug 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Sept 6, 13 & 20th 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:
- 24 hours of on-demand video
- 12 live sessions of 2 hours of study from the Patanjali Yoga sutras and guided practices. Each class includes teachings, practice time and dedicated time for questions and answers
- Home guided practices – including recorded guided meditations
- Feedback and personal guidance on student’s home practices
- Availability to ask questions about the studies and practices between classes
- Course Manual
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.