Recent Retreats

During the retreat it became very clear to me that I have to settle the account with Ishvara to get to Brahman (final reality). That was very humbling. It made me give up my tendency to control and putting pressure on myself to understand everything; to relaxing in the order of Ishvara. I now know getting to final reality is a process of knowing which requires a lot of growing and maturing as an individual. Thanks a lot for providing such a nurturing environment to learn. I go home with a lot of gratitude

I loved the teaching and found the summary of Atma Bodha outstanding as it put the whole text together. It became very clear the way one verse is connected to the other and how the text moves in a progressive logical sequence to unfold the entire vision of Vedanta. Sometimes I felt you were talking directly to me and addressing my doubts. This immediacy of the teaching would enable me to weave what I have learnt here into my daily life. Another thing that struck me is the quality of students that you both are able to attract- everyone here is highly intelligent, very good human beings, have love for learning and commitment to this teaching tradition. All the different events during the retreat- prayers, outings, ganga aarti etc. made us come together and bond very deeply as a group.

Every time I come to Rishikesh, I sit at Pujya Swamiji’s Samadhi and thank him for creating this exceptional place for learning where people come from around the world to seek spiritual knowledge and growth. The environment created here is so special that I find it so easy to be myself and at the same time relate to everyone freely. I go to the weekly class of Neema where we study Gita that has prepared us for this retreat, which is really intensive and rigorous. For me, the first highlight of the retreat was Swami Sakshatkritananda’s introductory talk where he explained very clearly why we are learning Vedanta and what it will bring to our life. Second highlight was Neema’s summary of Atma Bodha which showed us clearly how each part of the teaching is related to the other. Evening Bhagavad Gita classes made it very clear to me that personal growth entails relaxing in the lap of Ishvara which enables us to shed our emotional loads, ease things in a way that life flows smoothly and at the same time speed up the process of growing. Thank you all for making this 10 day so special for me. We would come back for next year retreat and hope to see you all there again.