Today at Kauai Aadheenam

Paramacharya gives his presentation, and offers valuable digital resources for all present

Flying over Germany reveals a landscape of countless small towns and farmland, separated by foothills and wind turbines

Several large buses take attendees from the airport to the ashram

Yoga Vidya Ashram in Bad Meinberg is one of Europe’s largest yoga centers, set in a forested campus offering classes, events and quiet retreat.

Each day of the congress included new speakers and topics. Here, Swamini Atmaprakashananda from the UK gives some inspiring words

Our monks got to stay in a 3rd generation, family-owned hotel in the German countryside, with farms on one side and woodlands on the other

After long flights, a walk among meadows and flowering cherry trees is greatly appreciated

There’s friendly, wild bunnies and deer everywhere you go

The air here is perfectly fresh, imbued with the smell of spring blossoms

A nice use for an old well as a flower planter

This pony lived behind the hotel, he wasn’t much of a talker. Maybe he only knew German.

Our monks gave their presentations on the final day. Here, Paramacharya begins his talk.

Earlier in the morning Tillainathaswami guided the group meditation. In the afternoon He gave a talk about personal practice and sadhana

Even the graffiti here is worshipful

Jai Ganesha!

Our two traveling monks have recently returned from a short trip to Germany, where they attended the 2025 European and World Yoga Congress. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami and Sannyasin Tillainathaswami made the eight-day journey across the globe and back. They arrived in Germany on the 24th to begin the event on the 25th. The venue was the Yoga Vidya Ashram in Bad Meinberg. This ashram is one of the largest in Central Europe and follows the Saivite Hindu teachings and lineage of Swami Sivananda. The event included speakers from Germany, Portugal, the UK, India, Venezuela, Iceland, the US and more. Of the hundreds of attendees, the majority were deeply devoted to their meditations and daily spiritual practice—not merely interested in asana (hatha) yoga, as one might have assumed from the name of the congress. When asked about the ultimate goal of their yoga practice, each responded, “Self-realization,” of course.

Aum Namah Sivaya

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We now have the introduction and fourteen lessons of the Know Thyself booklet generated in Gurudeva’s cloned voice, with the “Seeker” questions generated in another voice. This will soon be available on our Audiobooks web page. Here is Lesson One–

Lexicon Main Page

Jai Ganesha!

Today, we’re excited to share an update about a feature on our website: the Lexicon. The Lexicon is now available online and can be found under the “Books” category. It is a collection of words and their definitions, specifically drawn from the vocabulary used in our books. The purpose of the Lexicon is to provide a helpful resource for readers who may come across unfamiliar words. With just a few clicks, users can search for and understand terms they encounter while reading. We hope this feature enhances your reading experience and makes our content even more accessible. Aum.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“Nowadays meditation is becoming very popular. Everyone is talking about being centered. If you’re right in the center of yourself, you don’t hear any of the noise or activity. You’re just peaceful within yourself. It’s only when we come into the cross-section, the cross-fire of life, that we feel we’re not all right. Then we begin living in the great lie of the universe, the great fear that if we die we might be gone forever. We forget all of the wonderful philosophy and beautiful teachings that we’ve been studying, and we’re just not all right.“

Jai Ganesha!

A day ago, Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami and Sannyasin Tillainathaswami departed for Germany to attend a World Yoga Conference. There, Sadasivanathaswami will be giving a short presentation on yoga, while Tillainathaswami will be conducting a meditation class. The journey takes a grueling 50 hours, starting with a flight from Lihue to Honolulu, then from Honolulu to San Francisco, followed by a direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany, a short flight to Hannover, and finally a two-hour bus ride to their rural inn which is two minutes from the ashram where the event will take place. It’s quite a journey—with a mission. Monks on the road. Aum.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“How do you avoid unhappy states of mind? By consciously flowing awareness into the radiance, the light emanating from the self-effulgent being within the lotus of the heart. Direct awareness through controlled breathing. Remembering this basic principle, tell yourself that it is there, and soon you will begin to feel it. You will actually cause to grow within yourself a subtle nerve force that will turn awareness into the inner being so that consciously you can feel the Self God, your Śivaness, and its emanation that even now exists within you. In this way you can experience true bliss, true happiness, blissful happiness that does not cycle or fade.“