The Himalayan Tradition
The history of humanity is not simply a chronological listing of external accomplishments, it is the history of the unfoldment of the human personality. The Himalayan Tradition proclaims that even if one builds no houses, weaves no clothing nor owns even a stone to crush grain into flour, one may still reach the ultimate goal of life and become a fully developed human being: a saint, a sage, an Awakened One.
Of what use are technological advances if they contribute to mental and moral dry rot? Of what use is landing a man on Mars, if the God of War in our hearts has not been conquered and our unabated desires have taxed our own planet’s ecosystem to the breaking point? How far have we progressed if we cannot remove our fear, curb our anger, slow our breath or lower our blood pressure without prescription drugs? The Himalayan Tradition says that the crucial work for us not external, but internal, and that human beings “come fully equipped” for the task – that we are fully capable of reaching self mastery through inner techniques of awareness. This is the goal of the Science of Yoga.
For this undertaking, the Tradition teaches specific methods of training the human mind. It awakens the energy called Consciousness into the meaning of one’s essential nature: “Thou art That” –until the small, ego-centered personalities and identifications are dropped in favor of the Eternal Self –ever-wise, ever-pure, ever free. The methods are scientific, systematic and internal, culminating in the mysteries of initiation, the direct, stage-by-stage, conferings of energy to a disciple until s/he reaches the final goal, kaivalya.
One trained in the highest aspects of the Himalayan Tradition knows all the paths of meditation as they radiate out from the Center of Consciousness. The teachers of the Tradition are taught to work only for others, so that suffering be alleviated and people may come to claim their birthright: Self-knowledge. They are told, as the Buddha told his first disciples, “Wander, monks, for the benefit of the many, for the comforts of the many.”
An Ashram of this Tradition beckons you to come and receive the compassion and knowledge that has been passed down from a time before recorded history to the present day.
-Swami Veda Bharati
VENERABLE SHRI H. H. SWAMI RAMA
At the kumbh mela of 1952 Swami Veda asked visting yogis who they considered to be the greatest of the Himalayan sages. Unanimously the name given was Swami Rama.
Swami Rama was born in 1925 and was raised by his spiritual master in the legendary mountain caves of the Himalayas. A monk in the Shankaracharya Order, he taught the Upanishads and Buddhist scriptures in his youth and also studied Tibetan mysticism. In 1949 he held the prestigious position of Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham, which he renounced to serve humanity.
Swami Rama’s life was a demonstration of the saying “Yoga is skillfulness in action,” and he proved that all sciences and arts are open to an accomplished yogi. He was a philosopher who wrote forty-five books, a poet who translated an epic in three months, a scientist who in 1970 offered himself for experiements at the Menninger Institute in the U.S.A., an expert at homeopathy and Ayurvedic medicine as well as the martial arts, an architect, sculptor, painter, musician, dog-trainer, bee-keeper, herbalist, horse-trainer, horticulturist, and more. He was a humanitarian who founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and created in four years a Medical City with one of the finest hospitals in India. He then gave subtle hints on surgery to the veteran physicians who practiced there.
Totally at peace within, he shunned publicity and was oblivious to worldly opinions. Business people and administrators tell how he blessed and guided their successes in life, yet he would sit for hours talking with a one-buffalo farmer while princes waited outside his chamber. When he granted funds for establishing the library of a university in Garhwal Himalayas, he did so on condition that his name would not be associated with it. And as he prepared to leave his body in 1996, he left strict instructions to build no shrines or do anything to commemorate his name. His memorial today is in the hearts of his disciples and students who carry the unqualified love they received from him.
Most importantly, he was a fully enlightened master and the representative of the ancient Bharati lineage of yogis, who confer in their high initiations direct experience into the mysteries of consciousness and are the founders and custodians of Sri Vidya, the science of all paths of meditation.
Swami Rama left many disciples behind to carry on his work, none equal to his stature. What is most remembered about him is the magnetic power of his spirit, such that as he walked, one felt pulled to follow behind him. The full impact of his legacy will be realized perhaps in a century.
-Swami Veda Bharati
