“Young age is the budding period of the flower of life.

It needs protection so that the diverse opinions of others

do not create confusion in the mind.

A tender mind can be bent easily.

Loving guidance and the right communication is important.

Parents who pay proper attention to their children

can help them to pass through the adolescent period.

This is a period of shaping the habits of the mind.”

                                    — Swami Rama of the Himalayas

The Himalayan Yoga Tradition is part of a 5,000 year old journey of exploration and teaching. It has been passed on through an unbroken lineage of teachers including Bengali Baba, Swami Rama of the Himalayas, Swami Veda Bharati and many others still teaching today. We invite you to explore this rich tradition and join us on the journey of exploration and growth with your children and others.

Swami Rama of the Himalayas also called Bhole Baba and known as Rama Dandi – especially in the Himalayas

Swami Rama founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy with centers throughout the world. Swami Rama was initiated in early childhood by a great sage of the Himalayas, known as Bengali Baba. Swami Rama studied with many adepts and then traveled to Tibet to study with his grandmaster Mahavatar Baba, known as Babaji of the Himalayas.

Swami Rama’s master wanted him to learn and experience the many different methods and techniques of yoga. From his early childhood Swami Rama practiced the various disciplines of yoga science and philosophy in the traditional monasteries of the Himalayas. From 1938 to 1944 Swami Rama taught Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in several monasteries. Throughout his childhood and adolescence Swami Rama lived and traveled with the saints, yogis, and fakirs of Garhwal, Kumaon, the Kangra Valley, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, with retreats in other parts of India. Swami Rama studied closely with many spiritual adepts, including Maharshi Raman, Sri Aurobindo, Anandamoyee Ma, and Rabindranath Tagore

While Swami Rama founded many worldly organizations, his greatest gift to humanity was in his bringing the depths of the wisdom of the ancient sages to the modern seeker in highly accessible ways. He did this through his writings and his lectures, and most importantly through his individual presence when training students one at a time.

Swami Veda Bharati  has spent the last 53 years as a teacher, lecturer and writer. He was raised in a family of Sanskrit-speaking scholars in India. He attained degrees through the Ph.D. level in the 1960s at the University of London. He was a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions at the University of Minnesota from 1965 to 1973. He has written numerous books, including an exhaustive commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Swami Veda was initiated into the Dhyana (meditative yoga) tradition in 1969 by H.H. Sri Swami Rama, his spiritual teacher. Since then he has been instrumental in setting up and providiing spiritual guidance to yoga meditation centers throughout the world. He is the spiritual head of an ashram in Rishikesh, India; a 200-acre medical complex near Dehradun, India; and this Meditation Center in Minneapolis, MN. In March 1999 the Shankara Order of Swamis in India conferred on Swami Veda the title of Mahamandeleshvara - he is one of 30 or so Indian Swamis to hold this honor. Swami Veda has spoken before the United Nations and met with the world's major religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. He understands 17 languages in varying degrees of fluency. Please visit www.swamiveda.org for more information.