SERVICES AT THE LOS ANGELES VEDIC TEMPLE, USA
Nithyananda Mission operates ashrams worldwide, all of which are run by the resident ashramites who provide 100% voluntary full-time service to the Mission. The services provided include:
1. Free medical camps with multi-specialty services in economically backward villages and free community health fairs
2. Free dispensary and Nithya spiritual healing services
3. Free energized, healing sattvic food cooked and served by ordained Nithya spiritual healers at the ashrams’ food temples. The food temples serve free food to thousands of people during large gatherings and special occasions.
4. In-house publishers of Swami’s messages and discourses. Over 200 books have been published in over 30 languages worldwide. Periodical magazines in English, Tamil and Kannada with a readership of over 10000 provide constant life solutions for physical wellbeing and mental peace.
5. Website managers of various websites to spread awareness and provide live updates and up-to-date knowledge of the activities of the Mission
6. Free accommodation for the participants of various meditation programs and people who come to avail of the free healing services
7. Organising and conducting basic and advanced meditation workshops with state-of-the-art meditation and therapy halls and other facilities
8. Community outreach to spread the positive energy of peace and bliss through home darshans
9. Offering free introductory talks on meditation and yoga in villages, companies, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, conferences, prisons, etc. worldwide
10. Classes on Nithya Yoga for adults and kids
11. Specialized programs for kids including yoga, creative cultural workshops and summer camps
SERVICES AT THE LOS ANGELES VEDIC TEMPLE, USA
FREE YOGA AND MEDITATION PROGRAMS
A number of free yoga and meditation and Life Solutions programs are offered at the Los Angeles Vedic Temple. These programs happen every week and cater to people from all walks of life including students, servicemen, professionals, entrepreneurs, women and seniors. From the testimonials of the participants, it is clear that they experience tremendous improvement in the quality of their personal and professional lives improving their productivity, relationships and reduction of stress and worries. It helps college students handle exam stress as well as improve their intuition, creativity and be able to channelize their energy and emotions in a balanced and fruitful way.
Regular Nithya Yoga classes are conducted with good participation. It has been a transformational experience not only for those who attend but also for those who have been teaching. People of all age groups and backgrounds have been able to benefit from the Nithya Yoga classes improving their health and abilities.
SERVING OF FREE MEALS AND FOOD FOR THE POOR AND NEEDY AT HOMELESS SHELTERS
More than 1000 free meals per month are served by the food temple at the Los Angeles Vedic Temple. Healthy nutritious vegetarian food is prepared with lot of love and care. The food is infused with positive energy as it is prepared by ordained Nithya Spiritual Healers in the energy field of the Vedic temple. Apart from this, every week, free food is served at local homeless shelters for the poor and needy.
TEN-DAY BLISS FESTIVAL
10-day Bliss Festival is conducted at the Vedic Temple every year from Dec 23rd to Jan 1st. The celebrations lead up to the anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Mission. The ten day Bliss Festival is a celebration of all the beautiful aspects of life and the people in our lives. It is an opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Existence and everyone around us. Each day of the festival has a unique theme and the events are tailored to the theme of the day. Various days such as Volunteers day, Yoga day, Environment and World Peace Day, Life Solutions day, Food day, Mothers day etc are celebrated.
Through the festival, a number of special Services such as Vedic Astrology, Medical Seminars on common ailments such as obesity and hypertension and their solutions, Nutrition, Legal consultation, Henna etc happen on various days of the festival.
MEDICAL CAMPS AND COMMUNITY HEALTH FAIRS
Free Health Fairs are conducted for the local community with the support of members and friends from the medical community. These health fairs offer comprehensive medical and diagnostic services including:
- General Checkup
- Blood Pressure
- Cholesterol
- Body-Fat Checkup
- Blood Sugar Testing
- Vision Testing
- Bone Density Testing
- Dental Checkup
- Gynecology
- Pediatrics
…and more
On an average, more than 400 people participate and benefit from these health fairs. These health fairs are highly appreciated by the local community and the city and county administration as well.
Community Health Fairs organized by Nithyananda Mission supported wholeheartedly by the local administration as well as the local doctors
VEDIC EXPO
Vedic Expos are one-stop destinations to get a glimpse of every aspect of the inner science technology, Vedic culture and lifestyle. These day-long expos happen every quarter with a total of four conducted in a year. The following are the services offered during the Vedic Expos:
Yoga
- Yoga Demonstrations
- Seminars on the Benefits of Yoga
- The roots of Yoga Meditation
Meditation
- Introduction to Meditation sessions
- Meditations for Health & Wellness
- Meditations for Inner Peace
Life Solutions
- Panel discussion on Conscious Parenting
- Seminar on Blissful Relationships
- Stress Management Solutions for the Corporate World
Life Style
- Lifestyle Seminars on Eco-conscious Lifestyle
- Panel discussion on Lifestyle Choices
- Henna & Face-Painting
Culture
- Culture Cultural programs Music and dance performances Food Vegetarian Cooking
- Music and dance performances
Food
- Vegetarian Cooking Demonstrations
- Vegetarian Food Sampling
- Seminars on Vegetarian Lifestyle
Vedic Expo is a great way for the local community to come together and get a first-hand taste of the Vedic culture, science and lifestyle. It gives people a great opportunity to be introduced to meditation, yoga and other inner sciences. The day is filled with fun activities and educational discussions. These expos are attended by 500-1000 people, and are growing in popularity with each event.
INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY CELEBRATIONS
Every year, International Peace Day is celebrated with a prayer for Global peace and a peace day march at the Vedic Temple. On Sunday, September 21, 2008, the Temple celebrated International Peace Day with a variety of activities. International Peace Day celebrations began with a Peace March to the Montclair Chamber of Commerce. About 150 devotees and members of the community participated.
After the Peace March, the participants joined the guests of honor who shared a few personal reflections about International Peace Day. This was followed by a meditation and a one minute observance of silence. Celebrations concluded with traditional prayer and sharing of food.
CULTURAL MELTING POT
The Vedic Temple serves as a melting pot for people of various cultures, nationalities and backgrounds and also spreads the awareness of the Vedic tradition to one and all thus helping it spread across the world.
SERVICES AT THE SEATTLE VEDIC TEMPLE, USA
CARRYING POSITIVE ENERGY TO HOMES
People from all walks of life invite the Divine – in the form of an energized deity from the Vedic Temple – into their homes, in order to get the Divine blessings for their houses and their loved ones. The evening becomes a fun-filled spiritual and community get-together, as they enjoy the pujas (traditional rituals), bhajans (devotional hymns), chanting, Vedic wisdom and varieties of food, along with their friends and relatives.
Special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries are thus turned into celebrations, in tune with the Vedic way of life. These home darshans can be hosted by anyone in the community, and give people who are unable to visit the Temple regularly, an opportunity to connect to the Divine in relaxed group settings.
COLLECTIVE FIRE CEREMONIES FOR UNIVERSAL POSITIVITY
For the first time in North America, on Sep 6 2008, the Seattle Vedic Temple organized a grand collective fire ritual (Maha Saptayaagam) with 101 simultaneous fire pits for the traditional offerings. Participants flew in from all over the US and Canada, including representatives from other Vedic Temples like Ohio, Oklahoma, San Jose, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. Over 500 devotees and members from the community participated to make the event a grand success. Conducted for World Peace, the grand event was presided by senior Swamis of the Nithyananda Order.
Starting with Sanskrit chanting, the traditional ceremony continued with offerings to each of the 7 deities, invoking their energies into the fire, followed by a final offering of herbs. All the chantings, visualizations and offerings (including herbs) added to the net positive vibrations in the space, thus contributing directly to the greater peace in Seattle and in the world. The event evoked a very favorable response from the community and local press.
CHANTING SESSIONS IN YOGA STUDIOS
The Vedic Temple Chanting Group has been reaching out to spread the energy and bliss of the ancient practice of Sanskrit Vedic Chanting across Yoga Studios and stores in the community. Sanskrit is not just a linguistic language but it is a phonetic language also. So the language not only has words that have meaning but it has also got sounds of phonetic significance the vibrations of which cause positive energy and healing in the people chanting as well as listening. Chanting sessions are done by groups of 4 or 6, and directly lead to experiences of joy, bliss and peace in the listener.
Interactive explanations and question and answer sessions provide listeners with an understanding of the deeper aspects of the chanting sciences. In addition, these sessions serve the purpose of introducing the traditional Vedic chanting to the wider community, as part of Vedic Temple’s cross-cultural outreach efforts. These small, one-hour sessions have received tremendous response and welcome from the Yoga Studios around the city.
ANNA DAAN
In keeping with one of the core tenets of the Vedic tradition – ‘Food is God’, more than 1500 free meals are served per month at the Vedic Temple. Healthy vegetarian food is prepared with love and care, and many members of the community contribute in various ways – ingredients, preparation, serving and cleaning. Food is served to anyone who visits the Temple.
MEDITATION PROGRAMS
A number of yoga and meditation and Life Solutions programs – both free and paid – are offered throughout the year by the Vedic Temple. These programs happen at the Temple, and at other venues around the community – community centers, yoga studios, bookstores, colleges, etc. These programs cater to people in the community from all walks of life, whether they be students, professionals, entrepreneurs, women or kids. In the past year alone, these meditations and life solutions sessions have touched in excess of 5000 people in the greater Seattle areas.
These programs bring in varied benefits – reducing stress and worries and improving peoples’ productivity, relationships and other aspects of life. Free daily group meditation sessions are offered at the Temple, where anyone irrespective of their religious or cultural affiliations, can participate.
CULTURAL PROGRAMS AND SATSANGS
The Vedic Tradition emphasizes the celebration of life every day. Music, dance and other varied arts are an integral part of the Vedic lifestyle. The Vedic Temple organizes various programs, classes and avenues for people to express, experience and enjoy the various systems of music and dance from the Vedic tradition. Different artistes and performers, of varying calibers from seasoned professionals to kids who are beginning to learn, are offered avenues to perform and learn the various arts. Both local and international artistes have performed at the Temple. About 40+ events have been organized at the Vedic Temple in 2008 alone, and these have been enjoyed by more than 1000 people.
These programs are usually offered free, and are open to all, and they provide a platform for cross-cultural interchange, and serve to expose and popularize these art forms across the wider greater Seattle community.
SERVICES AT THE OHIO VEDIC TEMPLE, USA
NITHYA YOGA SESSION FOR THE INMATES AT OHIO PRISON
Life Bliss Foundation has served over 30 women twice a week since September 2008 at the Ohio Womens’ Reformatory, the largest womens’ prison in Ohio. This prison houses 2500 inmates with the population increasing due to increased drug convictions, reduced probation options and longer sentences. Two of the biggest coping factors in prison life are boredom and stress due to overcrowding. The 40 inmates invited to attend twice weekly Nithya Yoga Sessions are serving life sentences. Many of the women in the Nithya Yoga Sessions have also attended one or more yoga classes offered in the prison. However, after 10 weeks of doing Nithya Yoga, which includes the meditation technique called Life Bliss Meditation, the women were reporting medical, mental, emotional, and spiritual changes in their lives. Some of the reports included lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, less heart palpitations, more positive outlook, ability to focus and stay focused, having a feeling of value to society, and the increased inner knowledge that they are not ‘bad’ people.
Testimonials
1. This class has made me realize that I AM a good person and I DO have something of value to offer to the world. I’m much more positive and more able to focus. – Davala #61395
2. My cholesterol level has dropped 15 pts inside of 2 months- only change has been yoga. Much more peaceful outlook. – Marie
3. My breath wind has expanded. Less heart palpitations. I can also tell my blood pressure is not getting high although I do take medications for this. – Sandy #24040
4. I have chosen to survive in a positive manner despite the odds against me. Nithya Yoga is giving me the tools to use the positive force within me to bring change to the world around me and inside me. The most drastic noticeable change would be my health. I no longer take medication to lower my cholesterol, yet my bad cholesterol has dropped 15 points. I am a Crohn’s disease survivor and my health has always reflected my stress levels. I do not remember ever being completely symptom free, not once in the 20+ years that I have been dealing with this disease. Now, every morning as I take stock of my body, I know that I am healthy. I am symptom free which means stress free. I was raised Roman Catholic and although I am not truly active in the church I still hold to many of the beliefs and consider myself to be a good Christian. Yoga has, in my heart and mind, brought greater clarity and meaning to my religious beliefs. -Marie Hilton (40 years old) ORW
5. Allow me to mention my chronic illness first – seizures, high blood pressure, CPLD, high bad cholesterol. Starting with those conditions made this new type of yoga a challenge for me. My first time doing yoga actually. I have noticed several changes in my conditions: My breathing has extended-seems I have longer breath. After a month into yoga I began noticing that I had not felt heart palpitations.
6. The meditations I am practicing (Nithya Dhyaan) now help to lengthen and prolong the peace I’ve acquired thru the years. There is actually nothing I don’t like about this type of yoga. I tip my hat to India – these people are very self conscious and capable of maintaining to a degree I’m not so sure Americans can venture into. I will continue to venture and strive to maintain to be true to myself. Meditating helps also as a soul cleansing to me. I cannot wait to get #’s from my statistics medically to share for I know – I feel improvements within and without my being.
-Sandra Griffin
HEALTH FAIR
Free Health Fairs are conducted at the Vedic Temple with help from the local medical community and the volunteers.
These services include:
- Holistic Massage
- Reflexology
- General Checkup
- Gastroenterology
- Blood Pressure
- Cholesterol
- Body-Fat Checkup
- Blood Sugar Testing
- Vision Testing
- Dental Checkup
MEDITATION AND YOGA PROGRAMS