Revered yoga leader to host class at U

Swami Veda Bharati is a world renowned yoga leader, whose history includes teaching his practice to people of 17 different languages, as well as teaching to students at the University of Minnesota.

The University Center for Spirituality and Healing invited Bharati back to the University to host a free class called, “Meditation: The Deeper Dimension of Yoga.” The event will run from 4:40 to 6:40 p.m. Wednesday in the Mayo Memorial auditorium.

Bharati, now in his 70s, was born in India but spent time in the 1960s as a faculty member at the University teaching Sanskrit, a historical Indo-Aryan language.

While Bharati was in Minnesota he taught people yoga in his attic, and the participation increased to a point that Bharati needed to open a separate facility. He opened the Meditation Center around 1970, now located in northeast Minneapolis, where it continues its operation today.

In 2005, Bharati was given the highest honors at Buddhist and Taoist Centres of higher learning in China.

The course Bharati will be teaching Wednesday is normally a graduate student course, but for the last several years the class has been open to the public when Bharati is in town.

Miriam Cameron, a registered nurse and yoga therapist at the Center for Spirituality and Healing said this course will teach people about “being” meditation.

“In this country, yoga is about physical fitness and buying the right kind of leotard, but yoga has a much deeper dimension,” Cameron said. “What yoga means is to join together within oneself and with the universe.”

Raghuram Thiagarajan, a graduate student in materials science and engineering and a board member of the Mindfulness for Students group on campus, said yoga helps him concentrate when there are a lot of things going on in his life.

“Everyone has their own way to de-stress when a lot is going on,” Thiagarajan said. “As a student you have lots of courses and a social life, so yoga helps me focus.”

Cameron said the health benefits of yoga go beyond flexibility. Detachment of one’s senses and regulation of breathing are both positive physical results of consistent yoga practice. These elements come from the Indian sage, Pantanjali , something Bharati has written about in depth.

Bharati’s resume includes several scientific research projects on meditation, and he has written several books on the subject. His most famous publication is his 1,500-page commentary on the first two chapters of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Some of Bharati’s books will be on sale at the event.

Bharati's fluency in so many languages has allowed him to teach his practice to many faiths.

At Wednesday’s event, Bharati will address the “ah-ha” moment in yoga known as Samadhi, a Sanskrit word meaning integration, Cameron said.

“It lasts for just a second and it’s easy to go back to [life’s] same confusion as usual,” Cameron said, “but we can extend that to all of life, at least to a feeling of ecstasy, oneness and wisdom, and that is our birthright as human beings.”

The event is open to the public, and people of all levels of experience in yoga and meditation can attend.