Holy Pilgrimage - Hindu temples in USA

Vimukti Yoga Mission, Astoria, NY

Our new address is:
20-29 38th Street, Astoria, NY 11105
1(888) 474-1218

By Phone: 1 (888) 474-1218

About Vimukti Yoga Mission

The Vimukti Yoga Mission is a not-for-profit religious organization dedicated to spreading the teachings of Prabhuji, His Holiness Avadhuta Sri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja.

The mission publishes books, CDs and DVDs, maintains websites and offers a large variety of satsangs, courses, workshops and meditation retreats throughout the year, which are personally designed by Prabhuji.

The Vimukti Yoga Mission is inspired by His Holiness Sri Avadhuta Mastarama Babaji Maharaja, and has the holy approval and support of H.H. Avadhuta Sri Brahmananda Babaji Maharaja; it also has the blessings of H.H. Srila Narahari das Babaji Maharaja, H.H. Sant Keshava das, H.H. Krishna das Babaji, H.H. Swami Krishnananda Saraswati, H.H. Swami Swahananda and H.H. Mataji Reena Sharma.

The mission functions thanks to the voluntary work and altruistic collaboration of the volunteers and students who practice karma-yoga, or “selfless service,” as a means of spiritual transformation and inner development, offering the results of their labor to God.

Vimukti Yoga Ashram

In traditional Hinduism, an ashram is a hermitage where the spiritual master lives together with his disciples. Since the earliest days of civilization, ashrams have existed in the East as centers of study and spiritual practice under the guidance of a master.
In general, ashrams are located in natural environments, whether in forests or the mountains. The Mahabharata epic described Sri Krishna, during his youth, as living in the ashram of his master Sandipani Muni, who imparted teachings and guidance upon him.
The Vimukti Yoga Ashram is a peaceful and tranquil place located in the Catskill Mountains in New York State, USA. It was founded in 2011 by H.H. Avadhuta Sri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja.
The ashram offers an ideal environment for sadhana, or 'spiritual practice', such as worship, meditation, and pranayama. In addition, different classes, such as hatha yoga, sacred scriptures, Sanskrit, etc, are offered regularly.
Many visitors spend their vacations at the ashram, where they can study Prabhuji’s teachings and put them into practice. These experiences lead them to live with greater attention, clarity, joy, and relaxation.
The Vimukti Yoga Ashram, spread over 47 acres of forest, escarpments, creeks, and varied vegetation, is the natural habitat for different species of wild birds. This area, free from environmental pollution, serves as a natural refuge for a wide variety of flora and fauna.
The paradisiacal landscape resembles the retreats of ancient Hindu sages and provides the ideal conditions for meditation, revitalization, as well as to reconnect to Divinity and delve into Vimukti Yoga teachings.
Hundreds of visitors, from different parts of the world, come every year to attend a variety of weekend workshops, special seminars, retreats, conferences, and darshanas in the presence of Prabhuji.

10 Beliefs of Hinduism

The basic beliefs of a religion are those that form the thoughts, feelings, actions and the entire attitude of its followers towards the world around them and their fellow men.

1. All followers of orthodox Hinduism believe in a sole God, a single reality that is simultaneously transcendent and immanent, as much Creator as creation. The different manifestations such as Siva, Lord Rama, Krishna etc., are not more than different aspects of one single reality, a single omnipotent God, omniscient, and omnipresent. A mystery which is possible to know only and solely through direct communion.

2. All followers of Hinduism believe in the divinity and infallibility of its sacred revealed scriptures, the four Vedas,the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda, as well as of all the Vedic literature, which forms the very base of the transcendental building of the universal religion of Sanatana-dharma.

3. All followers of Hinduism believe that the universe follows an infinite cyclic process of creation, preservation and dissolution, just as it is affirmed in the holy Bhagavad-gita (8.18):

      avyaktad vyaktayah sarvah
      prabhavanty ahar-agame
      ratry-agame praliyante
      tatraivavyakta-samjnake

      "When a new day of Brahma begins, all becomes manifested from the unmanifest, and after nightfall all comes back and melts into the unmanifest."

4. All followers of Hinduism believe in the law of karma or the law of cause and effect, according to which, every individual is completely responsible for his future. Everyone creates his own destiny, through his actions on the mental level in the form of his thoughts, on the verbal level by his words, and on the gross physical level by his bodily actions.

5. All followers of Hinduism believe in reincarnation. That is, they believe that the soul goes through an educative process of transmigration of repeated births and deaths, replacing its old bodies for new ones. They also believe that final liberation or moksha awaits every soul in the end, as it is expressed in the holy Bhagavad-gita (2.13):

      dehino smin yatha dehe
      kaumaram yauvanam jara
      tatha dehantara-praptir
      dhiras tatra na muhyati

      "Just as the embodied soul passes in the present body from childhood to youth, and later to old age, it passes to another body at the moment of death. A reasonable person is not confused by such changes."

6. All followers of Hinduism believe in a great number of very exalted and powerful entities, which are invisible to the material senses, called Devas or Gods. They also firmly believe that different rituals, such as worship in the temple and the different sacraments, produce a profound communion between humanity and these Devas.

7. Hinduism believes that a guru or a bona fide spiritual master is indispensable for any follower of Hinduism, and that without accepting the refuge of a spiritual master it is impossible to advance spiritually. This is confirmed in the holy Bhagavad-gita (4.34):

      tad viddhi pranipatena
      pariprasnena sevaya
      upadeksyanti te jnanam
      jnaninas tattva-darsinah

      "Make efforts to understand the Truth by approaching an authentic spiritual master, asking questions from him submissively and serving him. The self-realized being can give you wisdom because he has seen the Truth."

8. All followers of Hinduism believe that life, in all its different manifestations, is sacred, and therefore is worthy of being respected, loved and worshipped. For this reason, they do not accept the killing of animals or the consumption of their meat, nor do they accept the harming of any living being in action,word or thought.

9. All followers of Hinduism do not accept only one unique religion as the owner and master of God, or the Truth. On the contrary, they understand that we all exist on different levels of evolution and distinct levels of development in our path towards the realization of the Absolute Truth. Therefore, Hinduism as a religion accepts, tolerates and respects with comprehension every belief, faith or religion and expects the same or a similar attitude from other religions towards itself.

      The Rig Veda expresses our attitude towards other religions by saying: "Aa no bhadrah kratavo yantu vishwatah".. Which means, "Allow any noble idea to come to us from whatever direction"... This phrase contains the true attitude of Sanatana-dharma and of the truly religious man.

10. Every follower of Hinduism respects equally all saints and prophets from every religion.

Announcements

New!

3 evening classes:

Monday, Wednesday & Thursday at 8:00 pm

You are welcome to join!

Vimukti Yoga - Meditation

“To meditate is to watch what is, as it is.” - Prabhuji

Meditation cannot be taught because it is neither a technique nor a method. It does not consist of doing something, and it is not a physical, mental or emotional practice. Dhyāna cannot be learned, but has to be self-discovered within oneself through attentive watchfulness. It does not arise from studying or training, but rather blooms from consciousness itself.

To meditate is to place ourselves in God’s hands; to relax in the essence of what we are, because there is nothing we can do in order to be what we already are, what we always have been, and the only thing we can ever really be.

The essential thing in meditation is the attentive and continuous watchfulness of anything that can be observed, or anything that can be objectified: a flower, a sunset, the breath, the body, the thoughts or the feelings. The emphasis is not on a particular object, but the quality of the attention.

Vimukti meditation consists of watchfulness; this means the silent and gradual focus of attention on the physical, mental and emotional levels: our movements, ideas, strategies, feelings, and so forth.

Meditation workshops take place in Vimukti Yoga centers and meditation intensive workshops and retreats are given in the Vimukti Yoga Ashram several times a year.

Vimukti Hatha Yoga reconnects us to the physical plane. It brings us back to the breath as we move in the present. Despite having a body, the ordinary person is not consciously present in it; in daily life, it is almost totally ignored. To situate ourselves in our anatomy implies being in the present because it is impossible to move a leg tomorrow or lift an arm yesterday.

As minds, we are used to moving in a theoretical world of ideas and conclusions. From the ego’s point of view, life is hypothetical, supposed and imaginary. Most people live unsatisfied, as the theoretical plane cannot satisfy the practical one. When we situate ourselves in our body, we reconnect to the world of facts and come back to life.

Vimukti Hatha Yoga is a bridge between the objective and the subjective, from the form to the formless, from the periphery to the center, and this ultimately reveals to us the unity behind duality.

Getting into and out of each posture slowly and consciously, attentively and with deep awareness, is an invitation to explore the presence of what we really are, and discover the infinite here and the eternity now; to settle in the reality.

With every physical posture, we take a psychic, energetic and emotional posture in life. As we develop greater physical flexibility we can also overcome our intransigence, and as our body grows more elastic, we become less stubborn.

If we practice the asanas with total awareness while being present, we reveal the here and now, the eternal union and harmony with Reality.

Vimukti Hatha Yoga is a unique system of hatha yoga that imparts surprising physical benefits; its main objective, however, is to increase our attention, watchfulness and awareness.

Vimukti Hatha Yoga , designed by Avadhuta Sri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja, aims at realizing enlightenment. Our instructors have been trained directly by Prabhuji.

Vimukti Yoga Pranayama - Expanding Life Energy

The term prāṇāyāma is composed of the Sanskrit word prāṇa, referring to “life energy”– although etymologically it means “to breathe”– and āyāma, signifying “extension, stretching, expansion and elongation.” Therefore, it means “an expansive movement of life energy.”

Prāṇa accesses both the physical and the mental levels: in the physical plane it appears as breathing, and in the mental as psychic activity.

Through prāṇāyāma, the yogi consciously redirects and channels the life force, allowing it to flow freely through the system of nāḍīs, or “energy conductors”, which are similar to the veins, but in the astral body. During the practice we can watch the powerful flow of this life force within ourselves and attentively expand it, until harmonizing it with the pulsation of the cosmic force.

This method has been presented to the Western public as a group of proper breathing techniques. This definition erroneously directs our attention to a partial and external aspect of prāṇāyāma.

Prāṇāyāma emphasizes the deep relation between breathing and mental activity. In the process of cosmic manifestation, prāṇa stems from the universal mind. Similarly, in the microcosmic level of the human being, the relation between life energy and the mind is obvious. The movement of breathing on the physical plane is parallel to the movement of thoughts on the mental level. Hence, the breath influences mental states.

For example, a state of rage causes accelerated breathing, whereas in mental tranquility, the breath is serene, and in a state of great concentration, respiratory activity decreases considerably.

The breathing rhythm varies significantly in different mental and emotional states such as fear, attachment, depression, envy or pride. We sigh upon relief and in moments of suspense we hold the breath; when we face beauty our breathing stops, and the experience of pain causes heavy breathing. Negative mental states can be overcome and replaced by positive ones through techniques of prāṇāyāma that influence the rhythm of breathing.

Among the natural consequences of the practice of prāṇāyāma, is the conscious union between prāṇa and apāna, and finally the awakening of kuṇḍalinī-śakti.

The practice of prāṇāyāma is an integral part of Vimukti Yoga.

Vimukti Yoga Branches Around the World

USA

Vimukti Yoga Ashram

Headquarters of the Vimukti Yoga Centers

Director: Satchidananda

Address: 319 Route 31, Round Top, NY 12473

Tel: 1-888-474-1218

Email: info@ramakrishnananda.com
Website: www.vimuktiashram.com

Vimukti Yoga Center New York

Director: Govinda and Lila

Address: 20-29 38th Street,

Astoria, Queens NY 11105

Tel: 1-888-474-1218

Email: info@ramakrishnananda.com

Website: www.ramakrishnanandayoga.com

Vimukti Yoga Center Los Angeles

Director: Vishnu Das
Address: 1259 N Virgil Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Tel: 323 439 4004
Email: Vishnu.das9@yahoo.com
Website: www.vimuktiyogala.com

Daily Schedules:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 9:00am-10:30am Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga 11:00am-12:30pm Hatha Yoga 6:00pm-7:30pm Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga 8:00pm-9:30pm Hatha Yoga Weekly Puja & Abhishek Hatha Yoga Hatha Yoga 9:30pm Temple Worship Temple Worship Temple Worship Temple Worship

Contact Us

How to get to us:

Our new address is:
20-29 38th Street, Astoria, NY 11105
1(888) 474-1218

By subway:
Take either the N or Q train to Queens and get off at the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. Walk a half block along 31st St. and turn right on Ditmars Blvd. Turn left on 38th St and the Ramakrishnananda Yoga Center is on the right between 20th Rd and 20th Ave. The walk takes roughly 10 minutes.
By bus:
Q69 – Disembark at Ditmars Blvd and 31st St. Walk along Ditmars and turn left on 38th St. We are located between 20th Rd. and 20th Ave.

Om Tat Sat

(Continued...)

(My humble salutations to the great devotees , wikisources and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the collection )

Hindu Vedic Philosophy (Holy Pilgrimage - Theertha Kshetra)