We love writing about the Vedas & chanting!
I sometimes post things I don't teach - stotrams, kavacams etc 🙂
The Gift The Teacher Likes
At the end of the course of study, the teacher of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad gives the departing student a parting address. It is a set of plain instructions. Speak the truth. Do what is right. Do not be negligent about your recitation. Look after your parents and your guests. And then:
ācāryāya priyaṃ dhanam āhṛtya prajātantuṃ mā vyavacchetsīḥ
Having brought the teacher wealth that pleases him, do not cut the thread of continuity.
The Inexplicable Clarity of Veda — With Anna Zvizhinskaia
Anna can’t explain why she feels so connected to Veda mantras, but she is convinced that she has to learn them and teach them.
Learning to Swim in the Middle of the Ocean — With Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian (Umaji)
Umaji studied Veda formally after chanting and teaching mantras for years, but she loves the experience of unlearning and relearning. She tells Veda Studies how the ancient poets of India got her interested in Sanskrit grammar and prosody.
The Song of the Thousand Names of God
In a box in West London, for many years, lay a manuscript that David Stollar handwrote half a century ago. The thousand names of Viṣṇu, set down one by one, each name given its dhātu, its Devanāgarī form and transliteration, Śaṅkara’s commentary, references to the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā, and at the foot of every page verses from the King James Bible placed beside the name as a quiet companion.
Understanding a Living Tradition — with Thanahlakshmi Krishnan
Thanahlakshmi feels that even though she was born into the Hindu tradition, she only realised the spirit of self-enquiry when she started studying Veda.
From the Veda to the Rāmāyaṇa: the long tradition of sun salutation
Most people today know the sun salutation from āsana practice. It is a set of postures, a way of greeting the sun with the body.
In the Veda the salutation to the sun takes another form. It is mantric. It is offered in sound. Here the ṛṣis recognise the sun and acknowledge its importance. They name it the highest light and the highest truth. The visible sun is the face of a light that holds up everything.
The Eloquence of Silence — With Nicola Durvasula
In exploring sound and Indic philosophy through art and music, Nicola discovered an underlying silence, and in that quietude, she found the essence of spirituality.
The Creative Intelligence of Veda — With Graziella Schazad
Reciting mantras showed Graziella the difference between how perfection is defined in music and the perfection required for reciting Veda.
The Brazilian Desī — With Sasha Alano
Sasha has been studying Indic Knowledge Systems since she was 16 years old and feels that studying Veda is finally integrating all her knowledge and tying it together.
Continuing Sādhanā – Guest Lectures for our Teacher Community
In our tradition, the path of a teacher is also the path of a student. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad pairs the two as a single obligation: svādhyāya-pravacanābhyāṁ na pramaditavyam, do not neglect study and teaching. Neither one closes once the other has begun. To teach Veda chanting is to keep learning it, in deeper and deeper passes, alongside everyone we are training.
To Heal and Be Healed — Marianne Couderé
Marianne is learning and teaching Veda mantras to offer people spiritual healing when their bodies can’t sustain physical healing modalities.
ANNOUNCING: VEDA STUDIES AS AN ASSOCIATE CENTER OF INDICA
INDICA is pleased to announce Veda Studies as an Associate Center, strengthening its relation that began more than 6 years ago.
The Veda of Remembrance
Reciting Veda mantras, especially the Gāyatrī, is like a homecoming for Sonu Malik, who first learned the mantra with her grandfather when she was three years old.
The Sisterhood of Veda Recitation – Revathi & Vandana
Sisters Revathi and Vandana complete each other’s sentences, they study Veda and Veena together, and acquiring knowledge, especially the spiritual variety, has been a lifelong pursuit for both.
An introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems
1. Why the Whole Matters Nothing we study in the Indian tradition exists in isolation. Whether your entry point is yoga, Āyurveda, Vedic chant, or the Purāṇic stories, you are not studying a standalone practice. You are holding one part of a very large whole. The...
Course Update: Viṣṇu Sahasranāma — Completing the Pūrva Bhāga and the Likhita Yajña in Full Flow
We have reached an important milestone in our Viṣṇu Sahasranāma course: the completion of the Pūrva Bhāga, the opening section that precedes the thousand names themselves.
The Strength of Community – With Nidhi Agarwal
Nidhi Agarwal feels reciting Veda with a community truly transformed her practise and made mantras more accessible.
Veda, Vedic Chant, Kīrtan, and Kīrtanam Understanding the Distinctions
I am asked this question everywhere, in emails, on podcasts, in conversations when I meet people. How is Vedic chanting different from kīrtan? And I want to be honest: it is not my favourite question to answer, because for me, the differences are so vast that I sometimes wonder where to even begin. In my world growing up, this was not a question I ever had to deal with.