One theme, a few weeks, a small group
A short course is a focused introduction to the practical application of Vedanta. Each one runs for four to six weeks, once a week, and combines a presentation with discussion and questions. The Bhagavad Gita course runs in cohorts all year.
The Bhagavad Gita short course
Sixty-minute classes on Friday mornings at 07:00 Pacific time, in cohorts of four or six weeks. A new cohort opens about every four weeks, so the next one is never far off. Each cohort reads a portion of the Gita with Swami A. Parthasarathy’s commentary and works out what it asks of the week ahead.
- When
- Fridays, 07:00 Pacific time · 60 minutes That is Friday afternoon in South Africa and Friday evening in India; the list below shows your own time.
- Where
- Live on Zoom
- Length
- Four or six weeks, depending on the cohort
- Cost
- Free Voluntary contributions welcome.
- Teacher
- Vyasa Dass, Principal Faculty
Five themes, each one a course of its own
Each course takes one aspect of self-development and builds the qualities behind it: self-control, emotional balance and critical thinking. Sessions run once a week for about ninety minutes. Dates are announced on the calendar and on WhatsApp.
Conquering stress
Stress is mental agitation produced by unfulfilled desire. The course takes that one definition apart: where the desire comes from, why the mind sprints in every direction, and how the intellect catches a thought on the first bounce.
Perfecting relationships
Love plus selfishness equals attachment; attachment minus selfishness equals love. Family, marriage, friends and colleagues, with the same arithmetic applied to each.
Achieving success
Roddick and Federer went to 16–14 in the fifth set at Wimbledon in 2009, and both of them had the day of their lives. The effort is the reward. What success is, and what it costs when it is chased the other way round.
Dynamic living
Intense work is rest, said Swami Rama Tirtha. How a higher ideal produces its own energy, and why some people are tired by Tuesday and others are still fresh on Friday night.
Finding peace and happiness
A bucket of water and the ocean. Where happiness is looked for, where it comes from, and the difference between the two paths the Upanishads call the pleasant and the good.
Governing Business & Relationships
A study of the book of that name, chapter by chapter: value systems, work ethics, stress, productivity, leadership and time management. Offered to organisations and as an e-learning course.
Practical spirituality
Four Friday evenings, one question each. The course introduces self-management through the intellect, the faculty of reasoning and judgement, and ends with the three things a developed intellect does.
Work and life in harmony
Office hours spill into family life and family life into the office, and both suffer. Harmony between the roles you play starts with the study of yourself. The mind is the seat of emotion; the intellect judges and guides it. Self-management is that guidance.
The nature of the human mind
The mind is an instrument. By itself it is neither good nor bad; the person using it is responsible for what it does. Even an adult’s mind behaves like a child and needs the direction of the intellect. A few of its traits, and what follows from each.
The role of faith
Faith is the basis of our experience and relationships; a mind in constant doubt stays agitated. What faith is, how the intellect works with it, and how the pursuit of the unknown begins in faith and ends in knowledge. The tradition calls faith joined with the determination to know śraddhā.
The three-C intellect
Intelligence is what you acquire from books and universities; it raises the standard of living. The intellect is developed by your own thinking, and it raises the standard of life. Its three functions: choice, control and creativity.
A Toolkit for Life, in five sessions
Vyasa’s introduction to Vedanta, taught in August 2026, gives fourteen tools and techniques for better living over five sessions. It runs again when a new group is ready.
- Get to know yourself
- Self-mastery
- Tools and techniques for better living
- Living spiritually
- Bringing it all together
Tell us if you would like a place in the next group, and we will let you know when the dates are set.
Register for the next cohort, or ask which course fits
Each course stands on its own, so start with the theme that matches your week. If you are unsure, the Sunday class is a good first hour.