An hour on one question from ordinary life
A public talk every two months in Durban, given by Vyasa Dass, on a question people bring to him: stress at work, a difficult relationship, raising children, what success is for. Then questions from the room. No reading needed beforehand, and no prior knowledge of Vedanta.
- Next talk
- Date to be announced Register and we will email you the date first.
- How often
- Every two months
- Where
- Durban, with the venue confirmed each time
- Cost
- Free Voluntary contributions welcome.
- Speaker
- Vyasa Dass, Principal Faculty
The teaching is systematic, so each hour has four main points and ends with a short revision. Then the floor is open. The next day you receive the key points by WhatsApp or email, in a few lines you can keep.
What you take home: one idea you can explain to someone else, and one thing to try before next week.
The topics people ask for
Stress at work
Stress is mental agitation produced by unfulfilled desire. Where the desire comes from, and what the intellect can do about it between nine and five.
Relationships that last
Love plus selfishness equals attachment. How to keep the love and drop the selfishness in a marriage, a family or a team.
Raising children
A child copies what the adults do with their minds. The two circles, the monkey and the decision-maker, drawn for parents.
Success, and what it is for
Ambition without agitation. Why some people achieve and are still restless, and what the effort itself gives.
Peace and happiness
A bucket of water and the ocean. Where happiness is looked for and where it is found.
Manifest your desires: the Vedanta formula
Is the world against you, or do you need the technique of working with it? Four aspects: visualise clearly, hold the right intention, perform the right action, and understand the law that governs the outcome.
Spiritual identity
All beings are made of spirit, puruṣa, and matter, prakṛti. The human being alone can direct thought towards the Self. As you think, so you become.
Your own question
Talks come from what people ask. If a question has been following you around, send it in and it may become the next one.
Send a questionFestival talks: the philosophy inside a symbol, a ritual or a festival
Some people arrive through a festival. These talks explain what the day means and what that meaning asks of the person who understands it. They are written for every listener and assume no religious background.
The essence of Mahāśivarātri
Observed on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight in the month of Phālguna, Mahāśivarātri is a night for quiet reflection. The talk reads its symbols, Shiva, Parvati and Neelakantha, and the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution, for what they say about an ordinary life.
- The silence behind all change. Everything begins, continues a while and changes form. Something in us watches all of it without being shaken.
- Union. Shiva and Parvati: inner stillness and relationships support each other when a relationship rests on understanding and respect.
- Wisdom before expression. Shiva holds the poison in his throat. Some feelings should be held and understood before they are spoken.
- From reaction to understanding. The restless mind settles when the intellect guides it, and responding replaces reacting.
Understanding Ponggal
Clean the mind, sweeten the heart, let your life overflow. The harvest festival, read as a picture of the inner year: what is cleared out, what is cooked slowly, and what is shared when the pot boils over.
For anyone seeking clarity, anyone who wants to understand the culture behind the day, young people and adults curious about Vedanta, and educators and cultural workers.
The annual Bhagavad Gita lecture series
For over five decades Swami A. Parthasarathy conducted the Gita Gnana Yajna, a public lecture series on the Bhagavad Gita, across India and the world, so that its wisdom would be available to everyone. The community keeps the tradition: one chapter of the Gita, over four evenings, once a year.
Chapter 7, the yoga of knowledge and wisdom, is on the power of the intellect, what true devotion is, and the happiness everyone is looking for. Chapter 8, the yoga of the imperishable Brahman, follows it. The next series is announced on the calendar.
- Format
- Four evenings, 75 minutes each, live online
- Next series
- Date to be announced
- Cost
- Free
Register for the talks, and the date comes to you
One email when a date is set, with the venue and the question of the evening. Nothing else.