Yoga Research Foundation, Inc

views updated

Yoga Research Foundation, Inc.

Founded in 1962 as the Sanatan Dharma Mandir in Puerto Rico by Swami Jyotirmayananda. The headquarters moved to suburban Miami in 1969 as the International Yoga Society. It adopted its present name in the 1980s. Swami Jyotirmayananda is a disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati. He has been assisted by Swami Lalitananda (Leonora Rego), vice president of the foundation.

The foundation publishes books, cassettes, and study courses on yoga and Hindu philosophy, and a monthly magazine called International Yoga Guide. Swami Jyotirmayananda is an authority on the little-known Hindu scripture Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana, upon which he comments regularly in the magazine. He has lectured widely, participated in Spanish/English radio programs, and appeared on television.

Branches of the Yoga Research Foundation exist throughout the world. Swami Jyotirmayananda's ashram in Loni, near New Delhi, India, publishes the Hindi Journal Yogajali, as well as numerous Hindi translations of Swami Jyotirmayananda's books. Ashram members assist those in need through a medical clinic, and also further the education of children through the Bal Divya Jyoti Public School.

Devotees of Swami Jyotirmayananda have turned his ancestral home of Ananda Bhavan in Dumari (Bihar, India) into a spiritual center. The project provides the village of Dumari Buzurg with a school for children, library, satsang hall, and technical workshop. Women are taught hygiene, nutrition, and home economics. The project is designed to affect the economic, ethical, cultural, and spiritual life of the village.

The foundation is an international organization, dedicated to "elevating the consciousness, alleviating suffering and enriching the lives of all humanity" through integral yoga (Sivananda's system integrating hatha yoga with the four major traditional yogas: raja, bhakti, karma, and jnana), providing "a basis for upgrading the cultural growth of humanity while bringing about a worldwide level of social and religious harmony." Regular classes teaching yoga, Vedanta, and Indian philosophy are conducted from the center. A Yoga Research Foundation catalog of books and cassettes, and subscriptions to the International Yoga Guide can be obtained by writing to 6111 SW 74th Ave., South Miami, FL 33143. Website: http://www.yrf.org/.