• Table of Contents
  • 14 Practices by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Forgiveness by Swami Rama
  • Can I Have Samadhi? by Shi Hong
  • TTP Program for Thailand and Taiwan by Thaniya Kevalee
  • Navaratra (Poem & Slideshow) by Jay Prakash Bahuguna
  • HYT-TTP Newsletter by Rabindra Sahu
  • Pune Pranayama Camp by Dr. Shirin Venkat
  • Sangha Gathering 2016 by Joanne Sullivan (Divya)
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
  • Swami Nijananda Bharati
  • Cancer, No Easy Choices by Richard Parenti
  • Netra Tantra Seminar, October 2016
  • 2016 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Swami Nijananda Bharati

Beloved teacher of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition, Swami Nijananda Bharati (formerly Dr. John Whitacre) has made his transition April 24, 2016.

In July 2008, Swami Veda shared  Two Swamis which included the photo of Swami Nijananda and Swami Veda Bharati at The Meditation Center and this introduction to Swami Nijananda:

Swami Nijananda (formerly Dr John Whitacre), a leading psychiatrist of Minneapolis/St Paul met his Guru Swami Rama in 1969.  Several years later, he was given a very special initiation into high energies by Gurudev, with Swami Veda Bharati (then Dr Usharbudh Arya) present.  Swami Nijananda took his vows of Sanyasin in 1989 at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, USA, for which Swami Veda performed the ceremonies.

Swami Nijananda is not only a psychiatrist, but a realized mystic and a very high-level scholar of western as well as Sufi mystical traditions.  He has been teaching groups of people privately and at the Meditation Center for the past 36 years.  At the age of 80 he continues to teach.

And in 2006, Swami Veda had written:

Swami Nijananda (Dr. John C. Whitacre) has been as close a disciple of Swami Rama as myself. We have been Guru-brothers for 36 years…

Swami Nijananda was the Spiritual Director of the Bharati Foundation and selflessly taught and inspired others. Many feel blessed to have learned from him.

• A Commentary on Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure, Volume 1

The online bookstore of The Meditation Center says of this book: “Swami Nijananda's Commentary on Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure, is the first volume of lectures to be published. Many of his students felt these lectures were of value to them long after the lecture series ended. This volume explains and illuminates the essential message of Christianity. ‘In every circumstance, without exception,’ says Swami Nijananda, ‘surrender to the Lord is the crucial thing...It is your task to harmonize yourself with what the Lord has ordained and not the other way around.’ This book provides the guidance to orient oneself spiritually in any situation the world presents, however tragic.”

• A Commentary on Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence by Blessed Claude de la Columbiere, Volume 2

The online bookstore of The Meditation Center says of this book: “This second volume of Swami Nijananda's Commentary on Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, is a reflection on the writings of Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, S.J.. This volume continues the discussion of the belief that ‘nothing happens to us in life unless God wills it so.’ Swami Nijananda leads an illustrious discussion of a process that turns stumbling blocks into stepping stones.”

Both books are available through the online bookstore of The Meditation Center.  The bookstore ships nationally and internationally.  They are also available at other online bookstores.  Volume 1 is also available from Amazon.com in Kindle  and as a paperback book.