Shanti Puja – New Year’s Eve

Join us at our yoga studio for a New Year’s Eve, spiritual celebration including sacred Vedic ceremonies, dance, music, yogic philosophy, and meditation.

At the Vishwa Dharma Mandalam’s Ramakrishnananda Yoga Vedanta Center, we will bring 2011 to a close as we welcome 2012 with an auspicious puja to Lord Ganesh, the remover of obstacles. We will invite the coming year with shanti mantras, a Vedic prayer of peace for all.

In our program:

• Discourse about Purna Yoga
• Ganesh Puja
• Bharatanatyam (Hindu dance)
• Pranayama and Guided Meditation
• Shanti mantras recitation
• Happy New Year kirtan
• Serving of blessed meal (prasadam)

“Now is when the rest of your life begins.”

- Swami Ramakrishnananda

Shanti mantras, also known as “sound vibrations of peace,” are found in the first lines of the Upanishads (sacred Hindu scriptures). It is an ancient Vedic tradition for each Upanishad to begin and end with these powerful shanti mantras. They are also recited at the beginning and end of spiritual activities, calming the mind of those who recite them as well as the environment. Reciting shanti mantras can also remove any obstacles blocking an upcoming task. The shanti mantras are always chanted in threes — “Shanti, Shanti, Shanti…”