AVG CENTER ATLANTA , GA

The Atlanta community is extremely blessed to benefit from the guidance and teaching of Swamini Svatmavidyananda-ji from around 2005. During this time the community grew in number as well as spiritually. Swaminiji tirelessly visited us every few months, taught and guided us with compassion. We were so fortunate that a traditional teacher like Swaminiji came to us rather than us having to approach a teacher.

Initially we were taught selections from Srimad Bhagavad Gita. 
After that we organized a couple of off-site retreats on topics from the Upanishads like ‘Aham BrahmAsmi’ and ‘Ananda mImAmsA’.

With this the teaching started flowing at regular intervals and Swaminiji
covered a variety of topics from Upanishads, Gita and also many vedanta texts helping us all understand basic and advanced vedanta topics.
Swaminiji’s visits were celebration time when the community got together, sharing satsang time and bhikshA with Swaminiji. Swaminiji suggested
starting Gita study. With her blessings we formed a group and started Pujya Swamiji’s home study course in late 2010.

The Ashram dieties (GaneshA, ArsdhanArishvarA, KrishnA and bANa Shiva lingA & NandikeshvarA) arriving in 2013 was another turning point. It was Swaminiji’s decision to keep these dEvAtAs under our care and they turned out to be a great blessing for the community as a whole. We started regular puja for the dEvatAs and every 2 weeks, we got together and did pradosha pUjA as and abhishekams to the shiva lingA as a group.

Soon after we started classes for adults for learning chanting of Sri Rudram, Purusha, durgA and medhA suktams and pUrNavidyA classes for children. The children enacted plays, presented stotrAs and vedic chanting and adults presented Pujya Swaminiji’s compositions during Swaminiji’s visits.

As suggested by Swaminiji and under her guidance the community was able to perform an event that we had never done before - EkAdasha RudrAbhishekam (chanting Sri Rudram 11 times) by at least 11 ritviks every day for 11 consecutive days. With Swaminiji’s blessings and her presence for the last few days we were able to perform and complete this event successfully for the benefit of the entire community. The collective interest in Sri Rudram chanting resulted in detailed study of the Sri Rudram text with Swaminiji over almost 5 years from 2015 to 2020. The Gita study was successfully completed in June 2020. We are planning to start study of Mudakopanishad soon.

Over the years Swaminiji has covered the following topics through
in-person satsangs in Atlanta:
  • Bhagavad GitA and RAmayaNA talks
  • Ratha-KalpanA: The Symbolism of  the Chariot-A Selection from the   Kathopanishad - Part II Canto 3 Verses 1-4
  • The Bhagavad GitA - “Relating to Ishvara”
  • Kaivalya Upanishad - “ShraddhA Bhakti DhyAna YogAd avehi”
  • NirvANAshatkam
  • Aham BrahmAsmi off-site retreat at Hilltop Inn, Forsyth
  • 5 Significant Verses of the Bhagavad GitA at Sai Temple
  • A Dialogue from the BṛhadāraNyaka Upaniṣad - Maitreyi brAhmaNam
  • PrAtah SmaraNam: An Appointment with Oneself: Composed by Sri Adi Sankara
  • Pancadasi Ch 7: Titled Tripti-Dipah, The Light of Contentment
  • Healing the Duality Within --Verses from the Mundakopanisad
  • ANANDA MIMAMSA from Taittiriya Upanishad - What is Ananda? - off-site retreat
  • Adi Sankara's Ekasloki
  • Adi Sankara's Yati Panchakam
  • Samatvam Yoga Uchyate: Equanimity is Yoga
  • Adi Sankara’s Siva-AparAdha-KsamApana Stotram
  • Selection of Vedantic Verses from Srimad BhAgavatam,
  • Canto 10, Chapter 14 Verses 22-29
  • Purusha Suktam
  • Narayana Suktam
  • Growing Spiritually – Selections from the 13th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita
  • “The Oceanic Heart” - Spiritual Growth and Accommodation - verse 70 of
  • the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad Gita
  • “Madhuvidyā” from the BrhadAraNyaka Upanishad
  • Archetypes in Itihasa - Hindu Identity and Spiritual Growth
  • The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita
  • A mantra from Kenopanishad.
  • doṣa-parihāra-aṣṭakam - a 300 year old composition of the scholar-saint of Tanjavur, Sri Sridhara Venkateshacharya  ‘Ayyaval’.
  • Sri Rudram