Daylong Seminar on Samādhi in Yoga-Vedānta-Bhakti-Tantra and other Bharatiya Jnana Parampara (Indian Wisdom Traditions) - 12 July 2025

On the occasion of
The International Day of Yoga

Daylong Seminar on
Samādhi

in Yoga-Vedānta-Bhakti-Tantra and other Bharatiya Jnana Parampara
(Indian Wisdom Traditions)

to be held on
12 July 2025

At Abhedananda Convention Centre, Belur Math, Howrah, West Bengal

– – – – – –

Department of ‘Bharatiya Jnana Paramprada’ (Indian Wisdom Tradition) 
under
The School of Indian Heritage

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute
(Deemed to be University as declared by Govt. of India under UGC Act, 1956)
Awarded A++ grade by NAAC accreditation in the first cycle (valid till date)
P.O. Belur Math, Dist. Howrah, Pin Code: 711202, West Bengal   
Website: www.rkmvu.ac.in

All our faculty, students (of both regular courses and of spiritual heritage courses), anyone else interested are welcome to join. 

• Please register (by clicking the Registration Link: https://zfrmz.in/SFBZiRsaYr9T9KnFgA4b) and paying a token registration fee of Rs.100/- (payment may be made either online or offline; if offline, pay at the Reception Desk at Medha Bhavan, Belur Math main campus of the University).
• Registration is free for our undergraduate and postgraduate students of Sanskrit, Yoga (Registration Link: https://zfrmz.in/osMT2UuVcZsmnOv9btSV) and any other Dept. Research scholars should however pay the token registration fees.
  Note: Undergraduate and Postgraduate students have to upload the Students’s Identity Card.

Preamble

Over the past four years, namely, 2021,2022, 2023 and 2024, our University bearing the hallowed names of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, called ‘Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI for short, a Deemed to be University declared by the Govt. of India under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956) in the holy precincts of Belur Math, nearly established by Ramakrishna Mission two decades ago as a Deemed to be University, to harmoniously combine the best elements of the East and the West, has been conducting seminars (mostly online during the Covid-19 pandemic) on authentic traditional scriptural text-based Patanjali Yoga and we have so far covered the following limbs of the eight-limbed Yoga (ashtanga yoga): Yama-Niyama, Asana-Pranayama, Pratyahara-Dharana-Dhyana. In this series, we propose devote the seminar for this year, 2025, to Samadhi. This daylong seminar (offline) will be titled: “Samādhi in Yoga-Vedānta-Bhakti and other Bharatiya Jnana Parampara (Indian Wisdom Traditions).” It will be a daylong seminar to be held on 12 July 2025 (Saturday). This will be the last of the Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga (eight-limbed yoga) and form the acme of the Yoga Pyramid of Patanjali, namely, Samādhi. The idea of Samādhi is central to all of Bharatiya Jnana Parampara (Indian Wisdom Tradition) and millions of spiritually illumined great men in all the traditions across the millennia have practised and perfected this stage of ultimate spiritual realization: Samādhi. In this daylong seminar we wish to explore some of these traditions based on the authentic original scriptural authority, expressed by our monk-scholars in a language intelligible to all. It may not be exaggeration if we assert that, to our knowledge, Samādhi has never been the subject of any serious discussion in any seminar, particular in a University level institution. Further, in view of several notions about Samādhi, many of them queer and esoteric, it is absolutely essential that there shall be an in-depth discussion devoted exclusively to and throwing light upon Samādhi, considered the pinnacle of spiritual experience in almost all the traditions, based upon the utterances and interpretations thereof by illumined commentators. We propose to discuss this theme based upon the following traditions: Patanjali Yoga tradition, Vedanta (Upanishadic) tradition, Sri Chaitanya’s Bhakti tradition, Tantra tradition as expounded by Sri Ramakrishna from his own personal experience, and a summary of the various forms and types of Samādhi from various other traditions as delineated in a masterly fashion by Sri Tirtha Swami, his marvellous compendium in Bengali, tilled ‘Samādhi’.

Detailed programme / schedule of the daylong Seminar

Date of the Seminar: 12 July 2025 (Saturday) from 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM

10.00 AM: Invocation (Vedic chanting and song on ‘Samadhi’ composed by Swami Vivekananda to be sung by Swami Shivapurnanandaji)
10.15 AM: Welcome address and introducing the theme of the seminar: Swami Atmapriyananda, Pro-Chancellor & Secretary, RKMVERI Deemed University, Belur Math

Deliberations/talks on ‘Samadhi’ in various spiritual traditions by the monk-scholars:
10.30 AM—11.25 AM:
First and inaugural talk: Most Revered Swami Bhajananandaji Maharaj, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

11.30 AM—12.20 PM:
Second talk: Swami Japasiddhanandaji, Coordinator and former Head, Dept. of Sanskrit and Philosophy, RKMVERI, Belur Math

12.30—1.30 PM: Lunch Break

1.30—1.50 PM: Songs on Shiva (Yogāsane mahadhyane…) and Kali (nibida andhare…)
having a bearing on Samadhi, to be sung respectively by Swamis Vidyapradanandaji and Sarvabhadranandaji

1.55—2.45 PM:
Third talk: Swami Tattwasaranandaji, Adhyaksha (Principal), Brahmachari-Prasikshana-Kendra’ (Training Centre for spiritual novices), Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math

2.50—3.40 PM:
Fourth talk: Swami Vidyapradanandaji, Coordinator, Dept. of Sports Science & Yoga, RKMVERI, Belur Math

3.45—4.35 PM:
Fifth talk: Swami Atmapriyananda, Pro-Chancellor & Secretary, RKMVERI

4.40—4.55 PM:
Closing song: parama guru siddha yogi composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, the famous poet, lyricist and musician on Sri Ramakrishna, to be sung by Swami Vidyapradanandaji

5.00 PM: Tea and disperse

Details of the talks with speaker and the topics