Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy - Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

The course follows the regular spiritual practices as followed by everyone in the Ashram. Students are expected to wake up at 4:00 AM and participate in daily meditation and mantra chanting which is followed by a series of lectures in the following subjects:

  1. History of Indian Philosophy: The Vedas, the Upanishads, Jainism, Buddhism, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Vedanta (Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva)
  2. History of Western Philosophy
    1. Socrates (Concept of Virtue)
    2. Plato (Doctrine of Ideas)
    3. Aristotle (Metaphysics and Causation)
    4. St. Augustine
    5. St. Thomas Aquinas
    6. Kant (Critique of Reason, Ethical Norms)
    7. Hegel
  3. Indian Ethics: Four Purusharthas, Varna, Ashrama, Dharma, Karma, Moksha
  4. Philosophy of Swami Sivananda
  5. Studies in Religious Consciousness
  6. Study of the Bhagavad Gita
    1. The Despondency of Arjuna
    2. The Three Yogas: Karma, Bhakti and Jnana
    3. Daivi Sampat and Asuri Sampat
    4. The Concept of Svadharma
    5. Nature of Sthitaprajna
    6. God, World and Soul
  7. Study of the Upanishads
  8. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
  9. Narada Bhakti Sutras
  10. Asana, Pranayama, and Meditation
  11. Karma Yoga

After the daily lectures, students engage in Karma Yoga around the Ashram. Students are then trained in Asana and Pranayama.

Read more about this topic:  Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy