BERLIN RETREATS IN 2025 ^NEW

**To Register for a retreat/s please use the E-Mail: events.vedanta.berlin(at)gmail(dot)com

» 01. Introduction
» 02. Information about the Retreats
» 03. Retreats in 2025

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01. Introduction

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

After having gained long experience in serving people through three centres (at Bindweide, Mühlheim/Main and Mohnweg Berlin) the members of the Vedanta Gesellschaft felt the need to combine those three centres and establish a permanent centre in Berlin to reach out to more number of sincere spiritual seekers. Monthly retreats are now conducted in the new Ashrama at Marienfelder Allee 73, 12277 Berlin.

Spanning over 16 years we have experimented on the prospect of helping people in finding their self-worth and self-respect, in finding and/or sharing unselfish empathy, in finding and/or sharing pure joy and harmony while working and living with others. We have evolved a mode of symbiotic living combined with the routine of an Ashrama which has been proving to be intensely absorbing and life changing for many participants.

The non-profit service activities of the society are meant for all without any distinction of gender, colour, nationality or religion.

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02: Information about the Retreats

(i) Please Note: One can book for more than one retreat at a time. Interested persons can also stay in outside accommodation and attend all the programmes as day guests. We can register a maximum number of 35 perticipants for a retreat. Further details are available under item-number 3 below.
(ii) There will be scopes (a) for benefitting from guided meditation sessions after daily evening prayers, (b) Mantra recitation / practice and Satsang, and (c) for discussing, working, singing, meditating together, and so on.
(iii) Not Compulsory for those who stay in outside accommodation/s: (a) to take part in religious activities. Of course, one can join in the morning silent meditation sessions. Our offer is: Follow your own way of meditation, but let us meditate together. (b) One can skip the shrine-sessions both in the morning and in the afternoon and join in the lectures only.
(iv) Reduction of Costs: The retreat cost etc can be reduced for students and those who would ask for it.
(v) Registration: Please register your name latest before 7 days of the retreat by E-Mail: events.vedanta.berlin(at)gmail(dot)com, OR by post: Vedanta Gesellschaft, Marienfelder Allee 73, 12277 Berlin. Please pay the Registration / Cancellation Fee of 25€ in advance to the ‘Vedanta-Gesellschaft’. If you like, you may also transfer the seminar fee and any donations in advance. The payment of 25€ will be adjusted with your final payment.
(vi) Retreat Cost: (per person) €100 for the 3-day retreat including food (accommodation extra), or €50 per day. * The retreat-cost for the May-retreat or the year-end (December-January) retreat is 150€.
(vii) Accommodation: Only those who want to take part in the practice of morning and evening meditation, prayer etc may ask for accommodation in the Ashrama. The Ashrama has only two single-bed rooms. Elderly persons and ladies will be given preference in the matter of room allotment. People generally donate €35 for three-bed (3 separate beds) rooms and €50 for single-bed rooms, per head per night.
(viii) Bedlinen: Please bring your house shoes and bedlinen. Bedlinen is also available at the ashrama. A small donation of €10 for the use of the bedlinen is welcome.
(ix) Cancellation charge for a booking is 25 Euro.
(x) Payment: For payment to ‘Vedanta-Gesellschaft’ you may use the following methods: (a) Berliner Sparkasse; IBAN: DE58 1005 0000 0191 2293 69; BIC: BELADEBEXXX; BLZ: 1005 0000. (b) Or by PayPal to Vedanta Gesellschaft. (c) If it is not possible, you may send the amount to us by a cheque or pay it during the retreat. We receive payments by cash, or bank card or some credit cards.
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(As usual, the discourses will be translated sentence-for-sentence into German.)

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Links:
(i) ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2239332745?pwd=Uy9hV05BTy9rUmIzYlMzdVVnNTVjdz09
(ii) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2XYeOK__TXU9TLhxYKhvg/live

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03: Retreats in 2025

01-04 May 2025

With Swami Sarvapriyānanda, Minister-in-Charge, Ramakrishna Vedanta Center, New York, USA.
Only in English.

(i) 01 May 2025: in the Ashrama Yoga Hall
Special Talk
Topic: Christian Mysticism, Vedanta und Meister Eckhart. Livestream-Links below.
Venue: Marienfelder Allee 73, 12277 Berlin
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
No registration required.
Free Entry. Donations for sharing the incidental costs are welcome.
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(ii) 02 – 04 May 2024: Retreat in Berlin Ashrama
Topic: The 'I' of the 'I'.
**Registration for this retreat: Registration begins only after 19 January 2025. Please pay the cancellation fee of 25 Euro to register. Bank account details are given above. The retreat cost is 150 Euro. Accommodation is extra. Accommodation in the Ashrama will be confirmed after 20 February.
About the Swami:- Swami Sarvapriyananda has been the Minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since January 2017. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in India in 1994 and received Sannyasa Diksha (final monastic vows) in 2004. He served as an acharya (teacher) of the monastic probationers’ training center at Belur Math, India, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math. He also served in various capacities in different educational institutes run by the Ramakrishna Order in India and as the Assistant Minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California.
During 2019-2020 he was a Nagral Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School, USA.
Swami Sarvapriyananda is a well-known speaker on Vedanta and his talks are extremely popular globally via the Internet / YouTube. He has been a speaker on various prestigious forums such as TEDx, SAND, Google Talk etc. He has also been invited to speak at several universities across the world, including Harvard University. The swami has engaged in dialogue with many eminent thinkers such as Deepak Chopra, Rupert Spira, Rick Archer, David Chalmers and Sam Harris.
Some of Swami Sarvapriyananda’s popular talks have been compiled into e-books - “Who am I?”, “What is Vedanta?” and “Dissolve into Infinity” are currently available on Amazon Kindle.

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06–08 June 2025 in Berlin Ashrama

Retreat with Swami Atma-shraddhā-nanda, the head of the Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Kanpur, India.
Topic: Be a Light unto Yourself!
On the Swami:- Swami Atmashraddhananda is the head of the Ramakrishna Centre in Kanpur, India, which is affiliated to the Ramakrishna Order.
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14. June 2025 in Berlin Ashrama

Special talk by Pravrajika Vrajaprana Mataji, a senior nun of the Convent in Santa Barbara California, USA.
Topic: Why Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi Matters.
Venue: Marienfelder Allee 73, 12277 Berlin
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Free Entry. Donations for sharing the incidental costs are welcome.
About the Mataji:- Pravrajika Vrajaprana is a sannyasini or pravrajika (female swami) with the Vedanta Society of Southern California, which is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order. She lives at the Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara, California, and is an author on topics such as Vedanta and the history and development of Vedanta Societies.
She is also a well-known speaker and scholar of Hinduism and speaks frequently at colleges, universities and interfaith gatherings. She is the Hindu chaplain at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. Her works on Vedanta include Vedanta: A Simple Introduction (1999) and the publication of Living Wisdom (1994). Together with Swami Tyagananda, she is co-author of the book Interpreting Ramakrishna: Kali's Child Revisited (2010).
Pravrajika Vrajaprana was born in California in 1952. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she also worked briefly as an Associate Professor of Literature. In 1977 she joined the Sarada Monastery in Santa Barbara and in 1983 she took her first vows of Brahmacharya and in 1988 she took the final vows of Sannyasa.

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8-10 August 2025 in Berlin Ashrama

Retreat with Swami Tyāgānanda, Minister-in-Charge, Ramakrishna Vedanta Center, Boston, USA.
Topic: Sādhana-chatushtaya: Vedanta's Four Basic Practices.
About the Swami:- Swami Tyagananda joined the Ramakrishna Order at the monastery in Mumbai in 1976 after graduating from the University of Mumbai in India. He received spiritual instruction (mantra-dīkṣā) from Holy Mother’s disciple Swami Vireswarananda.
Besides Mumbai (1976–80), the Swami served in the monasteries at Belur Math (1980–82), New Delhi (1982–83) and Chennai (1983–1997) and was sent to Boston in 1998 to assist Swami Sarvagatananda. He is the Hindu chaplain at Harvard and MIT since 1999 and, after Sarvagatananda’s retirement in 2002, he was appointed head of the Vedanta Society in Boston.
Swami Tyagananda was editor of the English journal The Vedanta Kesari for 11 years (1986–97) and has written, translated and edited fourteen books. He writes a fortnightly blog and his talks are available as audio podcasts. He has presented papers at academic conferences and he gives lectures and classes at the Vedanta Society as well as at MIT, Harvard and, on invitation, other colleges and religious groups in North America.

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05 – 07 September 2025 in Berlin Ashrama

Retreat with Swami Baneshananda and Swami Shailasutananda of Vedanta-Gesellschaft, Berlin.

Topic: The Life before Death: an Intelligent Scheme for It!

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07 – 09 November 2025 in Berlin-Ashram

Retreat with Swami Isha-dhyānā-nanda, Assistant Minister, Ramakrishna Vedanta Center, Sacramento, California, USA.
Thema: Non-religious Spiritual Practices.
On the Swami:- Swami Ishadhyananda has been the assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Sacramento since August 2017. Before coming to America, Swami served the Ramakrishna Order as the treasurer of the Jamshedpur branch of the Ramakrishna Mission from September 2013 to June 2017. Previously, he worked at the headquarters in Belur Math from March 2008 to September 2013.
Swami Ishadhyananda joined the Ramakrishna Order in 2002. He was initiated by Swami Atmasthananda, the fifteenth president of the Ramakrishna Order, and took his final monastic vows with his guru in 2012. During his university studies, Swami Ishadhyananda was already in close contact with the monks of the Ramakrishna Order.
Throughout his monastic life, Swami Ishadhyananda has written articles for various journals of the Ramakrishna Order. In addition to his dedication to Ramakrishna Vedanta literature, Swami Ishadhyananda has a passionate interest in philosophy, positive psychology, neuroscience, and contemporary ideas shaping our world today. He is particularly fascinated by topics that connect ancient wisdom with modern understanding, reflecting his commitment to exploring the intersections between tradition and progress.

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31 Dezember 2025 - 03 Januar 2026 in Berlin Ashrama

Year-end retreat with Swamis Bāneshānanda & Shailasutānanda of Vedanta-Gesellschaft, Berlin.
Topic: Bringing Life into Order: Ideas from Past Retreats in 2025.
In addition to the lectures on the topic, the program includes the midnight celebration on December 31 and the Kalpataru Day & Holy Mother Puja on January 1.
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Links:
(i) ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2239332745?pwd=Uy9hV05BTy9rUmIzYlMzdVVnNTVjdz09
(ii) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2XYeOK__TXU9TLhxYKhvg/live

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