Rāmāyaṇa
Practical Yoga Mythology and Philosophy – the Rāmāyaṇa
Itihāsa course – 12 hours on the Rāmāyaṇa
Mondays in English
Wednesdays in French
18:30–20:00 Vevey time
Introduction
If you are hungry for a place to explore beyond the familiar, to look into your inner depths through the lens of time-proven teachings and the timeless stories that encode them, this series is for you.
The Rāmāyaṇa is not one of the most beloved stories in the history of humanity by accident.
Join us for an in-depth exploration of this great epic and its practical teachings.
You don’t need to be an āsana practitioner or meditator to join this course.
These teachings are about the whole of our lives.
However, if you do work with āsana and other yoga techniques, this course will help support and deepen that practice.
The Rāmāyaṇa – the adventure of Rāma – encodes the path of yoga practice and the journey of a human life.
With live storytelling and time to unpack the practical riches the stories contain, experience the beauty, relevance and robust support of the Rāmāyaṇa.
Stories We Will Explore
Our series will include stories of:
• Rāma’s teachers, Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra – what it takes to become our own friend and the realities of the path of practice towards deeper self-knowledge and understanding. The role of the guru and the principle of the guru in yoga practice.
• Rāma’s ancestors, including Bhagiratha and the descent of Gaṅgā.
• The churning of the milky ocean and the ongoing play of seemingly opposed forces.
• The main story of the Rāmāyaṇa, during which we’ll learn about the great characters:
Sītā
Hanuman
Lakṣmaṇa
Rāvaṇa and his brothers
and gain a map for the perennial terrain of the journey of life and practice.
Reflection on Modern Life
These days, mainstream school often teaches people to “tick the right box”, as if that’s how one gets on in life.
Mainstream media channels often spin their reporting so it fits into the groupthink box their organisation adheres to.
But the reality is that life doesn’t fit into neat boxes.
Your right livelihood, the authentic expression of you – that doesn’t fit into a box.
You are a unique human being.
You are a unique expression of the infinite creative capacity of consciousness.
You are a unique child of god / existence / life.
And life just doesn’t fit into boxes.
The Wisdom of the Yoga Tradition
The seers of the yoga tradition recognised this.
Yoga does not offer us reductive rules or a black-white binary perspective.
Yoga is far too wise for that.
Its robust principles were proven in the furnace of time before they were set down in the classic yoga texts.
Yogic Sources of Wisdom
We have access to these practical, time-proven teachings in mutually supportive forms, for example:
The Yoga Sūtra
The ultra pared-down Yoga Sūtra – the stitches to weave together the fabric of unity.
The Bhagavad Gītā
The inquiry, the dialogue, the searching conversation of the Bhagavad Gītā that invites us to transform the cacophony of the battlefield into the harmony of a dancefloor – to work with the seeming pairs of opposites to draw forth their complementary potential.
Epic stories such as the Rāmāyaṇa
Compelling archetypal stories that convey these teachings at many levels.
Itihāsa
Itihāsa – “so it happened, so it happens.”
These stories unfold in the ever-new present moment.
Communicating on multiple levels, they invite us into real yogic learning – to fathom greater depths of our psyche, look in ways that reach beyond our habitual ways of looking, and remember more of who we are.
Course Details
Practical Yoga Mythology and Philosophy – the Rāmāyaṇa
Itihāsa course – 12 hours on the Rāmāyaṇa
Mondays and Wednesdays online in English and French
18:30–20:00 Vevey time
£240
Autumn 2025 Rāmāyaṇa Course
Dates for the sessions
Mondays and Wednesdays
6:30–8:00pm Vevey time
Sept 15
Sept 17
Sept 22
Sept 24
Sept 29
Oct 1
Oct 6
Oct 8
Oct 13
Oct 15
Oct 20
Oct 22
Oct 27
Oct 29
Nov 3
Nov 5
All participants have access to all recordings and course materials for the duration of the series and through until September 2026, and can attend both English and French sessions if desired.
8 Session Series on Rāmāyaṇa
Prospective overview – subject to change depending on the group.
1. Introduction
Rāmāyaṇa – the ayana – the journey / adventure of Rāma.
Itihāsa – history, epic, archetype, storytelling and yogic literature.
The story of story. The power of story.
Cosmic back story and key players:
Ikṣvāku / Sūryavaṁśa lineage
Daśaratha’s yajña for progeny
The gods’ pleas to end Rāvaṇa’s tyranny
Many Rāmāyaṇas.
Vālmīki and how the story came to be.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa as frame.
Bālakāṇḍa – Rāma as embodiment of dharma.
Rāma and brothers’ birth.
Tutelage with Vasiṣṭha.
Arrival of Viśvāmitra.
Mission with Viśvāmitra.
Killing of Tāṭaka and Subāhu.
Throwing of Mārīca.
The role of the guru.
2. Rāma before Sītā
Story of Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha.
Rāma’s ancestors:
Raghuvaṁśa
Sāgara
Dilīpa
Bhagiratha
Gaṅgā
3. Cosmic Mythology
Rāmāyaṇa as emblematic of the whole play of existence.
The churning of the ocean of milk.
Purāṇic motifs.
4. The Exile
The tournament and marriages.
Daśaratha’s decision to coronate Rāma.
Manthara and Kaikeyi.
Daśaratha’s collapse.
Rāma’s yogic response.
Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa’s response.
Into the forest.
Bharata’s return.
Nandigrāma.
Life in the forest.
Śūrpanakha.
Rāvaṇa’s interest in Sītā.
The golden deer.
The kidnapping.
Jātayu.
Meeting Hanuman and Sugrīva.
Alliance with Sugrīva.
Death of Vālin.
5. Sundara Kāṇḍa
Hanuman’s leap.
Meeting Sītā.
Return to Rāma.
6. The War
Crossing the ocean.
The bridge.
The war.
Āditya Hṛdayam.
7. The Battle
Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarna and Vibhīṣaṇa.
Indrajit / Meghanāda.
Hanuman and the Himālaya.
The Triumph of Light.
Connection to Diwali.
8. Uttara Kāṇḍa
Sītā’s banishment.
Lakṣmaṇa’s end.
Rāma’s sacrifice.
Lava and Kuśa.
Questions on dharma.
The story as the teachings of yoga in story form.
The eight limbs in the story.
Working with the story in practice.
Hanuman
Sītā
Lakṣmaṇa