Arunachala Retreat: Yellapur 2025

Dr.Vigneshwar Bhat Wisdom and Age don’t necessarily go hand in hand. An apt example of that is Vighneshwar. Just 36 years of age and he has wisdom of age old Rishis. It wont be an exaggeration to say that because of the deep wisdom he has acquired due to the deep study of the ancient scriptures (Shastras) at such a young age is truly remarkable. Born and raised in humble surroundings, Vighneshwar hails from a small town of Baginakatta, from Yelapur district in the state of Karnataka. From the beginning he had an immense passion of learning scriptures, not to learn them, so he can land a good job, but to understand what are the reasons that the Rishis of old lure, expounded and meditated on the way of Life that they designed and propagated to Live. Reasoning was his imperative for him before he can accept the teachings or recommendation of the age old Rishis.This reasoning mind made him to take up “Mimansa Shastra” or sciene of Analysis, so he can fulfil his quest in getting clarity of underlying thoughts of the Rishis. Dharmashastra was his love and mimansa shastra developed his skills in reasoning and hence was able to get to the subtleties of Dharmashastras.Dharmashastras is not mere rules for does and Donts, there is more to it, says Vighneshwar. That helped him to get deeper into the principles of life and it has helped him guide people at a very young age.While medals are certificates are not necessarily representation of ones knowledge, in this case it its true and time and again, whenever Vighneshwar has taken part in debates, he has emerged as a Gold Medalist, Silver medalist at state and National levels of competition. So there is no doubt we are looking at one of the country’s finest scholar in this subject of Mimansa and Dharmashastra. While there are scores of people who have been beniffited from his teachings, Vighneshwar demeanor is verily very pleasing and it only proves, knowledge and humility goes hand in hand. A perfect example of “Vidya Vinayen Shobhate”. Vighneshwars passion is to bring this great knowledge to people from all walks of life, to make it practical and approachable which is the very nature of this knowledge, but because it has been not expressed by people in a simple way it comes across as outdated and definitely something that is not practical. Vighneshwar vehemently opposes that view and brings these old principles which are eternal to everyday life. It is his experience, that when one follows these principles by understanding them, once leads a harmonious life, which means one has a great physical, emotional and spiritual life, the core layers of ones personal life. He integrates them and helps you understand why they are integrated, as a deep understanding only can bring about a transformation, he believes.Life is best when it is lived in accordance to nature, to understand those complex nature, the age old Rishis wrote down their discoveries. Dharmashastra is age old rishis Research journal/ findings, it only helps us, when one understands them and applies them in principle. As when one understands the spirit behind the form, the true Living of the principle happens, instead of burden that one feels of getting under these laws to follow. Vigneshwar with his clarity, helps us get closer to the understanding of the eternal values, which helps us life become whollistic, in other words natural. Natural life is effortless, stress and strain become things of past, Life only blooms when its natural. Laws only govern things to be natural and Vighneshwar helps us to get there.

Govinda Kai is of Japanese-American descent, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. From a very young age, Govinda took a passionate interest in meditation, yoga and spiritual philosophy. Govinda’s father, Edward Yamaguchi, was a highly respected practitioner and teacher of martial arts (he held a high ranking in both Judo and Aikido) and like Govinda, nurtured a strong attraction to spirituality and philosophy from a very young age. Govinda began the practice of martial arts while in high school and began yoga, meditation and devotional chanting at age 18, studying with respected teachers such as Swami Muktananda and Sogyal Rimpoche. After university, Govinda considered becoming a Buddhist monk, but was advised by his teacher, Sogyal Rimpoche to enter into a more worldly career. Thus, Govinda became a practicing professional in the area of real estate, all the while still devoting much of his time to spiritual practice. At the age of 30, Govinda discovered the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and immediately fell in love with the practice. In 1995, Govinda made his first trip to Mysore, India to practice with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. From 1995 to 2015, Govinda made over 20 trips to Mysore to practice Ashtanga with each trip lasting an average of 3-4 months. Govinda is one of a small number of teachers directly certified by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to teach the ashtanga yoga method. In the past 30 years Govinda has traveled the world to teach workshops, hold retreats and run mid-term yoga programs in Europe, Asia and the US.