Teachers

Graham M. Schweig, Ph.D.

Garuda Das

Author-translator of the Bhagavad Gita (Harper 2007)

and cofounder and teacher of The Secret Yoga™

There is a dimension of Yoga that is rarely explored. For it requires a life of meditation, and an intimate relationship with the Sanskrit language and the secrets of Yoga it communicates. It is this world of Yoga in which Graham Schweig has been dwelling for over forty years.

It all began at the age of fourteen. Graham explored the timeless visions of life, of love, and the nature of immortality as illumined by the saints and sages of antiquity. At this early age, he became a vegetarian and took his various practices of Yoga so seriously that he dropped out of high school in order to receive training in Yoga.

It was the sacred Sanskrit texts on Yoga that most attracted Graham, and his gentle probings of these powerful writings allowed him to connect with their deeper messages. Graham discovered that the very language of Sanskrit texts on Yoga contained a certain self-illuminating power, if accessed through meditation as well as scholarship, that would disclose extraordinary visions and experiences that are already resonating at the core of our being and from deep within our hearts. After three decades of mining their inner teachings and embedded secrets, and after earning his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Yoga traditions and comparative religion, Graham's eagerness to share them with the Western world led to his unique translation work.

Today, Graham continues to mine Sanskrit gems from sacred Yoga texts, making their rare beauty and profound messages tangible to all hearts desirous of discovering the treasures of Yoga. He discovered the Secret Yoga as he was writing and translating for his first book entitled, Dance of Divine Love: India's Classic Sacred Love Story, published by Princeton University Press. The exquisite poetry and philosophy of this famous work of the Bhagavata Purana revealed how divine love dances eternally within the hearts of all souls, and is indeed that sacred dance for which we all long. The discovery that the greatest yogis, who were women known as the Vraja Gopikas, exemplified, through their living a life of Yoga, how to enter that eternal divine dance within their hearts at the deepest level of Yoga meditation and at the same time as the selfless unremitting dedication of their hearts in all of life. This is the highest samadhi, and it is this ultimate state of Yoga to which, knowingly or unknowingly, all forms of Yoga aspire.

Since his teens, Graham had been reading and seriously studying many different translations of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most comprehensive classical writings on Yoga. It was only in the last few years that he produced his own translation and illumination of the text, entitled, Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song, published by HarperOne. Graham points out that this famous text is certainly not a “song” or gita in the ordinary sense, but it is a song issuing forth from the very heart of the divine. As Graham states, “In every case, Yoga is not just something we do, something that we practice. Rather, Yoga is something that happens to us, something that is truly given to us. Each one of us experiences this in our own way, and the sacred texts on Yoga reveal this in the most compelling and inspiring ways.” As he thus describes in his work, “Yoga is the mutual loving embrace between the human and the divine.” We learn that there is a divine yearning in each of our hearts, and that there is a divine calling, a “secret song,” a song of divine love coming to each one of us from deep within our hearts, that is ultimately revealed to us through Yoga practice. And this is the essential focus within The Secret Yoga™ seminars that Graham teaches.

The Secret Yoga™ brings out the innermost teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, as Graham's seminars reveal, along with special meditations, mantras, asana, and chanting. In the Gita, we develop the ability to recognize the voice of the universe speaking to each one of us, and these very teachings declare themselves as “the secret Yoga.” Graham sees himself as bringing these hidden teachings of the voice in the Gita to his students. Moreover, The Yoga Sutra, which he is currently translating, reveals that the innermost practice of Yoga, even beyond that of the “eight limbs,” is Pranidhan Yoga: the process of withdrawing from the world, moving deeply into the heart, discovering the mandala source of love and bliss, and then returning to the world with transformed vision and the ability to find the sweetest loving repose and felicity within the hearts of others. It is this circular journey that we all take, that we all repeat, in our practice of Yoga. “In The Secret Yoga™ the complete mapping of one's journey into Yoga is immediately realized, whether one is a newer or seasoned practitioner of Yoga.”

Graham is well-known for making the inner teachings of the Secret Yoga™, Bhagavad Gita and other texts of Yoga easily accessible. Through his insights, sense of humor and his knack for putting workshop participants at ease amid Sanskrit verses and sometimes challenging philosophy, he creates an atmosphere more of the heart than of the head. Graham and his partner Catherine Ghosh, co-creator of The Secret Yoga™ Seminars, will be offering various workshops and RYT 500 Yoga teacher trainings on the Virginia peninsula and elsewhere. To find out what seminars are being offered and more on The Secret Yoga™, please consult secretYoga.com for scheduled events and workshops. To contact Graham please write him at Graham@secretYoga.com.

To visit Graham’s website

please click here www.grahamschweig.com >>>

Catherine L. Schweig, RYT

Krishna Kanta Dasi

Cofounder and teacher of The Secret Yoga™

Catherine grew up in a home filled with books, music, and liberal views that embraced multi-cultural diversity of all kinds. An avid lover of nature, she spent her youth between the volcanic valley of Mexico City, the loveliness of New England and the breathtaking scenery of the California coast. Raised by Yale and Vassar-educated teachers with romantic ideals, Catherine was first introduced to Yoga at the age of two by her mother, who practiced with Lilias Folan, a PBS show. True to her love for animals, during her adolescence Catherine spontaneously adopted the vegetarian lifestyle of a Yogi as she studiously explored the world’s mystical traditions. At the age of sixteen Catherine embraced the path of bhakti Yoga and shortly thereafter took up asrama life, where she dedicated herself to the study of ancient Sanskrit texts as well as a deeper yogic practice.

As an alternative to institutionalized education, Catherine decided to dedicate herself to the life of an autodidact. Throughout her life, Catherine’s love of learning and travel exposed her to a wide array of teachings that influenced her views of the world. She applies principles from the ancient science of Ayurveda to her way of life and to the mothering of her two sons who have been partly homeschooled. She is a sensitive and poetic artist who vivaciously expresses herself through a variety of means, such as painting, quilting, writing, photography and dancing. She delights in inspiring others to connect with their most authentic selves.

Catherine also has had many teachers along the way. She studied Svarupa Yoga at Master Yoga Academy in La Jolla, California, under the direction of Rama Berch, and experienced much personal growth while on extended retreat at the yogic community The Tree of Life in Patagonia, Arizona, where she encountered Essene practices as led by Gabriel and Shanti Cousens. In India, in the year 1990, Catherine entered into deep study and practice of Bhakti Yoga under Damodara Goswami Maharaja, of Jagannatha Puri, in Orissa.

In 2006 Catherine founded The Secret Yoga™ with her life partner Graham Schweig, an Institute developed to support souls in their individual journeys into sacred spaces and timeless teachings, especially that of the classical Yoga hidden within the flowing Sanskrit verses of the Bhagavad Gita and the inner teachings of the Yoga Sutra. Catherine is recognized by Yoga Alliance as a “Registered Yoga Teacher” and is presently creating Yoga workshops specifically designed to intimately acquaint the participants with the deepest essence of Yoga philosophy and tradition.

To contact Catherine please write her at catherine@secretYoga.com

At this time, when many traditional teachers from India were arriving on the shores of America in the latter half of the '60s, he began and evolved his practice and understanding of Yoga. Graham's experiences in Yoga were enhanced by his many travels to India, to its sacred sites and holy persons, especially when he lived there for a year experiencing ashram life.