Sanskrit Immersion Upstate

A New Adventure for the New Year: Beginning Sanskrit
January  4–9, 2011

Immerse yourself in the gorgeous and powerful language of yoga – sign up for the American Sanskrit Institute’s week-long introduction to sound, meaning and symbol. Imagine confident pronunciation, the ability to read devanagari script, and word by word understanding of beloved chants! Commute (45 minutes from Grand Central) or take a residential retreat. No experience needed for this joyful practice!

Get more info and register at the American Sanskrit Institute

Your curriculum

Need a retreat? Want to actually pronounce Sanskrit correctly? Jo Brill is offering a workshop this Columbus Day. By the end of the weekend, you’ll be able to read and chant a simple Sanskrit phrase.

By day, explore the language of yoga — hearing, seeing, chanting and feeling each Sanskrit sound in your palate. Each evening, chant to the feminine divine (with Robert Moses and his family) to celebrate the Navaratri festival. A feast for the senses and an opportunity to be with our sacred selves. No experience necessary for these joyful practices!

Learn more, or register now at the American Sanskrit Institute.

Anyways, the point that hit home tonight was something completely different. A visiting Sanskrit teacher, whose name I did not catch, was saying “you’re not here to capture and keep each thing that Leslie says, to acquire his knowledge. You’re here for the experience.”

And I realized that she’d articulated something for me. When I attend an expensive workshop or training, I get vaguely (or very) frustrated when the teacher veers off topic, starts late, or entertains too much. It’s like I’m pricing the course by the word, like a magazine editor, and I can see my investment’s value slipping.

But, the best lessons are indeed experiences — and it might take just a few words to set them up. Or maybe a perfect joke, a comedic pause, and THEN the novel insight. Or a slow trip from visual to physical to verbal. It’s my rational mind that wants pages of notes, linear thoughts to follow and re-read. But some lessons are experiential, and though I can read a book and follow the steps and hopefully recreate the magic moment in the comfort of my own home… an experienced conductor is well worth the money.

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