The IMI correspondence course program is designed to provide higher awareness and practical knowledge of the Self through intellectual and spiritual inspiration. The Self is forever free and universal.

The courses provide clear and practical guidance to grasp and expand the knowledge of Self. Whether you are a beginner, an advanced student or an experienced teacher, you will find the knowledge offered through this program extremely valuable.

literature by Swami Shyam
a complete series of lessons
personal guidance from a qualified IMI instructor
Certificate of Completion

This is a practical course that will teach you how to meditate using the unique and effective techniques given by Swami Shyam. Emphasis is placed on providing information that will assist you in developing a regular daily practice.

Lesson One introduces the initial technique. Subsequent lessons deal with the most relevant issues that arise when one makes the decision to meditate on a daily basis, including handling distracting thoughts; activity in the mind and body; regulation of the breath; the use of the mantra; meditation on the Knower; getting discouraged in the practice; and a description of the one who has reached the goal. If the participant follows the recommendations, this course ensures that the results will be attained.

This course sheds light on the four main aspects of life - action, knowledge, love or devotion, and pure Space (Karm, Gyan, Bhakti and Shyam). These powers function in different ways in relation to each other, and uniquely in every one of us.

Through a thorough analysis, we discover how these aspects of life are different and, at the same time, inseparable. This enquiry leads to the knowledge of the undivided Self - Yog. “An ordinary mind can never conceive that there is … one field of unity underlying all the multiplicity spread everywhere,” says Swami Shyam in Nine Lessons. In order for the mind to know the whole, it has to expand and become extraordinary.

Topics in the course include freedom, Oneness, pure energy, the waking, dream, and deep-sleep states of consciousness and the functioning of the mind. As meditation is essential to expand a person's understanding, it is included as a practical part of the lessons.

Since Patanjali Yog Darshan was written thousands of years ago, it has been a source of knowledge and inspiration for those seeking insight into truth. As both a practical reference and a philosophical treatise, Yog Darshan is to be applied as well as studied. The sage Patanjali wrote this brief yet potent book as a guide for the aspirant to understand the human condition while keeping a clear view of his or her goal of perfect freedom.

This course covers the essential concepts and techniques elucidated by Patanjali. It describes the mind, its characteristics and its source, and explores the meaning of pivotal terms, such as nirodh, viyuthaan, and vritti. You will be guided through the different states of awareness as we travel from the normal waking state of consciousness to Kaivalya, the realization of the source as our reality—pure, free and forever in existence.

This course will inspire you to contemplate and meditate on the reality of Yog, Unity Consciousness or Oneness, and to realize the state of perfection that Patanjali leads us to.

This course covers the fourth and final section of Vision of Oneness by Swami Shyam, which consists of discourses on the subject of meditation. Some of the topics included are the technique of meditation, the use of mantra, maintaining awareness in meditation, the benefits of the practice of meditation, the importance of a having a teacher, how meditation practice relates to daily life and how meditation can enhance one's view of oneself and the world.

Some of the talks in Vision of Oneness consist exclusively of the words of Swami Shyam; others include questions posed by participants, followed by Swami Shyam's answers. Thus, the course is oriented towards demystifying the practice of meditation, making it practicable in one's daily life, and enabling everyone to enjoy the rewards of the practice.

Swami Shyam has given each of his three translations of the Ashtaawakr Gita a subtitle that vividly conveys the scope and contemporary relevance of this ancient text: The Scripture of Knowledge for All Times, A Complete Study of the Human Mind, and Simplified Knowledge of the Mind.

This course uses the first rendition to uncover the Ashtaawakr Gita's description of the questioning mind and the answered state, the vision of Oneness, or the unity state of consciousness.

Using the vehicle of a dialogue between Ashtaawakr, a realized sage, and his disciple, King Janak, the Ashtaawakr Gita articulates all the questions of the soul that desires pure freedom. And it conveys the answers to those questions. Swami Shyam says, "All the answers relevant to our inquiries are contained in the eternal response to the questioning human mind."

This course uses Swami Shyam's detailed rendering of this classical scripture of Advait Vedant. It presents all the essential ideas found in the science of liberation and the philosophy of Oneness through the author's characteristically clear, fresh, and engaging style.

This course examines in depth the knowledge presented in Chapter VI, “Yog through Meditation.” We will study the unity state of Consciousness - the state of Yog - and the practice of meditation, which is the means to attain it.

Registration
To register for a course, click on the Register button beneath the course title. This will take you to a page where you can pay for the course using your credit card. Students who already have a copy of the reading material can purchase the course without the book. If you purchase the course and the book together, you will get a discount on the price of the book.

Reading Material
As soon as your payment is received by us, you will immediately receive an email confirmation, and we will ship you the reading material you require. In addition, you will be mailed the writing by Swami Shyam entitled "How Meditation?"

The Lessons
Every course consists of a series of lessons (in PDF format) that will be sent to you by email either once a week or every two weeks, depending on the frequency you choose. Each lesson is based on a selection from the reading material by Swami Shyam, and explains different concepts as they arise. In order to clarify various points, the lessons draw on knowledge given in other writings and discourses by Swami Shyam, sometimes using stories and anecdotes.

Review and Feedback
At the end of each lesson is a choice of questions on the topics discussed in the lesson. You will receive feedback from a qualified IMI teacher.

Certificate of Completion
A Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon completion of each course.