Common questions · Answered plainly
Ask us anything about the archive. We will answer plainly.
What the Foundation offers, what it costs (the archive: nothing), what is recorded and what is current, and what is still on its way. Where something is not ready, this page says so.
If your question is simply where do I begin — the answer is Start Here: A First Week with Swamiji.
Is the archive free?
Yes — free. The recorded collection — all 17,690 lectures — is the Foundation's gift, not its product. There is no paywall in front of the recordings. Swamiji's 54 books are in print through the Foundation's shop, and the monthly magazine — with its digitized back volumes — is read by paid subscription; the recordings stay free either way.
The Foundation is a nonprofit, est. 1969 in Miami; the archive is sustained by those who choose to support it, never by locking it.
How do I start? Twelve thousand hours is a lot.
You are not meant to start with twelve thousand hours. Start with one week: A First Week with Swamiji — a welcome and seven lectures, a few minutes a day. It exists so that no one is handed the whole library at once.
If you would rather browse, the catalog opens by scripture, by format, or by series — and every door begins with three chosen teachings, never a cold wall.
Is Swamiji still teaching?
Yes. Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, at ninety-five, continues to teach — the practice of a lifetime, still active. This site is deliberately quiet about the day-to-day particulars; if that changes in a way worth announcing, this page will say so plainly, here and nowhere else first.
What is the 7:30 PM evening premiere?
Each evening at 7:30 PM Eastern, a recorded teaching from the archive premieres on YouTube — a shared watch, with the community present in the chat at the same hour. The teaching is archival; the company is what's live.
What is membership?
Membership is coming — it is not open yet. The details are still being finalized, and nothing about pricing or benefits is confirmed for publication here. What is fixed: membership sustains the free archive; it does not unlock it.
The recorded collection stays free for everyone either way — that is the arrangement, not a promotion.
Can I use Ask Swamiji now?
Not yet. Ask Swamiji — a way to put a question to the teachings and be answered from Swamiji's own recorded words — is in private testing. We would rather it answer faithfully than answer soon, so it will come to members only when it does.
Until then, the honest substitute is the archive itself: search the catalog for the question you are carrying.
I subscribed at vedanticwisdom.org — what happens to my access?
Your access carries over. You will not be asked to pay again. As vedanticwisdom.org's lecture series are brought home into this site, existing members keep everything they have — same teachings, better shelves — and will hear from the Foundation personally before anything changes.
If anything about your account ever looks wrong, write to us at info@yogaresearchfoundation.org and we will put it right.
The best way to understand the Foundation is to hear one lecture.
Everything on this page describes the library. One week inside it, will tell you more than any answer we can write.