Frequently asked questions

The current semester's live course will always be available to course registrants free of cost for the duration of the course.

Your donations allow us to make this possible. We thank you for your support.

Recordings of past courses are available for a small fee on the Courses tab of our website. This fee may be waived upon request for those who cannot pay — please fill out a Scholarship Request Form if this is the case for you.

Course materials are available to course participants within the Courses tab of our website. Navigate to the appropriate course from the Courses tab.

On a course page, open the lesson list (on the left on desktop, under “Course contents” on mobile) and select the lesson you need.

If you cannot access the materials, make sure that you are signed in with the same email address with which you registered for the course.

A live course on Śāstra is offered every semester: one course in the Spring and one in the Fall. This course is offered completely free of charge for the duration of the classes.

Past courses are also available. You may view these offerings on our Courses page.

Ācārya Sthaneshwar Timalsina is a paṇḍita and practitioner traditionally trained in Tantric traditions in Nepal and Varanasi. He has over 30 years of teaching experience in the East and in the West, and currently serves as Endowed Chair of Indic Studies at Stony Brook University in New York, U.S.A.

To register, open the current course from the Courses page and press the “Join course” button. You will then be able to open the course on our website.

Registration for future courses opens at the start of the fall and spring semesters, and the link to register will be on our Courses page.

Registration closes two weeks after the start date of each course. To make sure you don't miss the announcement of the next course, subscribe to our mailing list and bookmark our website.

Generally, there are no prerequisites for our courses. Attendance is open to anyone, of any background, who is desirous of learning.

Although they are not required, original Sanskrit texts, translations, and other study materials are available inside each course.

Once you have pressed “Join course”, your registration is complete. You can confirm this by visiting the course page while signed in — it will show “You're enrolled” and your progress. Your courses are also listed under “My courses” in the account menu.

You will also receive a confirmation email. Check your Spam and Promotions folders if you don't see it.

If you did not meet the registration deadline, you may still join the course via the Facebook livestream in our Vimarsha Foundation Private Group on Facebook. However, you will not be able to attend the class on Zoom and you will not be able to access session recordings for the duration of the course.

Each semester, we offer a live course that takes place via Zoom. The course and the registration deadline are announced on our website, through our email list and on social media.

Those who meet the registration deadline will find the Zoom link and passcode on the course page once they are signed in. This information is also sent in the confirmation email after you join the course, and you will receive reminder emails before each class.

If you did not meet the registration deadline, or if you are unable to access Zoom for some reason, the live course also streams in our Vimarsha Foundation Private Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vimarshafoundation/

Session recordings for the live course are available only through our website, for those who registered before the registration deadline.

If you registered but cannot access the course, make sure you are signed in with the email address you originally used to join.

Note: recordings are uploaded after each class has been taught live, so future classes are not available ahead of time. Please allow our volunteer team 24 hours after each class to upload the lecture and Q&A sessions.

After joining the course, the Zoom meeting link, number and passcode are shown at the top of the course page whenever you are signed in.

You will also receive reminder emails for each class containing the Zoom information. If you do not see any emails from us, check your Spam and Promotions folders, and make sure you are subscribed to our mailing list with the correct email address.

The live course streams on Facebook in our Vimarsha Foundation Private Group. You may join the livestream if you did not meet the registration deadline or if you are unable to access Zoom.

If you have not already joined the group, you may do so here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vimarshafoundation/

The lectures and Q&A sessions of our past courses are available for a small fee. Visit our Courses page to learn Yoga Vāsiṣṭha, Tripurā Rahasya, Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, Foundational Śaivism, Devī Māhātmya, Virūpākṣapañcāśikā and more.

The current semester's live course also becomes available in this way one week after the course concludes.

You may support the Vimarsha Foundation through active participation and engagement in our courses and discussion groups, sharing our course announcements with your friends and family, volunteering skilled services in support of our initiatives, making financial donations, and above all by continuing to study and preserve the Śāstric traditions in your own life.

To make a donation, please visit our Support Us page.

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Vimarsha Foundation. Visit our Support Us page for the different ways to give, including PayPal (one-time or monthly) and Zelle.

Vimarsha Foundation is an independent non-profit organization. We have no political affiliations or agenda and are supported by donations and the efforts of a small team of volunteers. Your donations allow us to offer free courses and pursue other Vimarsha projects.

Yes, you can! Thank you for your interest — corporate matching is an excellent way to support Vimarsha and maximize your impact.

Please fill out the Contact form and a member of our team will reach out.