Dear Svaroopis,

I want to thank those of you who donated both funds and time to our Support Equals Release fundraising campaign.  In a few weeks we have raised over $16,000 to support many important functions in our Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram.  I want to share with you my experience with this campaign, and the way that this theme is blossoming within our community.

We talk about support and release in so many ways, but I watched it grow so beautifully in the sense of community supporting community. We had two phone-a-thon events with sevites reaching out to members of our community. Each phone-a-thon lasted 3 hours, and there was a Board Member “cheerleader” online with the sevites (in a chatroom) offering support.

I had the opportunity to be a cheerleader and watched as these wonderful and dedicated Svaroopis reached out to other Svaroopis, both offering support as well as asking for support. The reports we got back were so amazing! While the purpose was to raise funds in a different and fun way, the result was a deepening and strengthening of our yoga community, our kula.

Do not be disappointed if you did not get a call, as there are many more of you than there were hours and sevites, but it is our plan to continue this tradition of yogis reaching out to yogis.  Who else but another Svaroopi understands the path you are on and can bring you back to your Self in a phone call? Some of you are in locales where there are only a few Svaroopis or maybe you are the lone wolf. No matter! You have a community, a spiritual family, a virtual GeoCenter! And getting back to your Self can be just a phone call to another Svaroopi away, or a visit to the website to listen to a free recording of one of Swamiji’s satsangs, or attending a class or enrolling for a program.

One of our Ashram’s primary sources of financial support is donations. Our purpose is to open you to your Self, through Swamiji’s teachings, our programs and online services.  Your donations are so vital, as well as your enrollments in the wonderful program offerings. But one of the most important things is community. Support from the community, to the community, equals release.

In gratitude and in service,
Amala Lynn Cattafi
SVA Board President

By Prakash (David) Falbaum, SVA Board Member

I was raised in a Jewish family and we went to synagogue every Sabbath. When I was in my teens, my dad had a stroke and was out of work for a year. With no money coming in, it wasn’t possible to buy the necessary tickets for services during High Holidays. The great angst suffered by my family as a result helped turn me away from religion. Before I encountered Svaroopa® yoga, I would not have considered myself spiritual. I had a very hard shell.

But once I took my first Svaroopa® yoga class, everything began to change. Within a few months, I had communicated directly with Swami Nirmalananda about the openings in body, mind and heart that the practices created. Her response to my questions and her guidance — her support of me — propelled me into deep transformation.

Feeling gratitude for the healing practices of the Svaroopa® Sciences, I talked to another yogi about the practice of dakshina, contributing financially to support the source of these teachings. I learned that even giving a dollar for dakshina was enough. So I made a small donation to our Ashram. Just as with all the Svaroopa® Sciences, the unexpected arose. That initial gift returned an immense reward to me, release that I could never have imagined. It continued to unravel all the stuck stuff in my heart. Giving just a couple of dollars began to melt that armor enclosing my heart.

Since then, my consistent, committed support of the Ashram has meant the continuing easy expansions of my experiences of my own Self. The Grace of the Guru has enabled me to pierce through layers and layers of maya. I continue to have experiences that release me from any doubt and steep me in the experience of my Self. The layers that obscure my view of myself as Consciousness-Itself simply let go and peel away.

Benefits arise outside as well as inside. Before Svaroopa® yoga, I projected an aloof and unapproachable image. In social situations, everyone would just talk to my wife. All my “hard heart” projection kept people away. But the Svaroopa® Sciences cracked me open so that I could move into the spiritual depths. I became spiritual without knowing I was becoming spiritual. Now people are drawn to me, and I am able to share myself joyfully, from the depths of my Self.

Besides financial support, my gratitude for the Grace of the Guru leads me to offer seva to our Ashram. So I serve as “web wizard.” I know firsthand that when anyone in our community needs the support of the teachings, they can access audio and print teachings as Freebies from Swamiji 24/7. But the online presence of Freebies is not without costs. Other sevite work does help in maintaining easy access to our 1,500 high-quality online pages. But paid staff is necessary for making immediate updates when something important to community changes, and for daily coordination of our enrollment system. We must engage IT experts to integrate seamlessly the complex moving parts for our virtual portal into the Svaroopa® Sciences. This virtual Ashram, which supports all of us in sustaining our yogic lives, requires ongoing care and maintenance like any other home. This is just one element of the operational costs of the Ashram, the source of support that frees us from limitations.

The Ashram needs your financial support to provide the yogic release that makes such a difference in our lives, inside and outside. Please join me in giving as generously as possible in our Support = Release campaign. Especially beneficial to planning and budgeting is your monthly contribution, so please consider giving support in that form. To donate, click here or call 610.644.7555.

I was in awe when I first experienced the magic of adding another blanket in a Svaroopa^® yoga asana class. It blew my mind that having more support under my legs in Shavasana or sitting on a higher stack not only took away discomfort in my body; it also opened up muscles I didn’t even know were tight. Sometimes I got release in places in my body that I didn’t know I had.

Recently, I realized that support = release also applies to my meditation practice. That blew my mind again. Grace supports our meditation practices. Grace is an incredible support.

I began exploring meditation before finding Svaroopa^® yoga.  That meditation experience was a wonderful start to my journey, with life changing experiences, yet not comparable to Svaroopa^® Vidya meditation. A few weeks ago in the Boise Shaktipat, I had the extraordinary experience of witnessing Grace burn away my mental and emotional contractions, freeing me from their limitations. Amazing!

The Grace that flows through all of the Svaroopa^® practices is a miraculous  support. It provides release physically, mentally and beyond. To honor and respect that Grace, we need to reciprocate the support. As Grace supports our practices, we need to provide support to the organization that the Grace flows through. I ask you to join me in giving, or giving a little more, to the organization that provides us with exceptional support. Support the Grace that supports you and releases you from your limitations and opens you up to knowing who you truly are. To donate, click here. Or call 610.644.7555.