By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess, SVA Board Member

How do you honor your own Self?  Asked this question, I had the answer at once, “I practice the vyutthana.”  This Sanskrit word names the threshold between meditative and wakeful consciousness.  Throughout each day, I practice staying in the vyutthana — being inside and seeing outside simultaneously.  It is Gurudevi Nirmalananda who teaches me how.  

The mere thought of her service to us brings my head into a bow.  My hands come together at my heart in deep reverence.  Gurudevi gives me my Self over and over and over again.  How do you thank one who has given so much?  

One way is through dakshina.  I gratefully give financial support to our Ashram.  It supports the worldwide reach of Gurudevi’s teachings.  Thus others can experience what I receive from her — the experience of my own Self.

Please join me in honoring your own Self.  Donate to our Ashram during our spring fundraiser.  You will be giving back in gratitude for what you’ve received.  Honoring Gurudevi in this way brings her teachings into your life profoundly.

I experienced Self the first time I met Gurudevi.  I did not understand it.  Nor did I know how to put words to it.  In time, I realized everything she says and does is for the purpose of our experience of Self.  By example, Gurudevi has taught me this tantric living.  I am more compassionate with myself and others.  I give myself space and time for yoga.  Instead of rushing, I luxuriate in a sense of Infinite Beingness.  Yet I still attend to my daily schedule.  Then the transformation occurs.

While Gurudevi freely serves, the Ashram and its programs cannot carry on without financial support.  Your donation supports Gurudevi’s teachings in reaching worldwide.  Your gift offers the experience of Self to all who step on this path.  You keep the flame that Gurudevi carries available for all. 

I am deeply grateful for Gurudevi’s teachings.  They open me into Self so that I can live from that Divine Essence.  So I put my gratitude into action by donating, and I invite you to join me.  Then all of us can continue to receive Gurudevi’s teachings, which she freely bestows.

Donate now on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335. Thank You,