Monthly Archives: October 2022

Mantra Meditation

Leave a reply

By Satguru Swami Nirmalananda 

Meet your mind where it’s at.  Having a crazy-busy mind is normal these days, unfortunately.  You aspire to a better state, a deeper inner center, a quality of being that fills your life with light.  Mantra meditation lassoes your mind and brings it back home, to your core essence, called “your own Self.” 

You need the right mantra, of course.  And you need to get it from someone who knows it fully, inside and out.  An authorized teacher within an authentic tradition can open the inner doorway for you in amazing ways.  That’s what happened for me, an inner awakening that transformed my life from the inside-out.   

I got the mantra from a local meditation teacher.  She had been authorized by her teacher in India.  It gave me deep meditation immediately. 

It was only later that I understood the greatness of the gift I had been given – the enlivened mantra, full of blessings and grace. 

It infused me with a sense of wholeness and purpose that I had never known before.  And all I had to do was meditate daily, which renewed and deepened it. 

Now, almost 50 years later, I offer the same to those who aspire higher.  In free online programs as well as course and retreats, you can get this mantra and instruction in how to use it.  Let those who have done their spiritual work give you a head start on yours! 

Mantra Card

Upcoming Programs

About Swami Nirmalananda

Buoyed on the River of Grace

Leave a reply

By Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver, Yogaratna

SVA Board Member

I get so much from my yoga practices.  My body is less tense.  My mind is more open and receptive.  I am grateful to the source of the practices that give me so much.  That is why every spring and fall, I set aside funds to participate in the Ashram’s fundraisers.  I help raise funds for the Ashram because the Ashram raises me up.  I hope you will join me!

I am buoyed on a River of Grace — Guru’s Grace (guruk.rpa).  Gurudevi Nirmalananda says her ability to serve us is like a tributary of a great river.  “I am the riverbed,” she says.  “That flow of grace comes from my Guru, and I am a wide-open channel for that flow.” Importantly, she adds, “So are you.”

I felt this strongly when I attended a meditation weekend with Gurudevi just after she had taken her swami vows.  Down the center aisle, she had a clear sight-line to a picture of her Guru, Baba Muktananda.  That aisle was just like a riverbed.  I felt the current pull me strongly toward her.  But it wasn’t “her.”  It was the power of the lineage of yogic masters who came before her.  She says, “Whatever you see in me that is inspiring and beneficial is coming from the one to whom I have dedicated my life.”

The power and Grace of the Svaroopa® tradition flows through all of Gurudevi’s teachings.  It flows through all the teachers Gurudevi has trained.  It flows online.  It’s everywhere and finds you when you need it.  I know this is true for me, and I suspect it is for you as well.  This Grace is freely given, but it must also be received.  Are you ready to receive?  Because ultimately, this is not about the Guru.  It is about YOU.  

How are you moved and changed by your yoga practices?  Does it carry into your life and into the world?  One important practice is dakshina, selfless financial giving.  Like the river of Grace, it flows through you.  It comes from the heart.  

You can help keep the river of Grace flowing to you.  You can help others be led to the river as well.  It’s not really about how much you give.  It is the act of giving itself that puts you in the river of Grace.  Any contribution of any amount helps support the source of the teachings.  Of course, it ultimately supports YOU.  

Please join me in giving today — online, by email or phone.  This is a cause-and-effect universe.  Open the channels wide and see what happens!

Donate today 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!

Read More

Living from a Deeper Place 

Leave a reply

By Nansi Jo (Anasuya) Colley, interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

Meditation Teacher Training (MTT) took me to the heart of Kashmir Shaivism’s tried and true teachings.  Knowing that our lineage has carried these teachings through thousands of years means a lot to me.  Through time, the technology and methodology have been perfected, with the Masters adding their blessings.  And Gurudevi makes these esoteric teachings so easy to understand. 

Each time I take a MTT course, I return home living my life from a deeper place.  I experience more glimpses of the ultimate state, the deepest level of my existence.  I meditate more.  I make different choices.  For instance, knowing I can’t use my mind to disentangle my mind, I choose to repeat mantra.  I choose mantra while driving, while doing dishes.  I don’t get caught up so easily in the rollercoaster of ups and downs.  I’m more even keeled.  

For much of my life, I’ve served as a scientist and professor.  Thus, I greatly appreciate the scientific approach to yoga and meditation in which Svaroopa® yoga excels.  What drew me to Svaroopa® yoga is the science of maximizing my human capacity, knowing my Self.  The clarity and integrity of the teachings has propelled me through 30 years of yoga practices and teaching.  I took Gurudevi’s first MTT in 2003.  I have been blessed to be able to attend trainings regularly since.

Being able to serve my students as a meditation teacher is deeply meaningful to me.  Each time I take a MTT course, I return to my students with even more clarity and inspiration.  I understand the teachings at a deeper level and can convey that in my discourses.  The students go deep and have profound experiences in a short period of time.  They consistently report that the mantra supports them in their daily lives.  

This course gives me an opportunity to spend an intensive period of time with Gurudevi.  It’s a deep immersion in Grace.  On top of that, while deep in Consciousness, I am intellectually involved.  It’s an incredible tantric opportunity.  My mind has to be alert and engaged.  In the course, first I listen to Gurudevi’s discourse on the sutras.  Then I write my own discourse and give it to my classmates.  They give me feedback, with compliments and coaching.  Listening to their discourses, I offer the same.  

I’ve developed a capacity to write, present talks and listen to others while in a deep state.  It truly feels like skill in action.  Not only do I have Gurudevi’s support for teaching meditation, I have the support of my classmates.  I am deeply grateful to the teachers who have gone through MTT with me.  Their coaching and compliments give me confidence.  I feel deeply supported in a tangible and powerful way when I’m teaching.  It’s the flow of Grace.  

I have immense gratitude that Gurudevi makes these powerful teachings accessible.  She has developed a tremendous curriculum that teaches us how to teach others to meditate.  Gurudevi offers a deep well to drink from.

Meditate with Gurudevi

Tapping into Grace

Leave a reply

By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell

Board President, Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram 

I am honored to announce our Ashram’s 2022 fall fundraiser.  Our theme is Guru’s Grace (guruk.rpa).  We are focusing on the Grace that Gurudevi brings us, having received from her Guru, who got it from his Guru.   

This Grace has led you to the Svaroopa® yoga practices.  Like a constantly flowing river, Grace flows through Gurudevi’s teachings and all the teachers whom she has trained.  Guru’s Grace is everywhere.  It will find you when you need it.  

Gurudevi teaches us many ways to access Grace.  The list includes Shaktipat, meditation,  repeating mantra, chanting, and practicing and teaching Svaroopa® yoga.  Guru’s Grace is always there for us, always with us.  We can reach out (in) anytime, anywhere.  We can float on it, settle into it, or dive deep.  It is there always.  

When you support our Ashram with a financial gift, it’s not about how much you give.  It is the act of giving itself that puts you in the river of Grace.  A contribution of any amount supports the source of the teachings. 

One of the ways that I tap into Grace is by saying mantra.  Just one and you have tapped into Grace.  Say more and you can immerse yourself in the river.  If you have not yet tried our free Japa Club, currently offered twice daily, try it.  Say the mantra out loud with Gurudevi and others, you’ll experience the power of Grace. 

For me, mantra is a reset button.  It grounds me.  It settles me and allows me to tap into the river of Grace that runs inside me. No matter what is going on in life, Grace is still there, waiting within, to welcome me home to my own Divine Essence. 

To be devoted to Grace means being devoted to your own spiritual path and your own Self-Realization. It keeps you steadfast in yoga, meditation and life. Gurudevi advises us to look for the Guru in the depths of our own hearts.  Guru’s Grace is not about the Guru.  It is about you.  It’s about finding your way inward.  How beautiful is that!  

Join me in immersing your Self in the Grace of dakshina, selfless financial giving, to support SVA.

Donate today.  Click below or 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!

Donate Now

Arise!

Leave a reply

By Satguru Swami Nirmalananda 

Life got smaller during the pandemic, starting out with months of lock-down.  It’s starting to edge back out again, but everyone has a different agenda and a different pace.  Yoga and meditation will help,  Our 2023 Calendar is based on a theme:

Arising

Healing leads to wholeness, empowering choices and deep-hearted living.

As you move into the world again, you have the chance to choose your trajectory in a whole new way.  I want to empower you to live your life in the ways that are most fulfilling to you.  Our retreats and trainings are designed to give you wholeness, choicefulness and deep-hearted living.

The first step is to arise, as the yogic texts exhort, “Arise! Awake! Oh my Dear One, you have been sleepwalking too long.”  It’s time to come alive again!  It’s time to share your light.  Choose who you want to be and what you want to give to the world.  

For 2023, our asana programs are focused on therapeutics.  It’s about healing as a pathway to wholeness.  Svaroopa® yoga has always excelled at therapeutics, which are especially needed now.  Healing Retreats are available both online as well as in-person.  And 2023 Teacher Trainings expand teachers’ therapeutic skills, both for private sessions as well as for teaching groups.

My twice weekly satsangs continue, featuring sutra discourses and group meditation.  In addition, I will work closely with a dedicated study group who do five weekend retreats with me in the year.  Three Shaktipat Retreats are scheduled, beginning with the 2022-23 New Year’s event.

In this important time of transition, you are invited to join me for our Free Japa Club.  Twice daily, zoom in for five minutes of group mantra repetition, plus an additional minute for giving blessings to the world.  E-Quotes continue with daily emails and lots of other Freebies including 1-minute videos and sound bites.  Arise!  Awake!  Choose what you want to do and make it happen!

2023 Calendar
Freebies

FREE Mystical, Magical & Meditation Mastery

Leave a reply

Gurudevi is a meditation master, authorized within an ancient yogic lineage.  She specializes in making the mysteries understandable and accessible.  

Mystical and magical are not the same.  In her free program, you learn the difference between magic, mysticism and what meditative mastery really is.

After Gurudevi’s discourse and our meditation, thoughts and things suddenly fell into place.  She helped me to put puzzle pieces together into a beautiful picture. — Alina U.

Enroll Now

From Longing to Attainment

Leave a reply

By Amanda (Purna) Schmidt

Spiritual Hunger & Fulfillment, Gurudevi’s latest CD, illumines the yogic path through song, sharing her journey from longing to attainment.

Seven tracks guide us modern-day yogis through this age-old experience. The melodies echo themes of yearning, surrender and devotion that culminate in pure Grace.

Are you ready to explore your own inner greatness? These chants will open the door and draw you inside. Follow Gurudevi’s footsteps on the path, and discover your own Self. Price: $9.99

Buy Online: Spiritual Hunger & Fulfillment

CD Tracks:

  1. OM Svaroopa Svasvabhava
  2. Atma Shatakam – Shivo’ham Shivo’ham
  3. Atma Shatakam Translation
  4. Bhagavan Namah
  5. Guru Mantras
  6. Purno‘ham
  7. OM Namo Bhagavate

Consciousness Imprints

Leave a reply

by Satguru Swami Nirmalananda

You were trained by masters.  Your family and schoolteachers were masters of “busy mind.” They did their best to cultivate your mastery.  Yogic training gives you “quiet mind,” a sweet inner stillness, spaciousness and peace.  It deepens into bliss.

This process involves both training and conditioning.  Training is when you study the theory and begin to apply it.  A baseball pitcher gets coaching on his throw or a golfer on his swing.  Their His coaches take videos and measure the speed of his ball.  Then they show him how he’s losing power with some little thing, like the placement of his foot.  He tries it out.  The coaches help him fine-tune his new plan.

Now the conditioning begins.  He practices.  He throws the ball, then he throws it again.  Hundreds or thousands of pitches later, he’s ready to bring it to the game, with the crowds roaring and his teammates watching his feet placement.  He has to forget it all, even the theory and plan, so he can simply do it.  He gets in the groove and throws the ball.

You need both training and conditioning.  Theory alone is not enough; you need to practice.  This means that you quiet your mind.  But quiet mind doesn’t last very long in the beginning.  Your mind gets busy again, so you have to quiet it again.  And again… Repetition is the key.

Yoga excels at quieting your mind.  All yogic practices are about quieting your mind, including the poses.  With athletic and aerobic yoga styles, quiet mind is often attained through exhaustion.  You’re too fatigued to think, which is mildly blissful.  Similarly, most meditation systems work this way.  You sit through the internal storms, waiting for them to pass so you get a moment of inner stillness.  Then you do it again.

Svaroopa® Yoga is different.  It works energetically.  Your spine is the central conduit of energy in your body, so our poses decompress it, opening up new levels of energy inside.  In Svaroopa® Vidya meditation, you pour your mental energy toward infinite Consciousness.  These energetic interventions work more powerfully than…

Read Teachings Article