By Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi
SVA Board Member
NEW! Video link added!
Today is a most auspicious day. November 15th is the day our dear Gurudevi Nirmalananda was born into this world. What birthday gift can you possibly give her? That’s easy. Simply support her work in the world. Our annual fall fundraiser is in full swing. Happy birthday, Gurudevi! I’m sending you birthday wishes by supporting your work, and the work of the Ashram. Please join me in offering your financial support to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram today.
How will Gurudevi, a fully enlightened yoga master, celebrate her birthday? By serving you, of course! Today, as every day, she will allow the full power of this ancient lineage to flow. Through her, it flows directly to you. This is the river of Grace, Guru’s Grace. It’s the energy of your own enlightenment.
She ignites this energy for you. Then she gives you the Svaroopa® yoga tools and practices. They allow your light to grow, and shine brighter and brighter. In other words, she gives you YOU, the most sacred gift!
In 2017, Gurudevi gave me a new Sanskrit yoga name, Gurupremananda. It’s not a title. It describes the gift that Gurudevi gives. Ananda means bliss. Prema is divine love, unconditional and pure. Guru is the source of Grace, the energy of enlightenment. So Gurupremananda means the bliss of the love of Guru.
Guru’s Grace is the support of my life. I know and experience that Guru’s Grace manifests as pure and unconditional love. This Grace is the force of destruction and reconstruction, rebuilding me from the inside out. It’s like the remodeling work we do on our 150-year-old Ashram building known as Lokananda.
Guru’s Grace ushers in loving demolition of what is no longer working inside. Guru’s Grace replaces it with shining new awareness and peace. The process can sometimes be challenging, but it’s transformational. This is Grace at work. This is Guru.
Devotion to Guru’s Grace means being devoted to your own spiritual path and your own Self-Realization. Her Grace keeps me steadfast in yoga, meditation and life. Gurudevi advises looking for the Guru in the depths of our own hearts. Yes, Guru is there, ever supporting and working on me and on you. But today we get to celebrate also having her loving presence here in a body. We get to be in relationship with her, to name and honor her as Guru. It is so priceless. Please join me in celebrating her birthday.
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!
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