By Ruth (Rama) Brooke

We are in the home stretch of our River of Grace fall fundraiser.  Stories abound on how easy it is to access Guru’s Grace.  Lately, I’ve spoken with many Svaroopis on this topic.  Whether they’ve dipped their toes, or are in up to their knees, or are fully immersed in the river of Grace, they’re in the flow!  The stories take different forms, but the effect is the same — uplifting, transformative.  Gurudevi describes:

My ability to serve you is like a tributary of a great river.  I am the riverbed.  That flow of Grace comes from my Guru, and I am a wide-open channel for that flow.  So are you.

So is our Ashram, our teachers, and our whole community.  We are all part of the network of tributaries through which the river of Grace flows.  This network needs support.  With it, we’ll continue to receive, give and keep these Grace bestowing teachings alive.  Financial support of the Ashram is crucial to our Svaroopa^® community, especially in these challenging times.  Please join me in contributing to the River of Grace fundraiser.  

Guru’s Grace is so reliable.  It’s like the sun, always there, shining and providing warmth even when behind the clouds.  At times, I forget to look for Grace at work in my life.  Or I’m blocking it so I can’t see it.  Yet Guru’s Grace is always there.  It’s a matter of opening my aperture (Disciple’s Grace).  

Then I step back to receive a more expansive perspective (Guru’s Grace).  For it to manifest in my heart and life, I need only call out to the Guru to ask for Grace.  It is undeniably reliable.  It is the gift of having received Shaktipat — Guru’s Grace.  What a blessing!

I am filled with gratitude, and it motivates me to give back.  Thus, I participate in the ever-flowing exchange of Guru’s Grace and Disciple’s Grace.  In this season of giving, Disciple’s Grace takes the form of dakshina, yoga’s practice of financial giving.  

Money is energy, as Gurudevi has said, and dakshina is a divine energy exchange.  Through dakshina we shine the light of Consciousness into our finances.  And as the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi, promises, in giving we shall receive.  So I contemplate, and ask you to contemplate:  How deep will you step into the flow of Grace?

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!