It’s gone. I cannot remember the pain anymore. Shaktipat blasted me out of it.
It took a while for me to understand what I truly had gotten, and now I can’t remember the way it used to be. I remember events, names and places – but my memory of the pain is gone.
The pains and patterns that had defined so much of my life are gone. It’s like lighting a candle in a dark room – the dark cannot remain.
Yes, I am grateful. Beyond mere gratitude, I owe my life to my Guru, just as it says in Shree Guru Gita:
Honor and worship the Guru. Dedicate your whole life to him.
Yes, I honor and worship my Guru. He made it easy to see the Divine in him. Better yet, he made it easy to see the Divine in me. That’s the whole point; that is what the Satguru does by giving Shaktipat. Who else gives so great a gift? I have found it nowhere else.
Yes, I dedicate my life to my Baba. There is nothing for me to desire, nothing to seek that would be better than what I’ve got. Baba gave me — me. And authorized me to share his gift with you. I serve him by serving you. Thank you for allowing me to give what he gave.
You can be so entrenched in your patterns and habits, even in your ideas about who you are that you don’t let the fire of Consciousness burn away your limitations. Chanting helps with this. Vichara, our guided self-inquiry process, helps with this. Japa, mantra repetition, helps. And…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Changing Your Past“
May 31st is Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s Shaktipat Anniversary. She celebrates this holy day by sharing deep teachings honoring her Guru, Swami Muktananda.
Gurudevi explains that this day is the anniversary of her birth into Self, more important than the day on which she was born into this world.
She takes this opportunity to share the depth of her heart and the wealth of what she has received from her Guru, saying:
How can I begin to express my gratitude for His gift. He gave me to me.
For the satsang nearest May 31st, Gurudevi’s discourses are traditionally a tribute to Baba Muktananda. She includes deep teachings about the power of Shaktipat and shares her personal experience of receiving Shaktipat from Baba Muktananda.
You may also observe this holy day by renting any Deep Teachings Videos of past Swami Sundays near May 31st. Most recent, “The Guru’s Qualifications” is her discourse for the Swami Sunday on May 29 2024.
Recounting her time living in Baba’s Ashrams, she tenderly portrays his serene and compassionate service. Her presentation of her personal journey of upliftment is both profound and lighthearted, portraying the unique qualifications of a Shaktipat Guru. You gain an understanding of the rare and great blessings of such a spiritual master.
This year, she celebrates her Shaktipat Anniversary in her Swami Sunday on June 1st. Be sure to register for online before 6pm EDT on Saturday, May 31st.
You see, when you have an amazing experience, and how important that is, the fact that it is amazing means it’s different from your everyday experience. And then you go back to everyday. Your expanded experience might last a minute, a day, a month, or longer. But you go back to everyday. The point is to…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “The Moment of Enlightenment“
Interviewed by Matrikaa (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna
As an 84-year-old retired RN, I’ve been diagnosed with extreme sciatica and spinal stenosis as well as three bulging discs.
Physical therapy helped some. Chiropractic treatments with magnetic cell stimulation gave me more pain relief. But after a pacemaker implant to regulate heart rhythms, I’m no longer a candidate for this treatment.
Finding Svaroopa® yoga a decade ago, I’ve been able to manage back pain very effectively. I’ve found that Svaroopa® yoga is so important to do when you are older!
Yet a couple of months ago, my hamstring muscles were cramping all the way into my ankles. I couldn’t stand up straight. Walking any distance was impossible. So I turned to Ashram offerings and have experienced a series of sweet miracles!
In late winter, I took Swami Shrutananda’s “Freedom from Pain” Sutra Studies. In this online Enlightenment Studies series, she teaches sutras explaining that it’s the mind that causes most of the problem.
If we can look at the sensation of pain differently, we can let go of identification with it. Letting go of identification with pain diminishes it. Using the word “sensation” instead of “my pain” shifts the severity to a tolerable feeling.
Next, I enrolled in the online Therapeutic Yoga Series. For six weeks, I took part in a three-student group therapeutics class that met twice weekly online. Our Svaroopa® Yoga Therapist, Cayla (Mangala) Allen, has an exemplary knowledge and understanding of anatomy and what happens in Svaroopa® yoga poses. As a nurse, I greatly appreciated the way she explained spinal decompression with such clarity.
Mangala vividly delineated how Svaroopa® yoga pose angles target spinal compression to release the deep tensions in spinal muscles. Her knowledge of how superficial abdominal muscles affect the psoas gave me a clear mental picture. This increases my trust in the Svaroopa® yoga practices, which supports my consistency in doing the poses daily.
In the class, Mangala coached us to “lean into your bones, soften and allow the release of tensions.” Now I remind myself of this process when doing my Svaroopa® yoga poses for pain relief. All Svaroopa® yoga practices move us into and through this process of spinal decompression.
As the course description promised, I’ve learned how to take care of myself in quick, yet profound ways. My severe pain has gone away. This is truly a miracle. With confidence, I can say the Svaroopa® yoga decompression of the spine is miraculous. Now I know I must do these spinal release poses consistently.
I am also practicing Ujjayi Pranayama more consistently with greater focus. Thus, I have an increased flow of prana, the energy of aliveness. This has caused another shift: my appetite for indulging in TV news has decreased.
Instead, I chant with one of Gurudevi’s recordings or listen to one of her talks. I do this especially in the evening before going to bed, and it has made a wonderful difference. My miracle includes reinforcement of a spiritual perspective. Even when difficult things come, if we look closely enough, often we can find the gift in them.
This is a key point in tantra. It comes from the recognition that Shiva is being all. Everything in the world and even everything in your mind is Shiva in disguise. So, what part of the world should you reject? What part of you should you reject? Certainly, your mind needs some conditioning, like a runner preparing for a marathon. Your mind needs…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Celebrating Spiritual Greatness“
Words are important. The radar screen of your mind is filled with what you say and with what others say to you. The unsaid words are on that screen as well. You’re always tracking the moving blips.
You may want others to use specific words to make you happy. Usually they don’t follow your script, not even if you give it to them. Bottom line, consider what are you looking to get from them. If your happiness depends on them saying the right things, they can upset your apple cart just a few minutes later. Your sense of self must come from a deeper inner center for you to be happy and to have successful relationships.
If words can shut you down, are there words that can open you up? Yes! The enlivened mantra is sacred words, words of power. They invoke the upwelling of Consciousness within you. This inner arising transforms you completely, bringing a whole new level of aliveness and enthusiasm into your life. You see the world differently. You see you differently.
It is your mind that needs this transformation. Your own Self doesn’t need to be uplifted, for it is already Divine. But your mind keeps you from seeing your inner radiance. Your own Self is Shiva: all encompassing, pervading all, being all. Your mind is puny by comparison. Yet your mind blocks your knowing of Self like you can use your thumb to block the sun.
Transforming your mind is accomplished through words. This is because your mind is churning out words all the time, day and night. When you change the words you use, you get different results. Research on affirmations shows measurable improvements in education, health and relationship outcomes.[1] Using different words on yourself makes a difference
The Shiva Sutras says this works in your spiritual development as well. The second chapter of the text focuses on transforming your mind. These practices are called shaktopaya, the upaya (path) of shakti (energy). Your mind is made of energy, as is everything. And the enlivened mantra is full of Divine Energy. Together they uplift your mind and empower you to transcend it.
Chittam mantrah. — Shiva Sutras 2.1
By intensive awareness of the Divine in the mantra, you become what it names.
The two Sanskrit words name two things: the power of your mind and the power in the mantra. Chittam means mind, literally a contracted form of Chit (Consciousness). Mantra means a set of words that enshrine God within them. These are Divine words, meaning they are God in the form of words. God can take on any form, even the form of words.
Your mind reflects whatever you present to it. If you present garbage, your mind becomes filled with garbage. If you present Divine words, your mind becomes filled with Divine light. What kind of mind do you want to have?
Every religion and meditative tradition uses mantra in some way. In tantra, you get an enlivened mantra from a Shaktipat Guru. It is plugged in. With a lamp that won’t turn on, first you check the light bulb, then notice the cord is unplugged. When you plug it in, you get light. You want a mantra that lights you up. Receiving it is called…
If you don’t desire something specific to happen in the future, then you won’t be anxious about it. Freedom from desire also frees you from anger. The only time you experience anger is when you desire something but…
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