By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

Karma is a cosmic IOU.  You owe the universe something — or the universe owes you.  If you did things to benefit others in the past, motivated by altruism or compassion, the universe will reward you.  If you did things to harm others in the past, the universe will pay you back. 

Nobody ever asks about karma unless they’re going through a hard time.  Can I be frank?  Unfortunately, you earned it.  It’s easy to see when you cut somebody off in another lane while driving, and a few miles later the same thing happens to you.   

But when the events are separated in time, it’s harder to sort out.  Karma is cosmic justice, even though sometimes it takes a while to catch up with you, even lifetimes.  In meditation, I’ve had past life memories that explained why I’ve dealt with certain difficulties in my life.  Other such memories have explained many of the blessings in my life. 

In the Yoga Sutras, the sage Patanjali explains: 

Karma-a“sukla-ak.r.sna.m yoginis-trividham-itare.sam — sutra 4.7 

Karmas of yogis are neither white nor black, but are of three kinds in others. 

White means light, pure and pleasurable; black means heavy, dark and painful.  Yoga’s great masters experience neither as they live in an expansive inner state of pure beingness.  For such a being, events are like weather, which comes and goes.   

For those who are not yet living in such a deep and easy constancy, karmas are of three types:  pleasurable, painful and mixed.  You are already familiar with each. 

No one ever asks about karma when they’re enjoying health, wealth and meaningful relationships.  However, they earned these fortunate life circumstances.  When life is not going so well, it’s good to understand two things: 

* You set yourself up

* It’s temporary. 

This too will pass.  The good news is that you have some say in when and how it will pass.  Do good unto others and your karma will improve.  It might be immediate, or it might take a month or more, but it always works. 

Except there’s a hitch.  If you’re doing good unto others so that you get some good in return, it won’t work.  What is required is altruism or compassion.  Or sheer generosity.  It’s a glorious way to live!

by Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

You want to learn to meditate.  Congratulations!   

Perhaps you’ve already tried one or more approaches to meditation and are looking for other options.   

I’m delighted to share my own practice with you, one I’ve been deepening into for almost 50 years.   

As an authorized teacher within an ancient lineage, I’ve had the great fortune to teach thousands of people to meditate.  I can help you. 

Free Online Class 

Check our calendar for our twice-monthly introductory meditation programs.  Each one lasts 90 minutes, enough time for you to learn what to do, as well as to try it out in a group meditation.  Then there’s a discussion that helps you understand your experience as well as troubleshoot any problems you’re having. 

You may find one of our trained meditation teachers in your area – check our Teacher Directory.  Their offerings may be Online or On-Site. 

Free On-Site Meditations

I teach two free meditation programs weekly, Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.  On-Site in Downingtown PA, these are free.  Online has an enrollment fee, due to our costs in providing the online services.   

Check our calendar for “Swami Sunday” and for “Yoga Wednesday”.  If you can come to Downingtown, I get to meet you personally!  I’d love that. 

Take a Meditation Course

For a deeper meditation, the word is to meditate longer.  “Longer” means that you meditate for a longer time period, like a full hour instead of only ten minutes.  It also means that your ability improves with practice.  Thus your meditation will be deeper after a year of consistent meditation and even deeper after ten years. 

For quicker inner progress, take a meditation course, like you would if you were learning a musical instrument or how to skydive.  We offer “Learn to Meditate” every month or two.  In our Teacher Directory, you’ll find authorized teachers near you who teach the same course. 

Breakthroughs & Profound Understandings

An Ashram specializes in the deeper teachings and practices, so you’ve got many more options. 

We have five swamis offering sutra courses, yoga & meditation classes and more.  Each program includes the ancient teachings, which create inner openings for your bliss-filled exploration.   

The most powerful of these is my Shaktipat Retreat.  Here, you receive the mystical initiation that awakens your meditative energy to arise within.  Life is truly changed in that moment, with a whole new trajectory opened up to you.  That’s what propelled me into the inner light.  I love to share. 

What Do You Want? 

You have lots of choices!  If you don’t know where to start, try a 1-minute video from a recent satsang on our YouTube channel or a recent podcast.   

Or just call us at 610.806.2119 or email programs@svaroopayoga.org – we’ll be happy to talk with you about your next step.

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

One-liners, that’s what we need.  Something we can grab in an eye-blink, a sound bite…   

Meditation is for Self-discovery, revealing the deeper dimensions within. 

It’s not just our modern times that demand clear and concise info.  The ancient sages of India wrote sutras, short pithy sayings that were easy to remember.  But they’re tricky!  Easy to remember, but not easy to understand — they have layers to them. 

Chaitanyam atma. – Shiva Sutras 1.1 

Your own Self is Consciousness-Itself.  

Uplifting, inspiring, encouraging, reassuring, all at the same time.  And it goes way beyond what you understand in your first reading.  I’ve been studying and contemplating this sutra for over 40 years and I am still learning from it.  And it’s only two words long:  Chaitanyam – Consciousness; Atma – Self. 

Know your own Self, honor your own Self, meditate on your own Self. 

This was my Guru’s sutra for our modern world, a teaching he shared hundreds of times when he taught in America through the 1970s and into the 1980s.  As a hippie-turned-mom, I appreciated the focus on finding myself, this deeper dimension he called “own Self.”  But what was it, really?  He added a line: 

God dwells within you as you. 

I wanted God to dwell within me, so I was comforted by this teaching.  But what did he mean by, “as me”?  I didn’t understand.  I wondered and pondered for decades. 

All the while, my Baba was giving me the inner experience of my own Self being God’s own Self.  But my puny little mind didn’t get it.  So I say it this way, 

There’s only one of us here.  The One Divine Reality is being you, being me, and being all that is.  Meditation is finding that One — inside. 

I invite you to sign up for my daily E-Quotes.  Free emails with inspiring quotes that help you get to know yourself in a whole new way. 

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!