By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

We love the moon’s silvery-white light, a cooling light. Its soft glow illumines the darkness, soothing and calming your mind.

Yet the moon is not the source of its light. It merely reflects the light of the sun.

Similarly, the light of Consciousness shines through your mind. The source is within, your own Divine Essence.

If your mind were clear and spacious, your mind’s light would be cool, soothing and comforting. This is why spending time with your Guru is so valuable — the Divine light shining through their mind cools, soothes and comforts you.

Lokanandah samadhi-sukham. — Shiva Sutras 1.16

Such a yogi experiences the bliss of Consciousness in every situation, and it is transmitted to those in contact with him.

The Guru’s influence is unerring. Like sitting under a shade tree, you cool down. As you cool down, you settle into yourself. By Grace, your settling inward goes deeper — into your own Self.

You blossom like night-blooming jasmine in moonlight. I use this metaphor because my Baba had a row of these shrubs in his India Ashram. I walked by them on my way to the hillside meditation hall every morning at 3 am. Their fragrance was intoxicating! Now I know that it was not only the shrubs that were blooming. It was me, too.

However, if your mind is full of limiting notions, Consciousness first has to burn them away. I know how it works because my Baba gave me this — the fire of yoga burning away everything that held me back. Shaktipat initiates this inner process which leads to moksha, liberation.

The process is called purification. You are burning away the inner impurities. It can get hot, especially if you try to keep yourself limited and small. The alternative is clinging to your feeling of being incomplete. You already know this is painful.

Your yogic future is described in the Shiva Sutras…

While the Guru is one who dispenses God’s Grace, don’t confuse the Guru with a particular personality or physical form. Yes, I loved spending time with my Guru.  I love his photos, to see these images of his physical form.  Yet, I know it’s the Divine Reality in him that made him lovable…

 —  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “You Need a Guru“

Of course, you can have a breakthrough on a vision quest in nature, or in a dream.  Maybe not a piece of chocolate.  But anything, potentially anything can stop your mind and let your inherent Divinity peek through.  How great it is.  Or rather, how great it was…  

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Guru’s Grace“

You know, in the beginning most people use mantra to calm themselves when they’re upset.  How great that it works for you.  You can calm yourself.  You can get centered again when you’ve been thrown off center.  Yes, use mantra for this.  But consider, what if you did mantra when you didn’t “need” it?  If it will give you your Self when…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “I Got It!“

When you look for others’ opinions to make you feel good about you, it’s called other-worth, not self-worth.  It’s a deeper sense of self that you need.  And when you uncover this deeper sense of self, you still… 

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Words of Power“

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Growing up, I was confused. My schoolteachers said, “Do your best.” But when I finished the assignment in 10 minutes, they would tell me to go back to my seat and redo it. Confusing!

In church, they told me to have faith. I couldn’t figure out how to believe in something I couldn’t see and that had no scientific proof. At home, my family said, “We love you.” Then they followed up with, “Be good so we can love you.” But if I have to be good for you to love me, then you don’t love me when I’m bad. So, what is love?

It took me decades to figure out that the problem wasn’t me. What I needed was better teachers. Searching far and wide, I found that only yoga gave me teachings I could trust and a teacher I could rely on. Better yet, I was given genuine upliftment as well as practical ways to better myself.

Yoga’s teachings and practices come from the ancient sages of India. Their inward focus shows the way to your inherent wholeness and holiness. It is the only thing that ever fulfilled me.

J~nanam annam. – Shiva Sutra 2.9

Self-Knowing is the only real nourishment, that which gives satisfaction.

Your experiential knowing of your own Self is the only thing that truly feeds you. When you apply your mind to lesser truths, you are left feeling half-empty, still looking for something more. In the inner knowing of your own Beingness, all frustrations and disappointments fade away. The light of Consciousness fills you from the inside out.

Yoga’s profound teachings resonate with something deep inside. It’s like tuning forks — when one is struck, the other also rings. True teachings touch your soul and deeper, all the way to your own Self.

Once you have experienced your inner infinity, your old ideas of yourself cannot hold you. Thus this sutra also has a second meaning:

Limited knowledge is to be digested.

These differing translations arise from the ambiguity in the word j~nanam (nya-nam). While it means knowledge, it can refer to…

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

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:

Guror aaraadhana.m kaarya.m sva-jiivitva.m nivedayet. — verse 27

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.

Jai Muktananda!

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“

Yoga says, “Look inward.” 👀

It doesn’t mean that you stop doing things, but that you find who you are while you’re doing them.  What you find is your own Self.  

Your early experiences of Self are peace, creativity and happiness. ☮😄 And then it gets better.🕯

The experience of your own Self, as you learn…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “How to Find Happiness“

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“