By Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

I didn’t know.  I’d never met an enlightened being before.  How was I supposed to tell?  And even if I could tell, what was I supposed to do with him?

As I took my seat on the floor in front of Baba, along with 250 others of us who’d just arrived in India, I wondered all these things.  Except that I wasn’t thinking coherently, so I didn’t really have the words I’m using now.  I was feeling joy and deep peace, mixed with gratitude and unexplainable love.  It was very confusing, especially since I’d never actually met him before.

We Westerners lack the basic training.  Growing up in India, you imbibe basic information from childhood about realized beings and the human capacity to know Consciousness.  Fortunately, my Baba explained about Self-Realization, both so we could see it in him as well as find it in ourselves.  One of the Sanskrit texts we chanted daily says:

“sruti.h pratyak.sam aitihyam

anumaana”s catu.s.tayam,

yasya caatmatapo veda

de”sika.m ca sadaa smaret.”—Srii Guru Gita 65

You must decide the Guru’s worth

by the four sources of knowledge:

the Vedas, sacred histories,

your inspection and inference.

bioversityinternational.org

That morning, as I sat in the courtyard under the mango trees with the sun rising, I was using inspection and inference.  But I didn’t know the Vedas or sacred histories.  I had no yardstick to measure him against.  Yet something was happening to me, something I liked, something I had longed for all my life — or longer.  As I sat there, my inner pain was lessening, ebbing away.

Peace arose within me, even bliss, every time I sat under the mango trees with him.  I went back every day after that first time.  I understood it only when he explained, “You measure the value of the Guru by the change in you.”  Duh!  That change was obvious to me.

Yoga’s ancient writings describe the characteristics of a Guru clearly and carefully:

A qualified Guru is knowledgeable in the texts,

a devotee of God, free from jealousy,

an expert in yoga, does yoga practices,

is always in a pure yogic state.

He is devoted to his own Guru

and is a knower of the Self.

Only one with these qualifications may properly serve as Guru.

— Advaya Taraka Upanishad 14-15

(rendered by Swami Nirmalananda)

An impressive list of qualifications — this is what makes a Guru worth meeting or spending time and studying with.  Their teachings must be consistent with the ancient sources, yet they teach from their own experience as well as intellectual knowledge.  Thus, they are not teaching mere theory, nor are they making it up.  Also, the Guru is devoted to his own Guru, which means he had a Guru — no self-appointed teachers.  His inner state must be steady, the attainment promised by all the yogic texts.

My Baba hit the mark on every count.  After years with him, I had the yardstick and could evaluate the Gurus I later met, so many of them available in America.  But while Muktananda was alive, there was nowhere else I wanted to go.  There was nothing else I needed.

His fullness overflowed into me.  His inner perfection triggered mine to arise within me.  I followed him, not because of him, but because of what happened inside me.  That’s the only true test, one validated by the root text of Kashmiri Shaivism:

yo’ vipastho j~naahetu.sca — Shiva Sutras 3.29

Only one with mastery over Kundalini is competent to enlighten others.

(rendered by Swami Nirmalananda)

How can you tell if a Guru is worth their salt?  In our tradition, the pivotal point is whether or not he can give Shaktipat.  This inner awakening is the beginning of your Self-Realization.  Once awakened, Kundalini is the fuel that carries your rocket ship all the way to God.  Only a Guru who can awaken Kundalini is fully qualified.  I studied with such a Guru and am privileged to bring His blessings to you.

Happy Guru Purnima!

On this full moon, dedicated to the Guru, again and again I bow.

OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo nama.h

By Krishna Milgrom

Surprisingly, Googling “plow” gives you the yoga pose as the second definition, along with a fitting example:

…a yoga pose assumed by lying on one’s back and swinging one’s legs over one’s head until the outstretched feet approach or touch the floor.  “positions like plow and headstand can strain the neck”

Further down the page is another pertinent definition:

(especially of a vehicle) [to] move in a fast and uncontrolled manner

These aptly describe how I used to do Plow Pose before Svaroopa^® yoga: recklessly!   I plowed into the pose, hurling my legs over my head.  I didn’t settle into asana — I settled into a crash landing.  My whole spine tightened, and I had way too much weight on my head.  The pose was a pain in the neck, but I did it anyway: my yoga books said it’s good for me.

Then came Svaroopa^® yoga.  I learned a way to do what was good for me in a way that is good for me.  My Halasana pink handout (October 2004) says:

This is “supposed” to be relaxing, restful.  Do it with less effort!

With blankets to remove pressure from my neck, and blocks or a chair to settle my feet on when the floor was too far away, I could experience the Plow as it is supposed to be.

I am grateful to Swami not only for teaching me this way of doing the pose.  I’m also thankful for her recommendation several years ago that we practice the pose daily.  I plowed right into it, as in another definition on the same Google page:

continue steadily despite difficulties…

With steady practice, and less effort, Plow has become relaxing and restful.  When I settle into the pose, it becomes blissful.  Following the pink sheet instructions, I come out of the pose gently.  Instead of hurling my legs back to the floor as I used to do, I secure my lower back with my palms and bring one leg at a time to the wall.  With both feet on the wall and knees bent, I lay my arms alongside me as in Shavasana.  Then I slowly roll my back to the floor.  Ahhhhh! What bliss! As each vertebra unfolds one by one, my spine pops and crackles with released energy.  Bliss streams from my tailbone through my heart and into my skull.

I don’t want to move.

Then, as recommended, I do Matsyasana (Fish).  This opens my heart and rib cage in the opposite way from how Plow does.  I need this.  Having worked for decades sitting bent over a keyboard, I find my posture tends to the Neanderthal look.  Matsyasana helps ensure that I stand more erect.

After practice, I feel lighter and more open.  I practice every day.  My body grumbles when I miss a day.

I have not received all the benefits that the pink sheet describes for the Plow.  For example, I still have varicose veins, but they have moved from my lower legs to my neck.  (Just kidding! However, in my legs they are definitely much less noticeable.)  And I am still gray and balding, although my pink sheet suggests the opposite:

“It has been said that it prevents (and even cures) gray hair and baldness.  Who knows?”

Well, I know.  But so what! When you have a heart full of love, a healthy spine, and a skull full of bliss, who needs hair?

By Marti Monk

I enrolled in Vidyadevi’s workshop in Boise as soon as I heard about it. Thus, on May 12^th I was deeply settled into my blankets next to three of my equally deeply contented yoga buddies. For a decade, Theresa, Shan and I have been faithful students of Svaroopa^® yoga, through Beginning, Continuing and now Deeper classes. A decade ago, our beloved Deeper Teacher, Betsy Ayers, was a student along with us. In this workshop, she got to be “just a student” again.

While each of us benefit greatly from this practice, the four of us together receive so much more. In this Mandali Travels workshop, Vidyadevi talked about “bliss” and how it’s always deep within. As I listened to her words, I glanced at my three longtime yoga buddies. I realized our practice together has not only bonded us in a deep sisterhood. It has opened each of us to the precious presence of bliss within.

I was 54 years old when I became a yoga student. Soon after my husband died suddenly, I explored jazzercise as well as fast-flow yoga and even astrology. In the midst of turmoil from such a life change, I needed something to settle me down. I found a spiritually oriented yoga studio in Boise, and a teacher who offered a nurturing style. It included classical standing poses as well as twisting into pretzel shapes.

boiserivertimeyoga.com

After a year or so, that teacher, Matrika Gast, discovered Svaroopa^® yoga and took Foundations. Suddenly we were on the floor, learning to align, relax and soften to release spinal tension. Beautiful, thick plaid blankets had replaced our sticky mats. The power of this practice didn’t hit me between the eyes right away. Because I’d been exercising, “opening up” was a new concept. If I opened up, would I fall apart? At the beginning, as my tight muscles released tension, they ached. But my teacher kept me going. Sometimes I thought, “Good grief, will this ever stop?” Yet I never considered walking out, and that phase really didn’t last all that long.

Gradually, I developed a personal Svaroopa^® yoga practice, and it became a part of me. I looked forward to it every morning. The night before, I would wonder: What poses will I do? As I began to experience more and more physical core opening, my heart opened as well. I reached out to classmates, they became yoga buddies, and we developed closeness. We bonded in workshops and immersions as well. This process never happened in any other groups that I joined.

I’ve taken Foundations, the five-day immersion training, twice. As this yoga continues to transform my heart, I feel better in a way that I can’t fully explain. And I don’t quite yet know the value of this change. In the world of my brain that’s skilled in writing grant proposals, “bliss” means happiness and satisfaction. But the experience of Bliss found through Svaroopa^® yoga is something more. When we talked about Bliss with Vidyadevi in the May workshop, I and my three yoga buddies had just been (with about 8 other classmates) in Rotated Stomach Pose. So I was remembering that, on one side, I had sensed Theresa’s hand next to mine. On the other side, Betsy patted my hand. As we talked about Bliss, Shan, who seldom speaks in discussion, described Bliss as what she was experiencing in the workshop: “Beyond all the details, there’s the sense of Oneness.”

Vidyadevi’s workshop opened me to an experience of deeper knowing. I realized that I am living a life that’s interwoven with powerful yoga. Bliss for me is a sense of recognition. I see in a yoga buddy that big-S Self that I am finding within as my own Self. I recognize in her the same Self as in you — and in everyone.

I am grateful to be living a life interwoven with yoga, thanks to all my Svaroopa^® yoga experiences.

By Bindu Shortt

In the US, pitta season runs from July through October.  According to Ayurveda, pitta qualities are mostly heat and moisture.  Think humidity.  These qualities can accumulate and express in you as skin conditions, irritability, sour or acid stomach, or loose bowels.  To soothe your pitta energies, apply the principle of opposites.

Avoid foods that are themselves heating, such as coffee, alcohol and meat as well as fried and spicy foods.  Favor seasonal veggies and fruits that are cooling.  Summer is the only season in which the cooling qualities of melons are beneficial.  How wonderful that nature gives us the foods needed to keep us balanced in each season!

Because digestion itself is warm, Ayurveda still recommends eating most of your foods cooked during pitta season.  This allows for strong digestion and maximum energy from your food.  Salads may be eaten a few times a week, when used as a condiment rather than your main dish.  Fruits also are still better eaten cooked (grilled peaches, blueberry cobblers).  Most people, however, can tolerate raw fruit a few times a week.

purepowerpilatessd.com

Drink cooling beverages including room temperature water with mint, cucumber, lemon or lime.  Or try coconut water, purchased at the store.  Homemade lassi in the summer can include some rose water and cilantro for extra pitta relief.

In your daily self-massage either switch to all coconut oil or do half and half with your regular oil.  This will cool your body from the outside in.  In addition to your yoga, swimming is a wonderful for summer activity as it does not overheat.  If you do another activity, do it in the cooler morning or evening hours.

Saffron is an exotic spice that has been used throughout history for its scent, its color, and its medicinal properties.  Ayurveda prizes saffron as a pitta balancing herb, since it is both bitter and astringent, two tastes that pacify pitta.  Just 1 to 5 strands of saffron is all you need to receive its benefits.  The following saffron rice recipe goes well with any dahl (lentil or bean dish) or with summer steamed veggies.  Its simplicity is appropriate for summer cooking:

epicurious.com

SAFFRON RICE

1 cup white basmati rice, washed

5 strands of saffron

3 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1. Wash and rinse the rice. You can soak it for 30 minutes to make it more digestible.
2. Dry roast the saffron in a medium saucepan. This brings out its flavor.
3. Add the rice, water and salt and cook, covered, over a low heat for 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft.

Participants Interviewed by Varadananda King

I came to the January Yoga Therapy Intensive Retreat in a lot of pain from a recent injury that hadn’t fully healed,” says Eric Gibbons. “What I experienced is nothing short of miraculous. I watched the pain in my back shift, and then disappear altogether. I am very grateful for my time in this immersion, and for the support from the teachers and fellow participants.”

“I am in love with this retreat,” says Kalyani Zavolas-Wallis, who has enrolled “every time it has been offered, except once.” She continues, “I was sad about having to miss the one, as I wanted perfect attendance. This retreat is so incredibly rejuvenating — physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. While it is complete and full, yet there is still enough ‘down time’ to make it feel like a true retreat. I was able to nap, and to take a bath.

blissfullyoga.com

“I love the daily Vichara, which brings up and unravels whatever my mind is churning. Together, yoga therapy and morning classes open my spine more deeply. The chanting and meditations bring me closer to God. All this along with Swamiji’s talks/lectures create a wonderful retreat for those of us looking for deep healing, a deepening of spiritual practices, knowledge about healing, and REST.”

Kushala (Kat) Conner responds, “When I think about why I chose to come to the yoga therapy intensive this past January, a stanza from William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” comes to mind:

There was a time when meadow, grove and stream,

The earth and every common sight

Did seem to me

Appareled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

“Many moments in my life, particularly when practicing yoga, there was a vitality, a freshness and a longing for something more. The longing for something more felt alive — enlivened — ‘light.’ Also resonating with Wordsworth, I have often felt as if I have been living in and playing out a dream:

It is not now as it hath been of yore.

Turn whereso’er I may,

By night or day,

The light which I have seen

I now can see no more.

“I chose the Yoga Therapy Intensive as a gift to myself, to step away from the dream of my life, to be inspired by practices to help me find my way back to that place of aliveness within myself.

“The experience I encountered was a weaving together of chanting, meditation, conversation and practices to help me uncover those places within myself still stuck in the dream — in the deadness. The retreat offered me time to practice and reflect on where I am today with support on practices tailored to my specific needs. I’m very grateful for the time and awareness of Swamiji, Vidyadevi and Kusuma that worked with me to start unlocking those tight spots in my being.”

Feeling honored to have assisted, Tirtha Hale, says, “This retreat occurred during the time when Lokananda was undergoing remodeling with new rooms being added, floors being laid, and apartments being built. Even with construction, hammering and power tools sounding off, I felt enormous Grace flowing. It’s always here! What a lovely way to experience this truth, that deep healing and Grace are always available regardless of what’s happening on the outside.

“Now, all the upgrades are finished! When you come to a future Yoga Therapy Retreat, it will hold you in a blessed cocoon of transformation, and you will emerge shining brightly from this metamorphosis of healing. Every day offers chanting and meditation; a series of Vichara and yoga therapy sessions, asana class and special small group Swami time with discourses on healing. You will be nourished with good food, and you’ll enjoy rest and recovery from all that ails you. After just a few days, the change was splendidly visible in those who participated. Pure radiance!”

By Aanandi Ross

After her first meditation in “Learn to Meditate,” one student said she’s normally a very shallow breather.  Indicating her upper chest, she said she always breathed “up here.”  During meditation, her breaths were much deeper and full, down to her belly.  This had never happened to her before.  The next day she emailed that she would be practicing meditation faithfully every day.

How can something so simple have so much effect?  Yet it does.  Arriving irritable and distant, avoiding eye contact, a client came to learn Ujjayi Pranayama in a private session with me.  She announced she was already familiar with Ujjayi Pranayama.  As we proceeded, she learned Swami Nirmalananda’s protocol for Ujjayi Pranayama.  Of course, she had a wonderful rest in Shavasana.  She yawned and yawned, obviously releasing tensions.  Afterwards she reported less stress, more relaxation, no more mid-body pain.  Most dramatically, she left smiling, eyes bright, inspired.

I practice many forms of yoga — seva, cleaning (doing what needs to be done), study of ancient texts, chanting, asana, japa and meditation.  All move me ever deeper into Self.  It’s reliable!  Mental cobwebs dissolve, allowing the light of capital-S Self to illuminate inner aspects of my small-s self.  Regular Ujjayi Pranayama practice opens me inward to this deeper awareness.

Recently, in the midst of a dental extraction, I thought of my childhood.  Although I was treated with much genuine love and care, certain things happened that affect my adult life and still need attention.  I asked myself, why do I need this extraction? The answer came: I am ready.  Some of these issues, I’ve both purposefully and unknowingly avoided looking at them for my entire life.  How freeing it is, even though difficult, to face them now at age 64.  Regarding Ujjayi Pranayama and its power, our June Teachings Article describes:

Ujjayi Pranayama heals your body, mind and heart, while it opens up profound dimensions of spiritual experience, its true purpose… Ujjayi Pranayama prepares you for the mystical experience that opens up in the pause between your breaths… “When you’re in that momentary suspension, an easy place of profound stillness, you’re ready to explore within.”  — Breath & Beyond by Swami Nirmalananda & Rukmini Abbruzzi

Looking at the hard stuff I’ve avoided so long, I hear Swami’s words, “Awareness is the first step towards change.” Thus, I was driving along yesterday, feeling fully blissful — in a place so much deeper than the interior swirl of small-s stuff.  Marveling at the burst of green and aliveness in nature, I felt the limitless, infinite reality of the universe.  Loving all that is manifest, I felt the bliss of my own being.  I understood how I become freer with every practice.  I felt my life force expanding more fully.  I resonated with how Breath & Beyond explains this “beyond” that our breathing practice opens us to:

The Sanskrit word “pranayama” does not mean “breath” or “breathing practice.”  A compound word, “prana” (life force) and “ayama” (to free, to liberate), it names the purpose of the practice — freeing your life force to expand fully.

What joy! I’ll keep doing more yoga.

By Gurupremananda Lynn Cattafi, SVA Board President

The words I use to thank our donors never seem enough.  None can fully convey the deep gratitude I have for all of you. I see our charitable organization becoming a true community from your stepping up, reaching out and supporting our beloved Swamiji, her work and your fellow yogis. You are traversing this path with commitment and devotion.

We have reached our fundraising goal. Your donations, especially in the last few days, have matched the Board’s generous gifts.  Your $22,000 has been doubled, giving the Ashram the ability to offer you so much.  Thank you for your part in making this possible.

Giving is never about the amount; it is about the intent. When your pure love and generosity fuel the impulse for you to give, it moves mountains. The beauty of your investment in your Ashram is that you see and experience the tangible results for yourself and your whole community.

The next time you read an article or hear the opening mantra at the start of a phone call or one of Swamiji’s online audios, know that your donation helped her bring that to you and your fellow yogis.  The next time you are snuggling into a cozy bed at Lokananda after a day of blissful immersion, know that your donation helped create and support your room.  When you are being lovingly supported by one of the Ashram staff or Teacher Trainers, know that your donation supports them.  By your gift, know that you are bringing daily support to your Guru so that she may give you your Self.

So, with words that are never enough, I thank you for reaching inside to find the ability to take care of your Guru, bu investing in your Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram and supporting your community. If you would like to add a last minute year-end donation to our campaign, please click here. Your investment is the gift that keeps on giving.

OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo nama.h

By Peter Gallagher, SVA Board Member

Recently, I decided that doing more yoga was in order. In my Inbox, I had found the request that SVA Board Members match the community’s donations in our current fundraiser. I inferred that I would need to make a larger contribution than the donation I’d originally planned. Over the next several hours, my mind left and returned to this request many times. I just noticed that my mind continued to fluctuate without doing anything about it. At some point, the request resurfaced and my mind was still. Then decisions to make a matching contribution and the amount to contribute were effortless. I was calm, focused and tranquil before and after these decisions. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that even as financial market volatility increased a week later, my decision was unaffected. In some subtle way, my relationship to my retirement nest egg had become healthier and more stable.

Wealth: Abundance & More teaches, “When you put your energy into your work and you get paid, that money is your energy in a tangible form. When you give out money, buying something or giving to a person or charity, you are giving your energy out.” My prior donations to the Ashram were given in gratitude for what I had already received. I wanted to support the programs that we offer and the staff who make them possible and to help to spread Swamiji’s teachings to more people. I saw my donations as an investment in the change I want to see in the world. I saw my donations to the Ashram as investing in benefits to others.

Pre-retirement, I had often advised my tax and investment clients to invest in yourself first. I had to shift my perspective to understand that my donations to the Ashram are investments in my Self. I had not really considered that the act of giving would benefit me directly. Now I understand that my giving increases my receptivity to Grace.

We Board Members together have now pledged $22,000 in matching donations. When you donate to the Ashram during this fundraiser, you double your investment in your Own Self. The return to you on this investment is priceless. Our matching donation enables us Board members to join with your offering to the One Self Being All.

Challenge yourself to grow. Challenge yourself to open your heart and your wallet. Then challenge yourself to be aware of how your support, your investment, comes back to you.

Click here to read more about Investing in Your Ashram.

Click here to get your donation doubled.

By Sakalananda Goss, SVA Business Manager

I had a good job at a college and a condo in a trendy part of the city.  I spent my leisure time with caring friends and family.  By all normal accounts, I had a great life in Calgary… but I wanted more.  I wanted to invest more of myself into yoga.  I made the decision to move to Downingtown and live in the Ashram.

It has been an incredible two years of transition into Ashram life and having my days revolve around yoga.  Yet this change on the outside was not enough… I still wanted more.  I struggled with my inner turmoil around wanting more.  After all, I lived at the Ashram and worked for the Guru.  How could I want or need anything more? Yet something was still not quite right.  There was still something missing.  I still wanted more.

During a recent five-day retreat with Swami Nirmalananda, the asana practices focused on aligning our head over our spine and heart.  We studied the chant “Shiva Manasa Puja” (Mental Worship of Shiva).  These practices opened my heart so that I could bring more of it into my yoga practices.  I started to repeat the mantra with more feeling.  My seva has been infused with more devotion.  Every moment of the day is becoming more and more aligned with Grace.

Still, I knew there was more.  I knew that my mind could very quickly pull me away, as I had witnessed so many times before.  I wanted my mind to be more engaged and cooperative in my sadhana.  I started to do more mantra throughout the day.  At one point, I consciously decided to allow Grace to flow through my mind.  I envisioned being the Lord of my mind and having Swami by my side;  it was as though I became Arjuna on the battlefield of my mind.  Swami Nirmalananda was Krishna being my charioteer.  She was providing guidance and Grace.  What a gift to invest my mind into the practices.  Investing my mind in Grace.  Investing my mind in Consciousness.

When I decided to move to Downingtown two years ago, I thought I was pouring all of myself into this process.  Now I realize that I was pouring myself as much as I could.  Since then I’ve discovered there is so much more of myself that I can invest.  Now I continuously look for more ways to invest myself.  What part of my life, of myself, of my Being, do I not want to NOT be infected with Grace, NOT be affected by yoga, NOT be immersed in the Self? I have decided that I want it all.

I have done the same with my finances this year.  When I put together my personal budget for the year, I kept asking myself, “How can I manage my money to get closer to God? How can I invest my money into finding and being my own Self?” What a wonderful way to look at this powerful resource, money.  I made the decision to continue to tithe 10% to the Ashram and to allocate other funds for additional donations throughout the year.

Your Ashram Board of Directors have also made the decision to invest more into the Ashram.  Jointly, they have contributed $22,000 in matching fund donations.  Please join us in giving more to the Ashram.  Any donation you make will be doubled! You will invest in your Self as well as support the Ashram in helping others know and live from the One Self Being All.

Click here to read more about Investing in Your Ashram.  Click here to get your donation doubled.

Reported by Matrika Gast

“Such a beautiful gift” is how Frances Amery describes Swami Nirmalananda’s Year-Long Programme (YLP).  “I take the course every year,” she says, “because it opens me to Guru’s Grace, that supports me going along my way in life.”

“In 1974 I tried to find meditation training,” recalls Frances.  “I took several different courses, but none helped me.  Over the years, I read many books on meditation.  None were helpful.  Then about a decade ago, I took my first Svaroopa^® Vidya Meditation class, taught by Rudrani Nogue.  It was what I’d always sought.  What I had been looking for all those years was the power of Grace, though I did not know what to call it at the time.”

Now Frances is grateful for the YLP distance learning that lets her study with Swami Nirmalananda without leaving her Calgary home.  “I am lucky not to have to climb a mountain in Kashmir to receive these ancient teachings on being enlightened.  I simply click a button to download Swamiji’s articles, listen to her discourse audios and join the conference calls for group discussion.  Her articles are deep and rich.  In the current programme, Enlightenment in the Midst of Life, I am amazed by how she captures and conveys the infinite dimensions of enlightenment in plain English.  Her easy-to-understand words are organized so clearly.  Eloquent, expansive and expanding, her audios deepen my experience further.  I listen again and again and again.  I transcribe them to integrate her teachings more deeply.

“I’m pulled into knowing.  The teachings draw me in like a magnetic tractor beam.  I feel they are so clearly right.  They tell of things greater than what I am able to understand right now.  Still, I have a sense of knowing things I can’t articulate yet.  Even as a little girl ‘I knew’ things.  I recognize that same inner knowing in Swamiji’s teachings.  They affect every aspect of my being: heart, intellect, physical body, and behavior.  Sometimes a teaching gives me a course correction.  ‘Oh no! I’ve not being doing what I should.’ I appreciate the wake-up nudge! No one else in my life could set me straight in such a way.”

Frances says discussion with others on the conference calls supports her own process.  She senses that Swamiji knows what’s going on with everyone.  She says, “Swamiji gives you what you need.  She knows what a person needs to hear.  We learn from each other as well.  I am touched by the authenticity and generosity of those who share their experiences.  I hear something and think, ‘Yes, that’s the same for me.’

“And there’s more.  Swamiji herself is a model of how to be.  Her teachings radiate with Truth.  It’s the concise way she presents vast information.  It’s the humor and the clarity.  Paradoxically, the course draws me into my Own Self within.  Specific teachings provide me with insightful understanding and instructions for concrete action.  I especially rely on her poem, which so beautifully captures the main point of the whole course:

You don’t have to leave the world

You don’t have to change the world

It is impossible to change the world

It is impossible to leave the world

All you have to do is know your Self.

—Swami Nirmalananda

“Swami’s teachings are rich and deep, yet not complicated.  ‘It’s not easy but it’s not complicated,’ she says.  The power of Grace comes through.  In this year’s Programme I’m experiencing a deeper understanding.  When I hear her teachings this time, they click in a new way.  I see links and connections I did not see before.  More and more, I recognize my Self.”