By Aanandi (Annie) Ross

This month’s teachings article, Physical, Prana, Mind & More…, set me pondering my experience of the maayaa-koshas, the five coverings that keep you from knowing you are Shiva. They are levels of contracted Consciousness, “…your ‘five bodies’, the levels that Consciousness takes on to become you.”

For much of my life, I have had an involved experience of anna-maayaa-kosha, the physical body, shaped, nurtured and sustained by food (“anna” in Sanskrit).  I have always been interested and involved in creating healthy, delicious food. In the 80’s I studied macrobiotics, then at the Institute for Food and Healing in NYC.  I taught cooking classes and catered my students’ weddings and parties.  Then I studied Ayurveda.

Recently I’ve been wrestling with a food situation for months. My partner gives a weekly talk at a small local church. After his talk, there is a dinner, lovingly prepared by caring members of the congregation. It is not the kind of food I usually choose to eat. So often I’ve said to myself, “I will not eat this food tonight. I’ll go home early, or just visit and not eat.”  Yet, over years, that actually happened only once or twice. Most of the time I eat the meal, while enjoying the company of the small group. I wrestle with this situation weekly. So I asked myself, “Why am I faced with this, week after week?  What can I learn here?”

After reading Physical, Prana, Mind & More…, I’ve come to see that something’s happening in the processes of a deeper level than my “food body.” Loosening my hold on anna-maayaa-kosha let me pay attention to subtler levels and look deeper. The experience of gratitude is playing in my mind, mano-maayaa-kosha. I realize I am so fortunate to have choice in what I eat. If I were in a third-world country or in prison, I would have little or no choice of food. So now I simply bless the congregation’s food and eat it, with great gratitude.

Wow, mano-maayaa-kosha, the mind, is a big one!  From childhood through adulthood I have experienced hefty confusion, including a lot of disorganization and chaos in my life. I’ve wondered, “Where does this come from?” It has been reflected in my inability to keep order in my house, paperwork, my mind, my life. But lately, I have turned a corner, so to speak, gotten over the hump. I have found what I’ve been looking for in the midst of this chaos: the experience of just being in my Self.  I notice that now, bit by bit, I create small pockets of order. I do more “deep cleaning.”  Along with that, my body is experiencing a major phase of clearing: Kundalini is presenting me with much inner chiropractor work.

http://www.srivyuha.org

My experience of vij~nana-maayaa-kosha, the “Truth” body, has also been extraordinary.  Ten years ago,  I used the Internet and googled the name I knew as that of my biological father. Since the age of 12, I had known about him, but we had never met. The Internet search brought up an article he had authored. When I read his words, I knew in Truth this was my father. Even before I had any tangible evidence that this man was my father, I was confident in telling the world I had found him. A while later, it was amazing to actually meet him in Israel.

When I come to aananda-maayaa-kosha, the bliss body, I have a wonderful childhood memory. I was 7 or 8 years old, up on a hilltop at night, looking out at the dazzling city lights. The moment was ecstatic, blissful beyond words. I know now I was experiencing the pure delight of Shakti, all the sparkle and creation, in my bliss body.

And now, through my Svaroopa® yoga practices, I know there is even more! Tat Tvam Asi: Thou art THAT — the Self that’s I’ve always been seeking. The wonder of Svaroopa® yoga is that it focuses on the Self, while working on all your bodies simultaneously.  In “Celebrating Light (December 2016), Swamiji said, “Accepting your small-s self is part of finding your capital-S Self.”

Our current month’s article, along with Guru’s Grace, has helped me experience the layers of my small-s self. This process has enabled me also to heed her warning: “The problem is you get enamored with your bodies.” Instead of getting stuck in a “covering” over my Self, the teachings of this article have lovingly moved me into and through my small-s self, level by level.

This has opened me to her final guidance, “Deepen into the core of your being and allow your radiance to shine from inside out.” Thus, I am becoming more and more established in That.  Along the way, more and more japa is a great support!

By Maureen Shortt

Ayurveda describes how we live within, as well as embody, the energies of nature: space, air, fire, water, and earth. Each has qualities that we can perceive relative to the other energies. For instance, we know that air is light relative to the heaviness of earth. We know that water is cool relative to the heat of fire.

The seasons also have energies relative to one another. We can perceive the humidity and heat of the summer months relative to the dryness and cold of winter. Moving toward the summer months, pitta season, you will find it helpful to apply Ayurvedic principles. They enable you to maintain your best health and to stay open to your knowing of your own Divinity.

One Ayurvedic principle is that “like increases like” which means that the heat and moisture of summer outside increase the heat and moisture inside your body and mind. This excess of pitta energy can show up as skin conditions, fevers, allergies, inflammation, reflux, loose stools, frustration, anger or pressure.

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To avoid these problems as you move into and through summer, make simple lifestyle choices to support healthy Pitta. Pitta-friendly veggies include asparagus, green beans, cucumbers, summer squashes, avocadoes and fennel. Continue eating lots of cooked greens.  For raw greens, and add oil; think salad dressing.  For fruits in summer, indulge in cooling melons as well as seasonal sweet fruits such as peaches, apricots, berries, apples, coconuts, dates and figs.

Balanced summer grains include amaranth, oats, quinoa and wheat. Combine them with mung beans and split mung as well as the small beans like lentils. For dairy, stick with soft cheeses like cottage cheese or goat cheese. Keep your yogurt to a minimum as the sour taste aggravates pitta. Cilantro, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cardamom will keep your digestive fire going without over-stimulating it.

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Within the rest of your summer lifestyle, think cool and relaxed. The lifestyle word for pitta is “moderation.” Enjoy the coolness of shade. Walking by water, especially under a full moon, balances pitta beautifully. Wear cool colors like whites, blues and purples. Be easy on yourself. Don’t over commit. Do give yourself plenty of time for long Shavasanas. This way you will welcome the lightness and Consciousness-expansiveness of pitta season.

By Janet Neff

My Foundations experience was powerful and positive. Yet I never expected to work so hard during those few days. Everything I was learning seemed completely overwhelming! But I got used to the pace. And during the week that followed it all sank in. Then I realized how very much I had absorbed.

Much of what I heard slowly seeped into my head, my mind, my body and my heart. I learned new words, poses, adjustments and facility in using the handouts. I gained ease in moving my body (and arranging blankets!). I learned about the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism along with meditation and chanting. All was so deep and enriching.

Now when I do the poses in my own practice, I hear the voices of my Foundations Teachers and Yogeshwari Fountain, my local teacher, too! I know more about what is behind it all. My experience in my local class as well as my personal practice is enriched because this thorough learning is taught by knowledgeable and experienced yogis. I also experienced deep physical, mental and emotional openings. I felt that our meditation and chanting sessions helped to solidify our learning and focus our mind and energy.

During the course, I learned the poses and how to teach them with different partners. I observed how that process breaks down barriers. Afterward, I felt closer to every person I worked with. Those I did not get to work with still felt a little bit like strangers to me. Next time, I’ll make sure to partner with every person in our group, if possible.

To me, this experience showed that barriers break down if we get close enough to touch people in healing ways. We see other persons with a more loving and open heart. I am so grateful for the experience. I am so grateful to Yogeshwari for opening the way to my Svaroopa^® yoga exploration. I’m not sure yet whether or not I will teach, or whether Foundations will be for my personal experience alone. In time, it will all be revealed. Of that I’m sure.

By Dhananjaya King

Guruji teaches us to live in a way that uplifts the world. She teaches us to live in the fullness of the capital “S” Self.  She has dedicated more than half of her life to attain the ultimate and bring those teachings and practices to us. Guruji has provided a rich tool kit for those who want to pursue the ultimate goal, those who are driven to teach and those that want to relieve their own pain. Yet Guruji provides even more than the teachings and practices. She showers us with the Grace of the lineage.

Over the centuries people who were called would sell all their belongings. They would leave their home and family to pursue what Guruji and the Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram programs offer us. As her devotee and disciple, I consider it a privilege and obligation to preserve the lineage through practice, scholarship and support. As a yogi or yogini, you are reading this now because one or more teachers or spiritual advisors pointed you in the right direction.

I came to yoga to heal my body and stop the pain. What I found was a teacher who spoke of the Divine. That teacher led me through the healing practice to the Divine relationship we all long to cultivate. Don’t get me wrong. I came to yoga to help me with the rest of my life and it did. The pain was soon gone. I was back “doing” my life even faster with more energy and capacity. It was years before I actually started to see and feel my body. I was slow to understand the true message my teacher was bringing me.

Ultimately, the changes in body and mind were fueled by the Grace of Swami Muktananda and Bhagawan Nityananda. They were delivered by Guruji through my teacher to me. I am learning to allow “Doing” in the world to arise from “Being” in my Self. I want to be self-realized, and I am committed to helping anyone else who is pursuing that same goal. If that goal compels you, too, there are three ways in which you can support it.

One facet of the Ashram’s mission is to support those who have the calling to teach Svaroopa^® yoga. We must enable them to live in the world while they are training to be the next generation of yogis and yoginis. When you donate during our “Inspiring the Next Generation” campaign, you can specify that your contribution goes to expanding our scholarship program.

Or you may want to donate to Swami Support. That donation goes toward freeing Guruji for more teaching, more writing, more of what uplifts each of us in this community and reaches into the wider world. A third option for your donation is to the General Fund, which supports the Ashram infrastructure of staff, utilities, information technology, facility maintenance, etc. etc.

Please join me in making a donation, in any amount that fits your budget. You will facilitate the progress and success of your yoga community. Ensure the flow of Grace is strong and unbroken.

Collected by the SVA Communications Team

“How can I begin to express my gratitude for His gift. He gave me to me.” — Swami Nirmalananda

MahaShaktipat is the ultimate gift, the initiation into Knowingness and Beingness. Swamiji celebrates May 31st as her birth into her Self, more important than the day on which she was born into this world.  Thus, May 31st is a Holy Day for us. It was the day our Guru received what she now gives to those of us who would like to receive the ultimate.

Maitreyi Margie Wilsman

I received my first intentional Shaktipat at a Retreat in Boston. Yogeshwari sponsored it at a retreat center. I went to support her (strange reason) since she had come to teach here in Wisconsin so many times. I arrived a day early and, with others, helped her set up. I helped with making photo copies of Sri Guru Gita for each of us to use. It was quite an effort, but we did it on time in a little town nearby. We were so excited.

Whatever started there opened my heart more fully to Swamiji as my Guru. Since then, I have never doubted her nor what she asks me to do. During the weekend, my heart felt like it was bursting open inside my chest — again and again. I did not fully understand Kundalini. I was not ready for all she was doing inside and outside for me.  But now her work continues.

My gratitude is unlimited and just grows and grows. How can that be possible? Swamiji is the best role model in sharing her continual gratitude towards Baba, her Guru and my Grandpa Guru. As her May 31st Shaktipat birthday approaches. my love goes out to her, to Baba, and to Nityananda too — and on to the entire lineage. We do all reside as One in my heart. We are all together in the flow of Guru’s Grace that is unending.

Chiti Aion

My first Shaktipat was March 5 2016, at Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram. The month before, I briefly met Swamiji for the first time before at Foundations. At Foundations, the stirrings of Divine energy, which I had felt in the past, were given the name of Kundalini.

I went into the program not knowing what to expect, but I had a deep knowing that this she was my Guru and this was my path. The first day, I experienced the halahala poison of doubt and anxiety. The second day, my Guruji burned away my doubts and gave me direct experience and access to my Self within. I experienced heart opening kriyas that gave me the capacity to accept my Guruji’s love. By the end of the retreat, I was full to the brim! Swamiji gave me everything, and I lay my head at her feet in gratitude and loving service.

Shanti Catacchio

My first intentional Shaktipat occurred at a retreat in Massachusetts in 2012. The following February, I was off to India with Swamiji, spending time in Ganeshpuri and then on to the Maha Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, the largest gathering on earth. I had no intention of going to India when I set off to see what Shaktipat was all about. I could list hundreds of reasons for not being the “go to India” kind of person. Through the gift of Shaktipat, however, I found another layer of my being, one less defined by my fears and limitations. I went to India as Ellan and came home as Shanti. The changes in me caused ripples through my family as well.  So far I have not felt the need to go back to India, but I have gone to many Shaktipat retreats. I intend to attend more, because each time another layer of my own Divinity is revealed to me.

Nityaa Robin Blankenship

My first Shaktipat was on June 20 2013 in North Andover MA. Swamiji told us there were different intensities of Shaktipat, which reminded me of the different intensities of espresso. On the first day, it felt to me like a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. When Swami touched me, I felt energy rise up and go through my upper back and neck where it had previously been blocked. I felt Kundalini go all the all the way up into my head, then down into my hands.

My hands stretched straight in front of me and my fingers extended and froze for a moment. My mind said, “Should I be scared that my hands will stay paralyzed?” I decided not to be scared. I felt so safe.

I felt like a lever on a faucet had been opened in my lower spine. Something changed in that place forever after that. I kept that feeling of awareness in my lower spine for a long time.

Rudrani Nogue

My first intentional Shaktipat experience was not the explosive “aha” moment my mind was hoping for. Instead, I was given “more” — an ongoing, inextinguishable yearning for Self, Grace, God and Guru. Guru’s Grace and my daily practices continue to unwrap Swamiji’s gift of awakened Consciousness. This initiation was the gift of my life. I am forever filled with amazement and gratitude to Swamiji.

Matrika Gast

My first Shaktipat experience happened in (probably) April 2000. Swami Nirmalananda (then Rama) gave a heart opening weekend in a studio where I taught another yoga style. There were towers of plaid blankets that she had shipped from San Diego to Concord MA.

In Supported Fish, a bonfire raged in my low back. I was given a folded blanket to support my hips. Less fire, more confusion. “I’m a yoga teacher. Why am I the only one in this room of 20 students who needs extra propping?” Of course, the physical reason was a super-tight spine. But looking back, I see that fire as Kundalini, fueled by Swamiji’s Presence. I am thankful to say that conflagration began clearing the way. It led me onto the Svaroopa^® Vidya path. It continues to burn through “stuff” on my way to Self.

Saguna Goss

I was at my first retreat with Swami (Rama back then). After the second night of our program, she told us that we might get the call to meditate at 3 am. While I was excited about the possibility, I was also doubtful. I had been trying to be a morning person for over a decade and was failing miserably. But, sure enough, at 3 am, I woke up, and the call to meditate was very tangible. I sat to meditate.

After a few minutes of japa repetition, in the distance I could hear what I called “white noise.” As it grew louder, I realized it was Om — or what we approximate when we say “Om.” As I sat, I experienced Om vibrating. It drew closer and closer permeating all objects animate and inanimate. I could tell that it was going to permeate me as well, but I could not let it. I opened up eyes in wonder of the experience I just had. It felt like only a few minutes had passed, but when I looked at the clock it had been over an hour.

Karen Schaub

I went to my first Shaktipat knowing very little about Kundalini and even less about Shaktipat diksha. I simply trusted that I wanted the “more.” It was quite an awakening! I remember having Guruji touch my forehead for the first time. In that instant it felt as though she was reaching down through my head and spine right to my tailbone. I also remember seeing the image of doors, from which I looked out at the world, being blown open; as from a sudden gust of wind that scared some birds from the nearby trees. My view was forever changed.

By Rama Brooke, SVA Board Member

Contemplating the meaning of our spring fundraising campaign brings up immense gratitude for the current generation! Swami Nirmalananda has written about gratitude, saying:

To express your thanks is one of the easiest ways to melt your heart. To feel grateful is to pause in a moment of sweet surrender…  Yoga says, “Just let go!” Let yourself be overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment.  Give over to the majesty of the space between the ticks of the clock.  Gratitude is one of the best ways to do this.
— Swami Nirmalananda, November, 1996 Contemplation

Where would I be without the many teachers who have inspired me along this yoga path? I can think of many for whom I am so grateful. They include my dear friend who gave me her copy of the Primary Practice video tape 12 years ago. They include as well my local Svaroopa^® teacher, my Teacher Trainers and DTS mentors. Also included are the many “Guru siblings” from whom I learn so much as we cross these oceans together.

Of course, Swami Nirmalananda is the Foundation, the Essence, the Source. She carries her Baba’s teachings and keeps them alive, as he and many others carried Nityananda’s teachings. Now our newly trained Svaroopa^® yoga teachers and Svaroopa^® Vidya meditation teachers carry Swami Nirmalananda’s teachings far and wide in today’s world.

Where would we be without teachers!!

Please join me in this yogic practice of gratitude and sweet surrender. Inspire and support the next generation. Donate your one-time gift, or pledge your monthly contribution to our Scholarship Fund. The Ashram’s policy is to allocate 10% of tuitions to scholarships, and your donation will make it possible to expand this.

Or contribute to the Swami Support Fund and allow our Guru to focus more on teaching and writing, and less on administrative tasks. This, in turn, supports the next generation, as well as current teachers.

The choice is always yours. Do more yoga!

By Prakash Falbaum, Board Member

Recently I had lunch with a coworker who does yoga at her health club. Because her yoga teacher had left the club, she was looking for a new one. I suggested she find someone registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 200- or 500-hour level. I explained that would ensure the teacher is qualified.

Then I remembered that Swami Nirmalananda was the founding president of the Yoga Alliance. It’s inspiring to me that Swami helped develop training and accreditation standards for USA yoga teachers decades ago. She led the way for a whole generation of yoga teachers, myself included.

Swami gave me what she was given, the spark that lights the fire of yoga. Initially I had no desire to be on a spiritual path. But by just doing the Svaroopa® practices, I received shaktipat. I received spiritual awakening and everything that goes with it. It inspired me. If I could go to a class and receive this, I knew I needed to become a yoga teacher.

Swami Nirmalananda has also inspired me because she’s done things in the real world, like leading Yoga Alliance, starting an international yoga teacher training program and founding an Ashram. She has shown me that you can accomplish things. And you can do that from a deeper place within yourself.

My primary career is as a product development scientist. I have super-duper busy mind. I used to consider myself an intellectual, able to solve any problem. I was so wrapped up in my ability to think that it distanced me from others, and more importantly, from my Self. Like a fist, my mind used to be so tight it was useless. Because of the Svaroopa® practices and the path that Swami opened for me, my mind isn’t tight any more. I’m more creative and much more open to other people.  As a scientist now, I don’t immediately make my mind up about something. I am open to possibilities I wasn’t open to before. Solutions to problems come much easier than they did before.

I want others to have this kind of experience. So I see the value of providing scholarships for teacher training to continue taking Svaroopa® yoga into the world. If the next generation isn’t trained to carry on, the teachings will die. We rely on the teachers to show us the way. Swami asks, “What if we could triple our scholarship fund this year and make it so much easier for people to come?” It’s a challenge we on the Ashram Board is taking on. We respectfully ask for your help.

It’s also important to support our Master Teacher, Swami Nirmalananda. I want Swami to be writing, teaching and making recordings, not being an administrator. Anything we can do to free her from administrative work helps us become immersed in the One Self being all selves.

In our “Inspiring the Next Generation” spring fundraiser, I will be financially supporting those who have supported me, and those who will carry the teachings to new teachers. When you open your heart to donate, you open the door to Grace. I hope you will join me by making a donation that has significance for you, because this is really about you.

By Peter Gallagher, SVA Board Member

I am one of the few Board Members who has not taken Yoga Teacher Training (YTT). As a longtime student in my local Svaroopa® yoga class, I see what other students get. I am aware of Grace coming to me through Swami Nirmalananda. And I see they are receiving her Grace too. I see it in the ways that they change over time. Their physical changes — better health, more comfort — are visible and important.

But what goes on internally is even more essential, to them and their families, to our local community, and ultimately to the world. Even if they are not yet aware of the uplifting, it’s clear in their commentaries. Early on, their responses tend to focus on physical changes. Later, they experience a deeper internal change.

I see those same changes in myself. I know they come directly from my participation in, and cooperation with, what I have received. It comes from my teacher’s skillful, compassionate in-class guidance. Through my local teacher, Grace comes from Swamiji to my fellow students and to me.

As we students change, I also see how local teachers and our Weekend Workshop Leaders evolve over time. They get better at teaching! They embody the teachings. That embodiment empowers them to communicate much more fully to us students. Our enhanced well-being is good for us, for our families and friends, for our community. Yes, it’s a boon to humanity. Think six degrees of separation. Each of us who has been uplifted spiritually confers a portion of that inner change on everyone that we touch. The benefits spread more and more widely.

We who are Svaroopa^® yoga and meditation practitioners stand on the shoulders of those who have kept our lineage unbroken from ancient times, including Bhagawan Nityananda, his disciple Swami Muktananda, and Baba’s disciple — our own Guru, Swami Nirmalananda. Now let’s keep it going.

We understand the need to support younger teachers coming into YTT. As established householders, we know the realities of making a living and sustaining ourselves and family. We who are already established as householders know what the next generation of Svaroopa^® yoga teachers face as householders.

To inspire and prepare our next generation of Svaroopa^® yoga teachers, we as a community need to support the Ashram and to support the upcoming generation. Expanding our ability to provide scholarships to students in financial need can only happen through the generosity of those of us who have already received so much.

In short, the future of Svaroopa^® yoga and meditation needs your financial support. Please join me in contributing to our spring fundraiser, Inspiring Our Next Generation.

By Karuna Beaver

I used to practice an athletic yoga style, with a forceful Ujjayi Pranayama. It kept you breathing through the exertion. Taking my first Svaroopa^® yoga class, I was surprised at the soft and subtle Ujjayi practice. I was used to forcing my breath, sounding like Darth Vader. I didn’t know then that the Force was within.

While I loved my earlier yoga practice, it didn’t love me back. Or I should say it didn’t love my back. Pain sent me to yoga classes labeled “gentle” or “restorative.” My first Svaroopa^® yoga Shavasana didn’t lay me on a sweaty mat with an arched and achy back. Instead, with legs propped high, my back flattened and softened. I settled into the sound of my breath, and felt a wave of calm wash through me. My body felt the “love.” It still does. I love Ujjayi Pranayama, and it loves me back — and my back!

But now I know Ujjayi isn’t about the love or the calm. It’s about tapping into “the Force,” my own life force. It opens me into the “more” that I am. Swami Nirmalananda and Rukmini Abbruzzi’s recent contemplation article, “All You Need is…” says you don’t need love. Instead, you need Ujjayi Pranayama to tap into your life force and into your greater Essence. I can attest to this, and I imagine you can too.

Ujjayi Pranayama is a simple practice. Anyone can do it. You slightly exaggerate the sound of your breath, while listening to it, you sense the life force that moves through you. Yoga names this force prana. It is the pulsation of Shiva moving within Shiva. It’s a force to be reckoned with. Swami and Rukmini write, “Prana is the cosmic energy of aliveness that underlies everything that exists, including you.” When you are filled with prana, you are aware and tuned in. When your prana is low, so are you: disconnected, in mental or physical pain. Which would you rather be? It’s a no-brainer.

I have been practicing Ujjayi Pranayama for 20 minutes daily pretty much since I started Svaroopa^®  yoga more than a decade ago. In times of illness or injury, I have doubled my practice to 20 minutes or more twice daily. It works. It works on levels that I notice and on levels that I don’t yet have the discernment to understand.

Swami and Rukmini write that 20 minutes of Ujjayi Pranayama will balance your whole pranic system. Then you have the capacity to take things in and get rid of what you don’t need. You can evaluate and integrate what serves you. You bubble up with the energy of being vibrantly alive. Sounds like a pretty good trade for 20 minutes of your time each day!

While the benefits of Ujjayi Pranayama are profound, they are just the tip of the iceberg. You feel more alive, tap into your life force and experience the “love” that IS you, your own Self. All in 20 minutes a day. What a simple and profound prescription for a life filled to the brim, a life of knowing who and what you truly are — Shiva. As Swami says, do more Ujjyai.