By Matrika Gast

I found true education and personal growth only when I encountered Swami Nirmalananda and the Svaroopa^® Sciences.  In high school, I learned that “educate” is related to educere, Latin for “to lead forth that which is hidden.” I was thrilled by this! More and more education — that would lead the best of me (covered by adolescent issues) from inside to outside. I would bloom. I would fly with brightly colored wings. College, graduate school and becoming an academic myself left me still looking.

Foundations taught me how to align myself and others in primary spinal openers, poses that I had already fallen in love with.  Already certified and teaching in another yoga style for six years, I was stunned at the challenge of Foundations. I had to learn to learn in a new way, an exponentially deeper way. Experiential, embodied learning was beyond me. I had been dropped into a foreign land with a language I’d never heard before. No way was my facile mind going to carry the day.

Yet, though uncomfortable and frustrated, I somehow knew I belonged in this strange land. Trainings, retreats and conversations with Swamiji have begun to lead forth that which had been hidden in me all along. The first step was dissolving my delusion that I could depend on my analytical mind to figure out the right answers. I had to slow down, lean inward and really look inside myself to get a sense of what is deeply inside.

Within me emerged a resonance with Swamiji’s teachings, which inform all Svaroopa^® Sciences programs, both meditation and asana. I began to experience the knowing that I am the Self, and everyone is the Self, whether they know it or not. It’s the knowing that Shiva is being me, and being you. Even when you’re having a bad time, Shiva is having a fine time being you. That teaching has helped dissolve many opaque layers of contracted attitudes, behaviors and identities. Through the past 12 years, my Svaroopa^® Sciences education, slowly and surely, has led “the hidden” in me into the light, inside and outside.

For me the greatest amazement of this education is seeing that its process is more than just great teachings. The ingredient of a Great Teacher, the presence of the Guru, is essential. Decades ago I had a friend who had a guru in another lineage. I could see she was a successful, intelligent, respectable and professionally respected individual. But when she talked about the power she felt in the presence of her guru, I figured some part of her was just nuts. I knew I was never going to be that, well, off track. I certainly had no inclination to go in that direction!

That memory is a measure of personal growth, fostered through Svaroopa^® Sciences education. It’s led forth the knowing of what IS, in myself, in my family, in friends and students — and in the world with all of its wonder, miracles and tragedies. Along with the teachings she carries to us from her Baba, Swami Nirmalananda’s presence is the fire beneath the pot transforming all ingredients into pure nourishment.  And I’m eating my fill.

By Lisa Hansen

When I read Swamiji’s July contemplation article “The Power of Manifesting,” I couldn’t believe the timing of it.  Swamiji is speaking directly to me, as this topic has been fresh on my mind.  As is often the case with many of us, right?   Then I remembered, ah of course, she is Guru.

I have been doing a lot of inner work for the last several months.  I’ve been learning language skills online, in order to better use my mind.  The result is I feel better and better, yet it may be time to wind that practice down. The reason I say this is because I have been asking Swamiji for help with manifesting.  I feel like I have been in a holding pattern of non-action.  My emotional and mental work has been the action part of my day, including my yoga practices of chanting and meditation.

I now realize I have been sitting and “waiting” for the universe to deliver to me what I have asked for.  As if my business would just grow by itself!  As if my excess weight will magically fall off!  This article was exactly what I need to shine light and wisdom into my naive perception, just what I need to break through this stagnation.

I have been asking Swamiji for help with my business recently, and also with weight loss (I laughed when she used the weight loss analogy in the article).  I feel like she is answering me – with this article.  She said to set an intention and, “still, you have to roll up your sleeves and do it!”  It was one of the missing pieces for me.  Now it seems so silly to expect to increase my business and lose weight without doing my part!   I can clearly see now that manifestation is a co-creating experience:  one must participate along with God by taking action.   I feel a renewed energy stirring up inside of me of INSPIRED ACTION!

My work is all about helping others.  That is how I started out to build what is now a prosperous business.   Somewhere along the way, my motive became about materialistic gain.   I can also see that I didn’t have balance between being in service to others and self-
care, so burnout happened as I gave, gave, gave.  In other words, I didn’t have a yoga practice in place, nor a Guru, to replenish what I was able to give out.  My vessel became empty.  I can see that now.

It had come effortlessly in the beginning when I was in service to others, but manifesting became a struggle and hard work.  I am renewed now, to serve others graciously AND keep it in balance this time, taking care of me, too.  I can see that what was missing was Grace.  With Divine Grace, manifesting with the right motive happens with ease.  Your actions are fueled by that Grace.  Thus, actions are not depleting, they are replenishing!

I am full of deep gratitude for this clarification!

Reports gathered by Vibhuti King

“She is the power of Grace, Consciousness revealing my own divinity to me.  The wielder of the Shakti is one with the Shakti.” — Vidyadevi Stillman (teaching about the Guru)

“The great ‘wielder of Shakti’, Swami Nirmalananda opens me to a myriad of experiences.  Kundalini snakes through my whole spine, from tail to top. Lights, heat, movements on the physical, mental and emotional levels, culminating in tears of anguish and tears of joy.  One thread runs throughout all these experiences: the unmistakable familiarity of what has been opened up in me — of who I am and have always been.  As this awareness surges through, I remember Swamiji’s teaching, ‘The Self knows the Self.’   This flow of Grace is precisely why she is a Guru:  darkness turns into light, the subtle becomes perceptible, the hidden is known, the mystical stands revealed.”  — Jyoti Yacobi

“My experience was wonderful. My heart was opened immensely. I felt joyously overcome with gratitude. When I returned home, I felt like I had come back to earth from the moon. Everything seemed heavier than it was in the presence of Swami. I must admit that although I did add more time to my daily meditation practice as Vidyadevi urged us to, I did not amp up my practice enough. I learned my lesson.” — Phil Milgrom

“So does anyone else see some irony here? I had some rather dramatic stuff happen at the retreat and when I got home relapse started kicking in.  I woke the next morning to a clogged kitchen sink.  We had to open the trap in the cellar and ummmm use a snake to pierce the clog so the gunk could be cleared…I’m doing more meditation, lots more meditation. I expect the gunk will clear soon.” — Shanti Catacchio (by email)

“I love the metaphor and parallel. When I returned from India 2013 my sink also clogged except the snake did not work and the pipe burst.  Hmmmmm.” — Lajja Mitchell (email reply)

“Thanks for sharing.  Jacinthe came home to a double door freezer that had been left open while in Massachusetts, while her husband was also away. She is a great cook and had tons of food that she had prepared and frozen.  She lost every item.  Putting each one in the garbage, she is calm and still smiling.” — Manini Martin (email reply)

Grace continues to transform us…

Nityaa Robin Blankenship

I am always looking at the Ashram calendar online, plotting a get-away to Lokananda for more yoga!   When I received a postcard about the four-day DIY Heart Openers retreat, I realized it was during my vacation and I could attend.

Tendonitis in my wrists was my initial reason for beginning Svaroopa® yoga seven years ago.  It healed, but I still have a lot of tension in my shoulders, neck, head and hands.  While the vertebrae behind the heart is the cause of that tension, it is difficult to unravel.  So, when I found this weekend focused on opening the heart, taught by Swami Nirmalananda and Rukmini, it was an easy decision to come.

Not only would the retreat provide physical and emotional openings, it was an opportunity to be in the presence of the Guru.   I feel so fortunate and lucky to have found my Guru – Swami Nirmalananda.  It is so rare and special in today’s world to have a link to the Grace
and wisdom of the ancient yogic teachings through an unbroken lineage.

It seemed as if the poses were selected from my personal list of “most difficult poses!”   Matsyasana (not to be confused with Supported Fish), Purvo Arms, Yoga Sit-ups and Dhanurasana Leg Diagonal were difficult for me. I was actually sweating just sitting doing Purvo Arms with abs.  I rarely sweat doing yoga; Kundalini was doing her work!  Yes, I had avoided doing and teaching these poses.  Of course they are the ones I need.

I received some helpful insights in the partner pairings that made the poses easier. It was fun to meet other yogis who also have a deep practice, some who teach and some who do not.  Swamiji led us in a wonderful deeper Shavasana with a guided awareness of inner light, plus we had an opportunity to ask her questions in a Q & A session.

It was rich weekend of yoga practices, including chanting, meditation and guided Vichara. Sitting at a table drinking frozen margaritas with Swamiji at the festive Mexican style luncheon at the Ashram was a Divine tantra –weaving the sacred and the mundane in a delightful way.   There was no alcohol in the margaritas of course, none was needed as we were all in a state of bliss just being there!

If I had known how great this course was, I would have taken the whole series. Yogis who took all three DIY Retreats participated in follow-up phone calls to share their experiences.

I received tools to take home with me, including a daily practice that is unraveling the next layer of tension in my body and mind.  It is getting easier to do the difficult poses by doing them everyday.

I experience a greater capacity for love and an opening into my heart center.  I realize the experience of love is not dependent on the external triggers of my family members, pets and music.  Love exists inside as a quality of the Self.  We learned that love begins with self-love, and I found a sacred place in the cave of my heart that is a deeper opening into my Self. This course was exactly what I needed… and more.

By Swami Nirmalananda

An organization dedicated to transformation will undergo transformation.  Those dedicated to spiritual upliftment will transform and change.  Since an organization is made up of the people who participate in it, as they change, the organization will change.

Athleticism is leading the Western yoga world, so the emphasis is no longer on the spiritual growth envisioned by the sages of India.  Fortunately, working on stronger and ever more impressive poses gives the payoff of brief spiritual highs.  These highs happen whether you’re climbing mountains, jogging, lifting weights, playing tennis or doing Sun Salutations.

Transformation means “a new form.”  Is it possible to take a purely spiritual yoga and fit it into the athletic mold?  Yes.  That’s what I did when I taught in yoga conferences, so now I’ve done it with our Teacher Training.  While Svaroopa^® yoga is a spiritual science, it provides you with distinct and tangible physical changes.  To place the benefits center stage and shine the light on them is easy.

Transformation means the underlying premise of our Teacher Trainings has been metamorphosized, like a butterfly in a chrysalis.  The same DNA turns out an entirely different creature:  a butterfly instead of a worm.

Previously, my approach was to present each pose in its fullness.  Now our trainings are about the interlinking between the poses.  This is actually how learning works.  You don’t learn all 21 variations on AltLeg in your first yoga class.  The basic AltLeg does so much for you!  All your other poses improve, as does your inner state, an opening all the way into your essence.

We’ve always focused on this opening, but do you need 21 ways of getting it in AltLeg?  No.  You only need to learn them if you want to teach advanced classes or if you want to be a yoga therapist.  Thus, our new Teacher Training gives you these opportunities without forcing them on you.  You learn each variation only when you need it.

Applying this premise to the structure of our training turns our Eiffel tower into a geodesic dome.  Instead of a pointed structure reaching for the sky, we have a dome rounding into itself, with each triangle supporting all the others.  Every pose supports all the others, and together they support you.  Every Svaroopa^® yoga YTT or ATT course you’ve taken will still give you full credit toward your Continuing Ed and new certification levels.  And we’ll have more easily accessible certifications and new poses coming in.  Full information and the 2017 calendar is coming for you next week!

By Matrika Gast

“If you’re doing yoga, you are on the path toward Enlightenment. When you are enlightened, who will you be? What will you be like? What are you going to see when you open up your eyes?”

It can be hard to answer Swamiji’s question. But that’s exactly why we have a Guru, that’s why we are in relationship with our Guru, Swami Nirmalananda. And that gives us a lot to celebrate on Guru Purnima, the night of July 19. For thousands of years, on this fullest moon of the year, sages and disciples have honored their Masters, whose teachings gave them enlightenment. As modern yogis, we too honor our Guru, “Giver of the upwelling light/Your own Self….” (Shree Guru Gita, verse 10)

Interviewing Swamiji about Guru Purnima, I confessed, “I really can’t imagine what it would be like to be Self-realized.” She replied, “It would be so easy. The way you think, breathe and live, your life now is so hard.” As she wrote in her July teachings article, we carry around a backpack full of sand. We do this even while she teaches us how to loosen the straps and set that load down for good. Swamiji shows you what being Self-Realized looks like. Talk with her, and you hear voice and words radiant with the light of consciousness. “You are the light of consciousness,” she says. All any of us needs to do is open our eyes and see it.

How fortunate to study with her! She has attained yoga’s promise of living from Self, Consciousness-Itself. Some months ago, I tearfully admitted that a life situation had made me terribly angry. She simply said, “If you were in your Self, you would not be angry.” Without a doubt, I knew that was the Truth. Thankfully, I turned to more than a decade of her teachings and her living example to get me back on track. On Guru Purnima I have much to celebrate.

With this festival just five days away, plan now how you will honor your Guru, her Guru, and his Guru as well. On the East Coast, the moment the moon becomes full is 6:59 pm, but it’s not yet dark! You can celebrate later, when night finally arrives, or any time in the next day and a half. During this time of the brightest light in the darkness, Guru’s Grace flows most fully. Living within driving distance of Lokananda, you have the splendid prospect of Swami Nirmalananda’s satsang on that Tuesday at 7:30 pm. Further away, plan your own festivities with Svaroopa® Science practices.

By Matrika Gast

In spiritual and religious traditions worldwide, light is a symbol or metaphor for the Divine. Yoga says light is more than a symbol. The sages say you can know your inner light experientially as your Self, which is Consciousness-Itself, your own Divine Essence. Swami Nirmalananda renders Verse 10 of “Srii Guru Gita as follows:

Birth is into not-knowingness,
spellbound by Maayaa’s worldly dance.
Giver of the upwelling light
of your own Self is called Guru.

As teacher, the Guru instructs you in the practices that open you inward to your own Divine Radiance. As conduit of Grace, the Guru transmits the powerful initiation of Shaktipat Diksha.  She also teaches how you cooperate with the inner force that is burning within you, in-light-ening you day by day.

The ancients celebrated the bountiful blessing of Guru’s light during the July full moon. As modern yogis, we do the same. During this biggest full moon of the year, Swamiji is offering a free satsang on July 19^th at 7:30 pm, with a discourse, chant and sweet meditation. If you are not in the Downingtown area, plan your own celebration with Svaroopa® practices. On the East Coast, the moment the July moon becomes full is 6:59 pm, not yet dark! But you can plan to celebrate later, when night finally arrives, and even within the next day and a half while the moon remains full. During this time of the brightest light in the darkness, the Guru’s Grace flows most fully.

Dear Svaroopis,

I want to thank those of you who donated both funds and time to our Support Equals Release fundraising campaign.  In a few weeks we have raised over $16,000 to support many important functions in our Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram.  I want to share with you my experience with this campaign, and the way that this theme is blossoming within our community.

We talk about support and release in so many ways, but I watched it grow so beautifully in the sense of community supporting community. We had two phone-a-thon events with sevites reaching out to members of our community. Each phone-a-thon lasted 3 hours, and there was a Board Member “cheerleader” online with the sevites (in a chatroom) offering support.

I had the opportunity to be a cheerleader and watched as these wonderful and dedicated Svaroopis reached out to other Svaroopis, both offering support as well as asking for support. The reports we got back were so amazing! While the purpose was to raise funds in a different and fun way, the result was a deepening and strengthening of our yoga community, our kula.

Do not be disappointed if you did not get a call, as there are many more of you than there were hours and sevites, but it is our plan to continue this tradition of yogis reaching out to yogis.  Who else but another Svaroopi understands the path you are on and can bring you back to your Self in a phone call? Some of you are in locales where there are only a few Svaroopis or maybe you are the lone wolf. No matter! You have a community, a spiritual family, a virtual GeoCenter! And getting back to your Self can be just a phone call to another Svaroopi away, or a visit to the website to listen to a free recording of one of Swamiji’s satsangs, or attending a class or enrolling for a program.

One of our Ashram’s primary sources of financial support is donations. Our purpose is to open you to your Self, through Swamiji’s teachings, our programs and online services.  Your donations are so vital, as well as your enrollments in the wonderful program offerings. But one of the most important things is community. Support from the community, to the community, equals release.

In gratitude and in service,
Amala Lynn Cattafi
SVA Board President

By Prakash (David) Falbaum, SVA Board Member

I was raised in a Jewish family and we went to synagogue every Sabbath. When I was in my teens, my dad had a stroke and was out of work for a year. With no money coming in, it wasn’t possible to buy the necessary tickets for services during High Holidays. The great angst suffered by my family as a result helped turn me away from religion. Before I encountered Svaroopa® yoga, I would not have considered myself spiritual. I had a very hard shell.

But once I took my first Svaroopa® yoga class, everything began to change. Within a few months, I had communicated directly with Swami Nirmalananda about the openings in body, mind and heart that the practices created. Her response to my questions and her guidance — her support of me — propelled me into deep transformation.

Feeling gratitude for the healing practices of the Svaroopa® Sciences, I talked to another yogi about the practice of dakshina, contributing financially to support the source of these teachings. I learned that even giving a dollar for dakshina was enough. So I made a small donation to our Ashram. Just as with all the Svaroopa® Sciences, the unexpected arose. That initial gift returned an immense reward to me, release that I could never have imagined. It continued to unravel all the stuck stuff in my heart. Giving just a couple of dollars began to melt that armor enclosing my heart.

Since then, my consistent, committed support of the Ashram has meant the continuing easy expansions of my experiences of my own Self. The Grace of the Guru has enabled me to pierce through layers and layers of maya. I continue to have experiences that release me from any doubt and steep me in the experience of my Self. The layers that obscure my view of myself as Consciousness-Itself simply let go and peel away.

Benefits arise outside as well as inside. Before Svaroopa® yoga, I projected an aloof and unapproachable image. In social situations, everyone would just talk to my wife. All my “hard heart” projection kept people away. But the Svaroopa® Sciences cracked me open so that I could move into the spiritual depths. I became spiritual without knowing I was becoming spiritual. Now people are drawn to me, and I am able to share myself joyfully, from the depths of my Self.

Besides financial support, my gratitude for the Grace of the Guru leads me to offer seva to our Ashram. So I serve as “web wizard.” I know firsthand that when anyone in our community needs the support of the teachings, they can access audio and print teachings as Freebies from Swamiji 24/7. But the online presence of Freebies is not without costs. Other sevite work does help in maintaining easy access to our 1,500 high-quality online pages. But paid staff is necessary for making immediate updates when something important to community changes, and for daily coordination of our enrollment system. We must engage IT experts to integrate seamlessly the complex moving parts for our virtual portal into the Svaroopa® Sciences. This virtual Ashram, which supports all of us in sustaining our yogic lives, requires ongoing care and maintenance like any other home. This is just one element of the operational costs of the Ashram, the source of support that frees us from limitations.

The Ashram needs your financial support to provide the yogic release that makes such a difference in our lives, inside and outside. Please join me in giving as generously as possible in our Support = Release campaign. Especially beneficial to planning and budgeting is your monthly contribution, so please consider giving support in that form. To donate, click here or call 610.644.7555.