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.



By Karuna Beaver, SVA Board Member
When you really identify the source from which it’s all coming, it works even better. A Guru’s life story revolves around their sadhana, or spiritual path. Just as Muktananda did before her, Swami Nirmalananda has invested her body, heart, wallet and intellect so that you can do as little or as much as you want. You can feel this support in your own practices. It’s the result of Swami Nirmalananda’s own deep and profound study and practice. She is the originator of the Svaroopa® Sciences, and yet will tell you that everything she received came from her Guru, Swami Muktananda.
The many Svaroopa® Sciences practices offer you support that releases you from your small sense of self and propels you to experience your Divine essence. How will you support the source? Your financial support is crucial to the Ashram’s ongoing offerings, as are your practices, including seva. Please do what you can this spring to support the source that makes your release possible. Support our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram by clicking
By Peter Gallagher
So my monthly contributions to the Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram come from two sources. First, my automatic monthly contribution stems from my gratitude for the support I have received. My monthly donation is also an expression of the process of releasing my financial fear. I’ve begun to think of the funds spent or saved to satisfy my wants as equivalent to “stuff.” I look at the way I’ve been utilizing money, and I see “stuff” stored in the basement and closets of my mind. This insight supports me in a conscious decision to utilize money better. This decision serves both to release me and to support the Ashram. Here we see Release = Support!
Ultimately, the flow of Guru’s Grace is responsible for the origination of the Svaroopa® Sciences that support us in this community in physical healing and spiritual progress. If you choose to become a teacher, the Svaroopa® Sciences protocols enable you to reliably pass this support to others. During the last 40 years, Swami Nirmalananda has given 32 years in teaching without pay. Yet what is given freely for our benefit is not free of cost.
Let what you have experienced on this path carry you forward in supporting our Ashram sweetly. Arrange for a monthly donation or increase it if you already give in this way. One-time contributions are also deeply appreciated and hugely beneficial.
By Karuna Beaver
So on your call, please reciprocate with a story. We hope you will also donate to the organization that supports your practices and process. We wish our program fees covered all of our expenses, but the truth of the matter is that they don’t. Running a yoga school and Ashram is not a money-making business. It really isn’t a business at all — it’s a non-profit spiritual service organization. And like all non-profits, we rely on donors to keep our doors open.
When I am not in that place, it’s a different story. I used to think of liberation promised by yoga only as an abstract concept. But after years of Swamiji’s Grace-filled teachings, like gentle rain subtly eroding stone, I can see the bedrock that keeps me from living deeply from Self. Strata after strata of stony “neediness” and, yes, “greediness,” have been laid down by avidya, the root of “not knowing myself as Consciousness It-Self.” Ugh. All of a sudden it’s clear that, in certain situations, most unpleasant reactions of hurt and anger arise when I don’t get what I want. Oh, wow! So much for the illusion of equanimity. What a waste of energy, what an ineffective way to live.
I am so looking forward to being free. A host of SVA website 
By Kristine Freeman
I had experienced this spiritual principle in the most unlikely place. Standing outside on a cold rainy day, filling my tank at our local gas station, I noticed the red neon sign: Powerball Jackpot, $361 Million. I thought about what I’d do if I won. I’d be able to pay off the mortgages on Lokananda and the Ashram. I’d be able to give Lokananda a new roof. I felt such joy as these thoughts arose.
the Self. Thoughts of Lokananda and the Ashram connected me directly to the bliss of my own being. Those thoughts spontaneously arose because I’ve developed a regular practice of financially supporting SVA with monthly and annual donations. The support I receive from SVA opens my heart, which makes me want to open my wallet, which in turn opens my heart even more deeply. Such a bliss-full cycle!
Plus I get Swamiji’s new recording of “OM namah shivaya” as a donor gift for increasing my monthly gift. Giving and receiving!
By Amala Cattafi, SVA Board President
thing I remember from the very first Svaroopa® yoga class I ever attended. Consider for a moment, what does this mean to you personally? Support equals release… It explains more than the physical, muscular definition. Something else opens up, a profound spiritual opening, yet it is facilitated with an extra blanket, block or strap. Still, it’s not about the blanket.

By Vicharinee Chafin
Friday night began with a satsang in New Hope PA. Returning to Downingtown, we headed for bed in Lokananda. I was surprised to have a “yoga night,” as Swamiji calls it, with little sleep, lots of mantra and wonderful dreams. I realized Lokananda is an arm of the Ashram, still connected to the body (Grace). The same heart (our Guru) pumps its blood. My thoughts that Lokanada would somehow be different melted away, a welcomed relief from that dualistic view.
When I first arrive at the Ashram, it is apparent I am full of “shrama” (the fatigue of worldly life). As the weekend and the seva progress, the onion layers peel away in the same way as in a teacher training or yoga immersion. Each time I am changed and renovated, never to return to some of the mud I had grown accustomed to. What a relief!