By Darren Taylor

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

I lived in the spiritual mecca of Boulder CO for 10 years.  I thought it would be easy to have a spiritual awakening in a purportedly enlightened place.  But I had to move back to the suburbs of Philadelphia for a true awakening.  

Relocating in Downingtown PA, I regularly drove by Lokananda, the Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram’s retreat and training facility.  The prayer flags and life-sized poster of Gurudevi in the window caught my attention.  I wondered, “What is going on there?”  It looked supportive. Online research revealed it is steeped in traditional yoga.  I started taking yoga classes and saw results immediately — less discomfort and pain along with more flexibility.  

Early on, my teacher, Swami Satrupananda, asked what I wanted to get from the yoga.  I said, “Enlightenment, of course!”  She seemed startled and said I was in the right place! I’d wondered what Shaktipat and Kundalini awakening were all about.  I heard that Shaktipat was available in Downingtown.  I knew I would be a fool not to go to Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreat.

I enrolled late and got on the waitlist. It opened and things began happening.  The day before the Shaktipat retreat, Gurudevi appeared in a dream and gave me a shoulder adjustment.  When I arrived at Lokananda, my roommate and I felt like we’d known each other our whole life.  

During the first Shaktipat, Gurudevi put her hands on me.  Something inside was drawn upward toward my brow.  It felt like I was lifted out through my forehead.  My body was moved into various positions.  It felt like a chakra recalibration.  At satsangs now, when I look at Gurudevi, she’s a blinding light.  I have to squint or close my eyes.  

I have explored many traditions, but this one feels like the solution to my spiritual longing. It gives me tools, support and the lineage. When I repeat mantra and meditate, I know I will have depth.

By Loretta Forsythe

Interviewed by Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

I am mesmerized by how Gurudevi’s “Yoga of the Heart” program has helped me work with my mind.  I first took this deep program during the Covid pandemic. Last year, I was thrilled when Gurudevi offered it again. The second time, I grasped much more of what she is teaching.  

In this program, Gurudevi leads us inwardly to our heart and then to our own Self. She choreographs and orchestrates her teachings on the depth of the heart so beautifully. She leads us through very gently.

Each session, Gurudevi gave us a discourse on the heart, the mind and the relationship between them. Gurudevi says that to become enlightened you must work on your mind. She explained our homework: exercises for experiential learning. Then she led us in meditation followed by group disscussion. After each of the four weekly sessions, I was amazed at the difference within myself.

During the week I practiced the exercises. Now I continue with them. They take only a few minutes. I do some during the day, others prior to meditation. They help me during the night when anxiety, my busy mind or pain keeps me awake.  

With sinus pain one night, I reflected on Gurudevi’s teaching about how the mind blocks access to your Self. This reflection took me into meditation. I saw that I am neither my body nor my physical symptoms. I became one with my own Self. The pain subsided, and I went into a deep good night’s sleep. 

Gurudevi teaches “The heart is all you think it is and so much more.” I now realize the difficulty of using the mind to feel the depth of the heart. She also teaches that my mind wants to go back to the heart. The heart is the entryway to the Self.

Gurudevi’s teachings are like seeds that go deep. The roots start growing, the buds come on, then the flowers bloom. Nourished by Guru’s Grace, my practices and understandings continue to unfold. From Gurudevi’s “Yoga of the Heart,” I know Grace is always there. It’s the experience of the heart.

Make giant leaps into Consciousness in Gurudevi’s new Telecourse.  She has created a sweet, yet powerful inner process that opens you to your Self.

With substantive articles and teaching videos, you take this multimedia course at your own pace.  Your password is current for three months after you enroll.  Take any of the three modules or all of them:

Module 1:  Growth Spurts — Leaping forward, bounding into Consciousness, making fast progress easily 

Module 2:  Living Spirituality — Riding on the shoulders of spiritual giants, how do you incorporate their great gifts into your everyday life?

Module 3:  Ordinary Monks & Mystics — Outgrowing your past & shaping your future. The loom of tantra: interweaving spirituality through life.

Bonus Video:  Resting on Your Laurels (free when you enroll in all 3 modules).

As always, Gurudevi brings it all alive with her personal sharings, making the process so understandable and accessible.  With the meaningful material in this deep course, you will experience a difference in your spiritual progress.

Intrigued?

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

I remember getting leg pains in my adolescence.  I felt a deep inner ache that had a sharp edge to it.  The doctor called them growing pains.  

He offered no treatment, no help whatsoever, saying I’d outgrow the growing pains.  It’s true; I did.  You will, too.

Those growing pains are caused by muscular tension.  The bones are growing faster than the muscles.  The muscles are holding tight while the bones attached to them are growing longer, stretching the muscles and tendons to a new length.  

If my childhood doctor had simply recommended some gentle massage, or maybe some yoga, my growing pains would have disappeared.  Nowadays, maybe they even recommend yoga?  Looking back, I can see that it would have helped me grow into myself much more smoothly:  on all levels, body, mind, heart and spirit…

By Alina (Avinashi) Uzhvieva

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

Nothing compares to being in the same room with an Enlightened Being.  In Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s presence, a vibration starts in my whole body.  It’s more than mere emotions; it’s coming from a place deeper inside.  

Attending Shaktipat at Lokananda also means being surrounded by beautiful smiles and serene faces of fellow yogis.  There is no judgement, only love and care.  Everyone there shares the same path to liberation.  

Before I received my first Shaktipat initiation I had so many expectations.  I wanted to get it all!  Receiving Gurudevi’s Shaktipat by touch was intense.  I experienced my greed and expectations turning into tears, anger, guilt and fear.  They were being cleared out.  

Then I realized that all my previous yogic practices had prepared me for this moment.  Suddenly the anguish stopped.  I felt completely still.  It was deeply calming and absolutely ecstatic.  

Having learned my lesson, I was able to release all thoughts and feelings in Gurudevi’s second Shaktipat (by will).  Everything dissolved as I melted into the process.  I felt I was one with every yogi in the room.  It was a sweet state of Beingness.

When I returned to everyday life, I knew I wanted to integrate my experiences. Gurudevi provided us with many practical tools to support ourselves after Shaktipat.  At first, I did experience relapse, wanting to be back at Lokananda.  Yet I realized integrating even 1% of my expanded state of Beingness would improve my whole life. 

Now I have more clarity about being a mother and wife.  I want to keep my body and mind healthy to support my family.  This realization helped establish my daily practice.  I do yoga and meditate every day now.  

Less reactive and more responsive, I feel better and see everything in my life in a different light. Remembering my Shaktipat experience, I can be with whatever is happening.  I’m grateful for Guru’s Grace and to know where I am headed!

By Ellan (Shanti) Catacchio

Interviewed by Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

Gurudevi offered “Leaps & Bounds” as her 2019 Year-Long Programme (YLP).  I took it back then.  Now she is offering “Leaps & Bounds” as a Telecourse, with new teaching videos as well as substantive articles.

I looked through my 2019 YLP articles, and as I read, I kept saying yes and yes.  I saw how I experienced a powerful inner process.  What especially struck me is that I now hear so much of what Gurudevi says differently and deeper.

Looking through my 2019 meditation journal, I could not finish.  It was so intense.  I no longer feel that way now.  I am doing the things I said I should do in 2019.  Yet I am not frantic about it.  There is ease about my life that was not there in 2019.  

Yes, since 2019, I have had the huge growth spurt that Gurudevi describes in “Leaps & Bounds.”  I am doing it all with ease.  Not because I feel I should.  It is not a “should.”  It is just a natural thing to do.  I know that meditation is working.  It works, even when it is not what I want or expect it to be.  

With my calmer demeanor and approach, I may be plateauing.  In the 2019 YLP, Gurudevi described this plateau on the Self-Realization path.  I’m settling in, not backsliding nor relapsing.  Instead of coaching “just do it,” Gurudevi guides us into keeping meditating and a lot will fall into place.

Looking though her 2019 articles, I found many other gems of guidance. Don’t compare.  Just keep meditating. Yoga and Kundalini have my back, as does my Guru.  It all comes together.

Gurudevi’s new Telecourse videos will expand the power of her teachings.  We will be in her presence and see her, her facial expressions and surroundings.  Her teaching audios in the original “Leaps & Bounds” YLP were profound.  Now with her videos, the Leaps & Bounds teachings will have even more profound impact.

In taking the Telecourse, may you (like me) discover that yoga works on you in spite of you.

By Belle (Bhavani) Mann

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

About 20 years ago, I spontaneously received Shaktipat in an advanced yoga teacher training.  It was like lightning struck me.  

I was suddenly filled with intense love.  It wasn’t regular human love; it was Divine love.  It was the most unbelievable experience of my whole life.  When I got home and walked in the door, my husband said, “You’re different.”  I kept that state for a few months.

Yet I was able to understand this only years later, after Gurudevi started teaching about Shaktipat.  Now I take Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreats, where she gives this initiation intentionally, both online and in person.  I love that just being in her presence changes me.  

I love the teaching talks given by our swamis.  I learn so much from our group’s questions and Gurudevi’s answers during the On-Site Q & A.  I love chanting, especially with the group at in-person retreats.  At the in-person retreats, I also get a chance to hang out in the bhav and Grace of the Ashram.  I have personal contact with Svaroopa^® yoga friends and enjoy meeting others.  I can talk and laugh with them all.  

My many Shaktipat Retreats, in person as well as online, have been powerful in different ways.  In my last one, I felt veils of resistance falling away.  I hadn’t realized I had been resistant to becoming enlightened.  Now I could make a stronger commitment.

After each Shaktipat Retreat I feel changed, even when it takes a couple of weeks to discover how.  After one, I felt much closer and loving toward Gurudevi.  Another time, my love of chanting increased.  I deeply feel these subtle internal shifts.  I am grateful for all the ways Shaktipat has changed me.  All are gifts of Gurudevi’s Grace and teachings!