If you know that doing some yoga or repeating mantra for five minutes will make you happy, and it will, sometimes you simply won’t do it. It’s like you prefer being unhappy to being happy. Well, maybe it’s familiar. And I’d like to rescue you…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Searching for Happiness“
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
Sometimes you just know. In the midst of a real life situation, perhaps unexpected, you simply know exactly what to do, or what it is that you can say that will make a difference. Illumined action — wouldn’t you like to live this way?
Yoga says you can. Tune in to your own inner light. Let your Divine Essence shine through your mind and heart. Your words will have the desired effect. Your actions will serve a greater purpose. To live this way, base yourself in your own Self, drawing from your inner depth and dimensionality in every moment. In every breath.
First, you delve inward to find your own Self. Then you rest in your Essence and Beingness, the source of bliss within. Free from need, greed and fear, your words and actions are divinely inspired.
You are not the only one who benefits from this. Your words and actions are motivated by clarity and compassion, seeing what will bring about the most beneficial results. In other words, you don’t leave the world.
Nartaka atma. — Shiva Sutras 3.9
One who knows their own Self is an actor on the stage of the world.
When you know your own Self, you won’t want to retire to a forest or a cave. You will accept your role in the cosmic drama and participate fully. You still have a body and must take care of it. You still have relationships. You still have things to do, places to go, ways to contribute to the welfare of the world. You still have karma. While it doesn’t define you, it does keep you engaged in life.
Those who want to hide away are wannabes, not yogis. Their inner state is so fragile that they can’t know about world events. They want everyone around them to be peaceful, to be nice, to be kind, to be pretty and to talk softly. They need the outside to help them with their innards. Yoga says you have to do your inner work. It’s an inside job.
Enlightened beings care about the world and the people in it. I have been fortunate to meet many Gurus who were acknowledged as having reached the summit of their tradition. They are the busiest and most effective people I’ve ever met. They care. Yet the events that transpire don’t affect their inner state. Based in Consciousness, they…
The wonderful thing about this yogic path is that you can stay in your home with your beloveds doing what you’ve already chosen to do and get enlightened while you’re there. Except it’s harder in some ways because you have your usual dance patterns, the way you interact with everyone in your life. And they want you to keep being the same old…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Maayaa“
This is the point of meditation, that your Kundalini will climb your spine and merge into your sahasrara. That you will be jivanmukta, enlightened while alive. And you will be engaged with the world — fulfilling your dharma, completing your karmas, giving from the…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Merging Into the Inner Infinity“
In honor of her Golden Jubilee, the 2026 collection includes quotes spanning the decades of Gurudevi’s writings.
Each quote is crafted to present profound teachings in concise modern day sutra form, providing inspiration and spiritual blessings for every day of the year.
When you weave these teachings and practices through your life, your meaning and purpose are easily fulfilled. Your eyes shine with light and your heart overflows, giving you clarity, understanding and generosity. What a way to live!
Pre-orders for the Living Mysticism 2026 Calendar Journal are now available through the Ashram! The journals will be released in the coming weeks.
Eventually, your most valued pleasures become stale. And you realize that you want something the world cannot offer. Your focus turns to spiritual development. This is called sannyasa. It means you’re cultivating freedom from desire, freedom from need, greed and fear. As my Baba described, instead of living in contraction, the other possibility…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “What Is an Ashram“
November 15th is Gurudevi’s birthday. We will formally celebrate her in her Swami Sunday meditation program on November 16th.
This is the last birthday in her 8th decade; her upcoming year takes her into the 9th. Thus, she begins her 80th trip around the sun.
This day also inaugurates her Golden Jubilee, as it marks her 50 years of teaching!
What does this unfolding of time mean to her? She says,
Yoga’s promise is that it just keeps getting better . . . Even before dedicating myself to yoga, I figured out that each new decade was like getting a job promotion. More responsibility, more autonomy, more freedom, more impact, more expertise to draw on, more appreciation for the others in my life, more, more, more . . .
What does this mean to those of us who treasure the gift of her presence and her profound teachings? When you attend this Swami Sunday, you will learn more about it in Gurudevi’s discourse. You’ll learn how this milestone birthday pertains to your spiritual advancement, which is the focus of all her teachings.
Let us gratefully celebrate the anniversary of Gurudevi Swami Nirmalananda’s birth. Let’s celebrate our great good fortune in receiving her profound, ancient teachings and practices of yoga. As she translates them to pertain to everyday life, she makes them accessible and easy to understand. We are supported beyond measure in walking this spiritual path.
Living close enough to the Ashram to attend On-Site, your pre-registration allows preparations to accommodate everyone. If you don’t live within driving distance, you can register for Swami Sunday Online. If you have a Shishya Membership, you are invited to register for the Shishya Gurudevi Connection.
Soul is not Self. When you experience the soul level of your being, it is profound. It is meaningful. It is deep and holy. You are deep and holy. Yet, there is more. Soul is like the sunlight shining through a window. Your soul is a window through which you can see…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Self & Soul“
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
Maayaa is illusion. Moha is delusion.
The difference can be confusing, though it is easy to sort out. A magician doing card tricks is a master of illusion. To believe that their illusions are real is delusion.
Our world is made of energy, manifesting as matter. This means that matter isn’t really solid. You could call it an illusion. Some meditative traditions base their teachings and practices on this principle.
Kashmiri Shaivism says the illusion is real — you are living in a movie set. But there is nowhere else to go. This is Shiva’s movie set. The storyline is compelling, due to Shiva’s incredible creativity.
All the players are Shiva in disguise. The disguise is called Maayaa, the illusory power of Consciousness.
Maayaa is like the night sky on the Fourth of July in America. The stars and expanse beyond them are hidden by exploding fireworks. Maayaa is the fireworks. Maayaa is a great and powerful energy, so powerful that she can hide Shiva from you.
As you enact your part in the storyline, unfortunately you get lost in it. Your happiness depends on the story. Your whole sense of self is determined by…
Your mind has the ability to erase an old way of looking at the world. Your mind has the ability to create a new relationship with the world. Your mind has the ability to see the same old world in a whole new way. You’ve been looking for the change to come from…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “One Pulsation“
practice & grace: giving you your Self
revealing the mystery
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