If you’re going through pain now, simply name it.  You are the one who is naming it. You’re not your pain. You’re the one who’s naming it.  Yes, you have to deal with it.  But you’re not your pain. You are more, so much more.  The best way to discover that you are more than your pain is…

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Freedom from Pain“

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Love is essential. It is Divine Essence, expressed outward.

Your Divine Essence is found inside, which yoga calls “Self.” When you are experiencing your own Self, your eyes shine with light and your heart overflows. Other people experience it as love, but you know that it is God, shining from within.

The only time you ever have a problem with love is when you look for it outside. When you feel empty and you want someone else to fill you, it never lasts. It might work for a while, but never for long. The reason is that you’re looking in the wrong place.

Getting love from outside is like trying to fill a dry well.  The way that wells work is this: you dig a deep hole that fills with water from underground. The source is called the “aquifer,” like an underground lake that comes from rainfall or snow melt that soaks into the ground.

If your well runs dry, and you have a water truck come in to fill it, the new water will soak in deeper, replenishing the aquifer. You cannot fill a dry well. The water must come up from a deeper source.

Love works in a similar way. It comes from deep within. In yoga, you base yourself in this deeper dimension of your own being, so you are always full. Not merely a well, you are a geyser! Your inner experience is sourced from your own Divine Essence, so you never run dry.  Thus you never look for others to fill you.

A friend recently showed me a photo of his new granddaughter. His face lit up. His voice changed. He giggled. I’ve never heard him giggle before. It was delightful!

What is happening here? The child is not old enough to say, “I love you, Grandpa.” He’s not getting love from the infant. He is tapping into his own essence and overflowing from inside.

Why doesn’t every child make him feel that way? Why doesn’t every person make him feel that way? For him, love is related to DNA. If there’s no shared DNA, there’s no love. It’s like you have to compare your genealogical charts before you allow yourself to feel love.  How limiting!

On Valentine’s Day, let your love expand to include everyone in your neighborhood, everyone in your town, in your county, in your state, in your country. How about everyone in the world? The way you do this is to dig deep so your well is being filled from the inside out.

We are in a tantric tradition.  Tantra goes about it completely differently.  Tantra says, “Let’s just shred anava mala.”  Through Shaktipat, I will open you up from the inside out.  Shred anava mala so you have experiences of your own Self.  You know who you are.  Go ahead…  

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “From the Inside-Out“

When you’re comparing what’s happening to what you think should be happening, you’ll be lost in your reactions.

What you need to do – let’s be very simplistic about this – if what’s happening doesn’t match your plan, then you need to…  

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Bondage & Freedom“

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Born into bondage, your life’s task is to fly free. You begin the process like a caged bird who keeps flexing its wings, wanting to fly. Your cage door is opened by one who is already free.

This is the Shaktipat Guru’s task, to set you free by opening up the inner arising of Consciousness. Thus you discover the truth that has been hidden for so long, that your essence is Divine.

The not-knowing of your own Self is what causes all your pain. It is the result of Shiva’s decision to become individually and uniquely you. He does this by hiding himself in multiple levels of contraction.

It puts you on a merry-go-round, locked down by Shiva, going round in circles for lifetimes. What you have to do is grab the brass ring! Get Shaktipat, the inner awakening that sets you free.

The inner bolt of I-Consciousness bestowed by the Guru shatters the not-knowingness, setting you free.

Udyamo bhairavah. — Shiva Sutras 1.5

Prior to receiving Shaktipat, I had a few expansive experiences. Though they were rare and never lasted long. I wanted more. Some of my friends used substances to get there, but I preferred spending time in nature, as well as…

Atma, your own Self, is all pervading.  You probably think of your own Self as being inside your body, but it’s the other way around.   Your body is inside your own Self.  You may think of your own Self like your soul, that your soul is found…

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Atma & Svaroopa“

You are so much more than you think you are.  It is all summarized in this one sutra:

Your own Self is Consciousness-Itself.

Chaitanyam atma. — Shiva Sutras 1.1

This is the first sutra, in the first chapter of the first text of Kashmiri Shaivism, our yogic tradition.  The first sutra is the most important one.

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Your Divine Essence“

It was Baba that gave me God.  That’s the Guru’s job – to give you access to what is already there inside. But you haven’t been able to find it.  It can be hard to understand God and Guru. They are One, while being different.  I’ll compare it to the front door of your house.  It’s part of your house.  You wouldn’t want that wall to be solid.  You wouldn’t want your house to be without an entry portal.  The Guru is the door by which you enter into…  

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “For the Love of God“