By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

This is not only good advice, it’s a famous advertising slogan — Just Do It. It captured the zeitgeist of the time, a great sense of possibilities. It’s a perfect slogan for a tantric yogi, one who brings their spirituality into the world.

The Bhagavadgita defined this yogic approach to the world. Krishna says you must contribute to the world’s process. Give it your best. Make a difference.

Buddhi-yukto jahaatiiha ubhe suk.rita-du.sk.rite,

tasmaad yogaaya yujyasva yoga.h karmasu kau”salam.

— Bhagavadgita 2.50

Established in clarity, shed selfish motivations that create

pleasurable and painful karmas.

Devote yourself to yoga. Skillful action is yoga.

Yogis of yore withdrew from mainstream society to live in nearby forests. Similarly, in Egypt the desert hermits lived in remote caves. Hearing of these spiritual extremists, you might think that you should leave the world, to try to get enlightened by yourself. However, those living in the Indian forests and Egyptian deserts were not solo seekers. They lived together in small groups under the guidance of experienced teachers. They were not into DIY spirituality. 

Krishna’s teaching was a radical revamp of the tradition. He said, “Get out there and make a difference in the world.” Why such a change? It was because the world had changed. He lived on the cusp of Kali Yuga, our modern age, predicted to be a time of increasing darkness. Krishna said the world needs the yogis. You must bring your light into the world. Get up and get going. Just do it.

His teaching was revolutionary in another way. While you choose to act in the world, doing your absolute best, a yogi’s motivation is different than that of worldly-minded people. You’re not doing things so you can get a karmic payoff. While people will work hard to get a promotion, their improved status and salary are karmic payoff for their efforts. Doing something nice for others, so they appreciate you, means you’re looking for the karmic payoff. Krishna says, “See what needs to be done and do it. No payoff needed.”

Proactive. Professional. Proficient. And not looking for the results to make you feel good about yourself. Instead you analyze the results of your efforts as a way to…

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

At the end of a busy day, you look for something pleasurable to do. You may even have sought out pleasure during your day. Your choice of foods and drinks, maybe going for a walk or taking a nap, filling your ears with music or your eyes with beauty – pleasure seeking is a dominant theme in most people’s lives. Why?

To find out why, simply refrain from pleasure when you feel the need. Notice how you feel without a sensory indulgence, including any discomfort in your body as well as your emotional state. You may also find that your mind is crazy-busy. No wonder you want something to distract you!

Pleasure is a pathway to happiness. When you do something pleasurable, you get happy for a short while. When the happiness ends, you need another indulgence to trigger a few more moments of happiness. Like a frog, you hop from one thing to another, seeking brief moments of happiness. Bliss is better.  It lasts longer than happiness.

Mystical bliss is hidden in every pleasure… (read more)

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Pain is part of life.  This is why most of your energy goes into pain avoidance or pleasure seeking.  Fortunately, yoga excels at both!   

The physical practices of yoga are incredibly pleasurable, though you may go through a learning curve before you discover this. 

Especially when you are in-person classes, your teacher can adapt the pose to your body’s readiness as well as give you a prop or adjustment that melts through your accumulated tensions.  Svaroopa^® yoga excels at this.  Regular practice of yogic breathing and the poses protects you from future pain in a magical way. 

Yoga’s meditative practices focus on getting you past your mental and emotional pains.  Using the enlivened mantra of this tradition cuts through your inner turbulence and carries you deeply within.  You find your deeper essence, what yoga calls “your own Self.”  Once you’ve experienced the inner infinity of your own Self, you have a different perspective on life and its events.  It’s easy to agree with the book title, that it’s all small stuff. 

That’s the gist of this sutra, a concise teaching with a great promise: 

Future pain can and should be avoided. 

Heyam duhkham anaagatam. 

— Yoga Sutras 2.16 

My elders expected to be in pain as they aged.  When I tried to give them a few yogic tricks that would diminish or relieve their pain, they said, “No thanks, honey.  I’m old.  I’m supposed to hurt.”  The sage Patanjali disagrees.  He not only promises that you can avoid pain, but that you should.  Good news! 

How do you avoid pain?  While yoga poses and breathing practices help you with your body, meditation is the key.  This is Patanjali’s focus, getting you past your mind so you experience the greater reality within.  All the yogic sages throughout time have focused on meditation as well as how to bring your own Self with you into life. 

Instead, our sense of self gets locked into worldly definitions. When I was in my twenties, my parents said it was time for me to get my boxes out of their garage.  I had completely forgotten about those old possessions, childhood treasures. One box was full of stuffed animals.  As I unpacked them, I was shocked to see how meaningless they were.  Yet they had meant everything to me when I was 12.  What happened?  I outgrew them. 

So many things have come and gone in your life.  You’ve already learned how to move on.  Patanjali says you can use this ability now, right in the midst of whatever you are currently going through.  Recognize that the ticking clock is moving on.  It’s time to outgrow your old needs and dependencies.  It’s time to grow into a new you. 

It’s meditation that makes this easy because you experience the greatness of your own essence.  When you tune into your own Self, the profound depth of pure Beingness supports you from the inside.  Now, whatever is happening on the outside, you take it in stride. 

You are more than these events seem to make of you.  You are more than others understand you to be.  You are so much more.