By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

When I lead a meditation, at the end I ring the gong quietly five times. It invokes Grace, the fifth of the five powers of God.  

Creation marks the beginning. However, from Shiva’s perspective, this universe is part of the continuity of his own existence, which continues whether there is a universe or not. Creating the universe out of his own energy is a Divine act of great joy and playfulness, like a dog jumping around and spinning in circles. 

Maintaining what he has brought forth is another of Shiva’s cosmic powers, supporting and nurturing its continuation. Bringing things to an end when their time is up is another Divine act, called destruction. This includes unforeseen endings as well as the end of winter. Shiva as the destroyer is greatly honored by yogis, for he grants enlightenment by ending delusion. 

These three actions are frequently cited in the Old Testament, naming God as the creator, the nurturer, and the chastiser. The book of Psalms includes all three: 

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. (104.24) 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (46:1) 

He opposes the wicked and condemns them. (34:18) 

Yoga recognizes two additional Divine actions: concealment and revelation. Of many Sanskrit names for God, it is specifically Shiva that conceals and reveals. Shiva is the mysterious one, the mystical one, the most benevolent, the revealer of the hidden dimensions within every human being. 

Concealment is accomplished by Shiva masquerading as the mundane world, hidden within all beings, all objects and all actions. God disappears by… 

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Yoga says that if you quiet your mind, even for a moment, you will experience your own “capital-S Self.”

You don’t have to create a Divine Essence because your Essence is already Divine.  You don’t have to become somebody or something.  You are already radiant Consciousness.  All you need to do is uncover it. 

Yoga practices essentially subtract away the stuff that gets in the way.  They remove the blockages until your own capital-S Self is revealed. 

This is why, at the beginning and at the end of programs, I bow to your own Divine Essence.  I chant: “OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo namah.”  Namo means “I bow to,” and namah means “I bow to.”  So I translate namo namah as “again and again I bow.” 

To what do I bow?  To svaroopa, your own Divine Essence.  Yet while I am bowing to you, I am bowing to my own Divine Essence.  Because there is only one Divine Essence.  The One Reality is being each of us and all of us at the same time. 

It is like light that shines through a window with many panes; the reflection on the floor looks like different squares.  Yet there is only one light.  The one light takes on all the different shapes so it can shine in all the different forms.  The One Reality has become you, me and all that exists…

— Excerpt from Yoga: Embodied Spirituality, pages 17‒18

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

The four-fold model of Consciousness details how the One, being formless, manifests into form. As one of his honored names, Shiva is called jagat-sharira, universe-bodied.

Like water becomes ice, yet is still water, Shiva becomes the universe. But he is not limited by it. Nor is he limited to the universe, for he is beyond the universe as well as being in it and being it. You are a form of the formless as am I and everyone you know.

Shiva is also being everyone you don’t know, as well as being everything that exists. Shiva is also everything that doesn’t exist, for if you can think of it, your thought is made of Shiva.

How does this come to be? He coalesces into physical matter through four dimensions. We look at this because my Baba urged us to understand the physical and subtle principles from Shiva to the earth. This gives you mastery over the world as well as a pathway to follow inward.

Shunya — the Void is Shiva’s way of hiding from himself. Since he is Beingness-Itself, he masquerades as Nothingness. In the vastness of his own being, he appears as non-being, like a vacuum. Yet when you experience the void, you are…

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

You don’t have to become somebody or something. You are already radiant Consciousness. All you need to do is uncover it. Yoga practices essentially subtract away the stuff that gets in the way. They remove the blockages until your own capital-S Self is revealed. 

This is why, at the beginning and at the end of programs, I bow to your own Divine Essence. I chant: “OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo namah.” Namo means “I bow to,” and namah means “I bow to.” So I translate namo namah as “again and again I bow.” 

To what do I bow? To svaroopa, your own Divine Essence. Yet while I am bowing to you, I am bowing to my own Divine Essence. Because there is only one Divine Essence. The One Reality is being each of us and all of us at the same time. 

It is like light that shines through a window with many panes; the reflection on the floor looks like different squares. Yet there is only one light. The one light takes on all the different shapes so it can shine in all the different forms. The One Reality has become you, me and all that exists. 

In this phrase, I love the word svasvabhavah. It comes from Abhinavagupta, a Kashmiri Shaivite sage who lived a thousand years ago. He wrote…

— Excerpt from Yoga: Embodied Spirituality, pages 17‒19