Category Archives: Ashram News

Giving and Receiving

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By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell, President

Svaroopa® Yoga Ashram Board

It’s hard to believe that our “Body, Mind, Heart and More” fundraiser is wrapping up.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every donor for your support.  Your generosity touches my heart.  If you have not already given, there is still time.  

Your donations are the foundation that allows us to keep going.  Your donations build a stable platform for us to offer Freebies, programs, trainings and immersions.  Thus, our Ashram can offer the gems of Svaroopa® yoga: asana, Embodyment® yoga therapy, vichara, meditation, chanting and more.  I want to thank you for helping to support our Ashram in this way.  You help us to share the tools that you know work.

I find it easier to give than receive.  Even when I volunteer, I feel good and my heart is opened.  Then I find it easier to receive.  It’s a cycle of giving and receiving.  

This isn’t about how much you give.  It’s about the place inside from which you give.  We think of giving and receiving as two different things.  Or is it one?  Can you give without receiving?  

When you receive, you’re giving a gift to the one who is giving.  You’re allowing them to help.  So I don’t think giving and receiving are different.  They are intertwined.

When you do the Svaroopa® yoga practices, they uncover your indwelling light.  Then it shines through you.  You also allow the Ashram to serve you.  Your donation keeps the cycle of giving and receiving going.  By being in this community and by giving, you allow our Ashram to shine the Light of Consciousness in the world.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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Keep the Light Shining

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By Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver, Yogaratna

Member, SVA Board of Directors

The Svaroopa® Sciences practices are like glittering gems.  On their own, they sparkle.  When you do more of them, YOU sparkle.  It’s because these gems are infused with the scintillating Grace of the Masters of our tradition.

Sparkling and shining with the Light of Consciousness, it’s easy to feel open-hearted and generous. Many of you have donated to our fundraiser, Body, Mind, Heart and More. And many of you have increased your monthly pledge.  And if you haven’t yet donated, there is still time!

We’re fortunate to have found a system of yoga and meditation that gives us so many doorways inside.  Our system of yoga and meditation is led by a living Meditation Master. She has the key to set us free . Ours is a mystical tradition. Gurudevi Nirmalananda unlocks access to your own Self.  Then she hands you the keys.  You can propel yourself all the way to enlightenment, if that is your goal.

Your goal could be continuing to feel better as well as to enjoy life more by taking yoga classes.  That’s terrific. Or you may want to shed the layers wrapping and warping your mind by using vichara (self-guided inquiry).  Awesome.  Maybe you want to delve deeper into your heart with chanting and meditation.  How wonderful.  All these radiant gems are there for you.

Still, there’s more.  These practices shine the light on all that you are.  Then Grace fuels your process and lifts you up, no matter what doorway you enter.  You shine brightly, like a diamond glittering in the sun.  You shine with the Light of Consciousness.

Keep the light shining for yourself and others with another one of yoga’s gems.  All your yoga practices open an inner flow that makes you want to share.  Dakshina, the yogic giving of financial resources, is an organic extension of this.  In our fundraiser, Body, Mind, Heart and More, contribute from all that you are.

When you give from the depths of your being, you feel generous, organically.  Open your body, mind, heart and more.  Give to the organization that gives you so much in return. Give to the organization that gives so much so freely to the world.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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Vows Info Call

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What does it mean to take a vow?  And what about a yoga-vow — is there such a thing?  

Ask all your questions and find out more about our Vowed Order in this free online event.  This meeting is for serious seekers who have found the Svaroopa® teachings and practices to be meaningful.

We are a community of dedicated yogis.  Some of us live alone, others with their families and some in community in our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram buildings.  We support each other in deep practices and study of the Kashmiri Shaivite teachings as taught by Satguru Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati (lovingly called Gurudevi).  

As initiates in this tradition, we have all received Maha Shaktipat Diksha from Gurudevi.  We work to support her and each other as we continue our own inner progress.

Do you you feel moved to give more of yourself as well as to discover more of your Self?  If you find the Svaroopa®Sciences to be supportive to you, please join our meeting.

Vows Info Call

A Life Filled with Precious Gems

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By Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi

Member, Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram Board of Directors

I choose a life filled with treasure.  Not treasures made of gold or silver, but of the most precious gems – Svaroopa®yoga gems.  

It is Gurudevi who lays before us this dazzling array of yoga practices and teachings.  So I support Gurudevi’s work in the world.  Please join me in offering your support during our Ashram’s current fundraiser: “Body, Mind, Heart and More.”

Our priceless Svaroopa® practices show us our inherent personal value plus how to make life meaningful.  The practices allow me to choose the treasures of an open heart and an open mind.  I choose the treasure of health and vitality.  

I choose a life of service to others and commitment to my own growth.  I choose to bask in the radiance of my own Self within.  All this is possible because of the precious gems of Svaroopa® yoga.  Miraculously, you can choose all of these amazing treasures, and more, and still live fully in the world.

My husband doesn’t really “do yoga.”  Yet he has chosen the gem of weekly Embodyment® sessions for the last 12 months.  He sees the benefit in his body.  And I see the shift in his state.  Just the other day, he experienced a sharp, unusual pain radiating through his torso.  When I came out of meditation, he calmly described, “I’m not saying it’s a heart attack, but…”  

Asked whether he wanted to go to the emergency room, he said yes.  We calmly got into the car and went.  My husband remained steady and calm throughout the check-in and tests.  They couldn’t find anything wrong, and sent us home after five hours.  Once home, we went on with our day.

I am showered with Svaroopa® yoga gems.  They light up my life with clarity, peace and joy. Please consider how Svaroopa® yoga gems have enriched your life.  Then I hope you will join me in donating to our Ashram in gratitude.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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Shaktipat Changes Me

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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!

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The Astounding Power of Dakshina

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By Beth (Bhanumati) Cunningham

I am astounded at the power of dakshina.  Dakshina is the practice of supporting the financial health of our Ashram. For me, no other practice offers more tangible transformation.  If I didn’t give to the Ashram, what tremendous gems would I be missing out on? That’s why it’s important to me to donate.  I don’t want you to miss out either.  So I hope you’ll join me in donating to the Ashram’s “Body, Mind, Heart and More” fundraiser.

A year ago, my family and I were set for some travel.  I was also planning a yoga retreat in the summer.  Everything was funded.  Then, we had a large amount of money stolen.  We cancelled everything.  We even had to borrow to pay our taxes.  It was tough.  About two weeks later, I got a phone call to donate to the fundraiser going on at the time.  I had a good excuse not to, but it didn’t even cross my mind.  I re-assessed what we could offer and made a donation.

By the end of the evening, Grace showered the returns upon me.  I discovered a great compassion for the people who had stolen the money.  Then, I had a powerful karmic clearing.  I realized that throughout the entire ordeal, I was still Me.  My Self was still there, whole and untouched.  What had the thieves stolen — really?  Nothing that I would not have freely given for such priceless gifts.  

These gifts continue to unfold.  Soon after, I got a significant raise.  Within six months, I was earning double what I had been.  Somehow, with little effort on my part, we’ve quickly recuperated the money we lost.  I’ve also been able to take Ashram courses that I couldn’t afford before the theft.

Yes, I am astounded at the power of dakshina.  Please join me in donating and be astounded yourself.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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NEW Telecourse:  Leaps & Bounds

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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 outgrow your growing pains, too.

The leg 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. 

Everyone wants to get a boost.  Like a child sitting on daddy’s shoulders, you want to see beyond where you’re stuck. You’re hoping to bound into the next level, leaving this one behind.  Of course, you can do things to move that along.  However, your ability to discern what to do, as well as to actually do it, is part of what you’re growing into.  

The biggest boost is Shaktipat, the initiation into Self-Knowingness. Yet Shaktipat doesn’t give you the ability to avoid your growth processes.  Instead, it gives you the clarity of knowing what you need to do, why to do it and where you’ll be when you’ve done it…

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Body, Mind, Heart and More

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By Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman

The Svaroopa® Sciences are all about yogic growth.  This encompasses your body, mind, heart and more.  My daily yoga practices support this growth in a slow and steady way.  

Then when I travel to our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram for onsite, immersion programs, I experience yogic shifts as a more rapid spiritual growth spurt.

My experience of dakshina follows a similar pattern.  Dakshina is the yogic practice of offering financial resources to support the Source of Grace and knowledge.  It sustains our Ashram as well as promoting its growth.  And dakshina does the same for us donors.  So I am inviting you to join me in this profound practice.

As a monthly donor, I consistently support the Ashram in a slow and steady way. Regular monthly and predictable financial support from us monthly donors helps sustain our Ashram.  Yet I benefit even more from offering the Ashram this ongoing support.

I also support the Ashram’s twice-yearly fundraisers with a larger donation.  Then I am doing a dakshina immersion!  It gives me another spiritual growth spurt.  And it provides essential financial support for the organization that supports me and so many others.

All your yoga practices open you to an inner flow that makes you want to share.  Dakshina is an organic extension of this inner flow. Gurudevi says, “You love to give.  Making a difference for others matters to you.”  It isn’t about how much you give.  It’s about the place inside from which you give.  As Gurudevi explains, when you settle into your own Essence and Beingness, you feel less needy and anxious. 

Giving from the depths of your being, you feel generous, organically. Open your body, mind, heart and more. Please join me in giving to the organization that gives us so much in return. Give to the organization that gives so much so freely to the world.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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My First Shaktipat

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By Todd Correa

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

I signed up for the New Year’s Shaktipat Retreat to explore my humanness and understand myself better. I wanted to feel more connected to the cosmic Consciousness of the universe. I did not know what Shaktipat was, but I trusted the recommendation of my local Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation and sutras teacher.

I had enjoyed my local teacher’s three-part Learn to Meditate course. I recognized I could go deeper — something was happening inside. I even joined the Ashram’s Meditation Club. Without realizing it, I was preparing myself for my first Shaktipat experience.

Being brand new to an Ashram retreat, I was surprised by so much chanting and meditation. I was amazed I could sit for such long periods of time. I loved it!

When Gurudevi walked into the room, I felt there was something special about her. She looked at me and “saw me.” I felt accepted, as if I belonged there. She knew who I was and am: Shiva.

Sometimes it felt a bit overwhelming, with my senses bursting open. I felt like a deer caught in headlights! Yet I wanted this new experience to feel like mine, fully authentic. I accepted it, as it unfolded.

It was weird, but I embraced it. I wrote in my journal: “My whole being is opening up, in a burst of life. My head is opening up like a flower. I feel intense emotions, while being bathed in bliss.”

My first initiation by Gurudevi’s touch, my whole body went into hers, opening up to receive her Grace. I did not want this feeling of Oneness to stop. Afterward, I felt exhausted, my body depleted. I did not know how to put my experience in perspective. However, the retreat talks helped me understand what was going on. So I did some restorative Ujjayi breathing during our breaks.

When Gurudevi gave us Shaktipat by will, I was still right there, having an amazing experience. I wondered: “How does she do that from way over there?” Yet I knew in my core that it was real. Something beautiful and amazing had happened, and I am so grateful.

Before, I understood the theory of “One-ness.” But now I have experienced it because I was with a Self-Realized Being. I feel more empathy and the ability to be present to my therapy clients and students. I can go deeper within myself and assist others to go deeper as well. My work is my calling, so I am going to do Shaktipat again!

Shaktipat Retreat
Meditation Club

Opening Your Mind, Body & Heart

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By Ruth (Rama) Brooke, Member

Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram Board of Directors

I love all the Svaroopa® practices.  So I also gratefully engage in dakshina.  It’s the ancient yogic practice of financially supporting the teacher and the teachings.  Please join me in expressing your gratitude for our great good fortune.  Together, we honor all that flows and all that we receive from this yoga.  Make your financial gift to our fundraising campaign “Body, Mind, Heart and More.”

What an apt title!  The Svaroopa® Sciences divinely support each facet of my being.  Asana (poses), Ujjayi pranayama (yogic breathing) and Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy heal my body.  Our devotional practices, including chanting and arati (candle waving ceremony), illumine my heart.  Vichara (guided self-inquiry), sutra studies and japa (mantra repetition) clear my mind. 

And, as Gurudevi says, I find the most reliable practice of all is meditation.  It showers Grace-filled benefits on the deepest dimensions of my being.  Then I get more!  I experience Self — the One Being All.

You, too, are so much more than you think you are.  You are a yoga gem, a diamond glistening with the light of Consciousness.  As a Svaroopi, your practices have honed and polished the facets of your being: body, mind and heart!  You know how it feels to shine with this light that arises from within.  You know upliftment, openness, and clarity.  You know how to settle deeper into your own Self.  You feel more like You.

Dakshina is not about the amount of your contribution.  Dakshina is the yogic practice of giving financial resources from your Capital-S Self.  All your yoga practices open an inner flow that makes you want to share.  Dakshina is an organic extension of this.

Donate today on our website.  You can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or you can send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!

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