By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

I’ve been delighted to lead group meditations online for the last year.  But it’s simply not the same as being together in person.  It’s clear that it supports others.  The energetic connection is tangible, providing a deeper meditation.  But it’s not the same.

I’ve been teaching via technology since 2010.  Back then, we were on phone conference calls, but we made it work.  I really amped it up last year, with students zooming in from multiple continents.  But it’s really not the same as when I can be in the room with them.

I’ve enjoyed staff lunches where we had food delivered to everyone.  While we were all eating the same food and chatting onscreen, it wasn’t the same as when we’re all together.  I’ve talked with people who have attended weddings and funerals online.  Understandably, online was the only option, and how great to be able to connect at such an important time.  Yet you already know what I’m going to say – it’s not the same.

What is it?  What is the difference when we get together in person?  Welcome hugs included, something else is happening.  It is important.  It touches your heart.  It makes all of us more real somehow.  Yoga calls it “embodied consciousness.”  This is what is unique about the human being:  that our being is both physical and mystical.

Yoga says Consciousness has manifested this universe, becoming everything that exists.  But only the human being has the capacity to know both their physical reality as well as the Consciousness of which they are made.  This is what mystical means, that there is a mystery hidden in the mundane reality.  The mystical quest is an inner quest.  This is yoga’s specialty.

However, something mystical happens when we get together.  It’s intangible yet incredibly beneficial.  Researchers proves that time spent together lowers anxiety and depression.  It can help with emotions, leading to higher self-esteem and empathy.  And a timely additional benefit is that it improves our immune systems.  

This is a precious time right now.  In Pennsylvania, we had a sweet time free from masks and social distancing.  We didn’t know how long it would last, and here we are, masking again.  Still, we can get together! Another variant or surge might put us back in isolation at any time. 

A friend told me this morning that she’s going to visit her sister for the first time in more than 18 months.  I was fortunate to spend the last 10 days with 28 other yogis in two back-to-back retreats.  It was glorious!  It’s time to get together.  Isn’t there a song about this?

By Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver

Ashram is a Sanskrit word that names the place where the Guru lives.  Ashram also names the place where the fatigue of worldly concerns (shrama)  is cleared.  A-shrama means without shrama.

Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram lives up to its name.  This is the place where the clouds of shrama are lifted. They’re lifted by the enlightened Guru who resides there.  They’re lifted so that you may understand and reside in the knowledge of your own Self.

How does this happen?  It starts with our Guru, Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati.  We call her Gurudevi, which means Divine Teacher. She is a Kundalini master and internationally renowned teacher.  The Ashram houses her physical being.  It also houses the divine energy of Grace that flows through her.  It’s contagious!  You can feel it.  In a program with Gurudevi or by reading one of her articles, you palpably feel the Grace.

The Ashram operates Lokananda, which means Bliss Place.  It also lives up to its name.  It’s a full-service retreat center in Downingtown PA.  There, we offer meditation and yoga healing retreats.  Gurudevi offers Shaktipat.  Many of these immersions are also available online.  

The Ashram offers professional training courses for yoga teachers, yoga therapists and meditation teachers.  Visit our online Calendar to see that the offerings go on and on.  There’s a course or program for everyone — from new yogis to experienced practitioners.

One of my favorite things about the Ashram is that so many of Gurudevi’s profound yet accessible teachings are free.  You have podcasts, written materials and free online meditation programs.  As a Svaroopa^® yoga teacher, I look forward to Gurudevi’s monthly articles.  Along with the article, I receive pithy quotations pulled from it to share with my students.  I’m not teaching only poses.  I am teaching the profound promise of yoga.

For more than 30 years, Gurudevi has met the needs of seekers in so many ways.  She and our  Ashram staff are dedicated to delivering the teachings.  They’ve been passed down to her from her Guru, Swami Muktananda.  These ancient and yet so relevant teachings are delivered in a multitude of formats and price points.  

They meet us just where we are.  Then the Ashram clears the weight of the shrama we’ve been carrying.  Through expert and compassionate teachings, we come to understand who we are and where we’re going.  The Ashram indeed lives up to its name.

By Matrikaa (Marlene) Gast

Japa Club comes to a close on June 21, International Day of Yoga.  When I heard the news, I felt scared and sad.  What will I do without Zooming into Gurudevi’s voice repeating mantra, and matching mine to it? 

This great gift has been given to us for more than a year.  Plagued by pandemic panic, many of us have relied on Japa Club as a desperately needed link to Gurudevi.  Japa with Gurudevi has been a steady place of sacred shelter.  And Japa Club has been a tangible conduit of Gurudevi’s blessings to the world.

I realize that I’d hoped Japa Club would go on forever.  Yet, besides feeling loss, I’m settling into inner “is-ness.”  How appropriate that we emerge from our yoga caves now that it’s safe.

Gurudevi Nirmalananda says, “It’s been a great honor and privilege to serve so many for so long.”  She initiated Japa Club within a couple of weeks of pandemic lockdown.  Since then, Gurudevi has led the traditional 108 repetitions of mantra in Zoom sessions twice daily.  Her Japa Club sessions have served the world at large and each of us individually.

In creating the Japa Club, Gurudevi’s goal was supporting us in getting over our pandemic panic.  She says, “Through Japa Club, I accomplished that goal —and more.  More people are abiding in the Self.”  Regular participants in Japa Club describe powerful experiences:

“The Japa Club made a huge difference for me.  Gurudevi has said that the function of the Guru is to pierce through the veil of fear to the Self.  It is working of course!!” — Robin B.

“During the Japa Club call, mantra reached down into the depths of my being and my form.  The mantra revealed itself, and I knew it to be the worship done by every human in every fire ceremony, yoga practice, synagogue, mosque, church and so on that has ever been.  I saw the priests and holy humans bowing to God.  A profound moment of Self.  Eternally grateful to the One who is giving so much.” — Lori K.

It has been a difficult year in so many ways.  Of course, we’ve been needy.  Recognizing our plight, Guru gave us Japa Club as a lifeline.  In truth, she is always here for us seekers, closer than the breath.  All we need do is turn our attention to her.  Plus, no longer locked down in our homes, we are free to travel.  We can sit at our Guru’s feet in person.  We can bask in her light, bathe in Guru’s Grace, and imbibe her teachings.

Now we can let go of the Japa Club lifeline.  Being infused with Guru’s Grace, we go forward with the self-effort of Disciple’s Grace.  We can diligently apply Gurudevi’s guidance to Do More Japa on our own in our own homes.  With mantra repetition 24/7, you are no longer using Gurudevi as a crutch.  Prevent understandable neediness from morphing into greediness!

Effective tools are available for practical support.  Set your smart phone timer for multiple japa pauses daily.  You get a structured rest and reset by sitting to repeat mantra out loud.  Be sure to follow it with silent repetition inside for a minute or so.

And rely on Gurudevi’s Meditation: Deep & Easy CD.  In the 2^nd track she leads you in 108 repetitions of mantra.  Set that track to repeat for as long as you want.  Notice how your state deepens with the longer, frequent japa sessions structured for yourself.

As verse 9 of the Guru Gita says, Guru and Self are not distinct.  Being Self-Realized, Gurudevi is always there for us.  She is, by definition, within.  By repeating mantra 24/7 we come to know this truth, without a doubt.  The past is done.  The future is your choice.  You can walk on your own, run — and even fly. 

Gurudevi says, “Five minutes of japa twice a day will make you feel better, but it won’t get you enlightened.”  So heed her guidance: Do More Japa.

By Satguru Swami Nirmalananda

Your experiences in the last year have changed you.  Whether you’d planned it or not, you were thrust into a hermetic lifestyle, like a hermit.  A quieter lifestyle is supposed to give you a more peaceful mind, right?  That’s why people move into a cabin in the woods or a mountain hideaway.  You did it where you live.  But what did you do?

While nothing much was happening on the outside, you were changing on the inside.  It reminds me of when my kids grew so much in the summers, but day by day it wasn’t noticeable.  Not until they tried on their school clothes from two months earlier.  Wow, what a difference!

Has the same happened for you?  You may not even know until you get back to the things you used to do.  We call it a “Marker Pose.”  In a Svaroopa^® yoga class, you do a pose for self-assessment at the beginning of class.  After the series of spinal release poses that track from your tailbone up through your neck and head, you repeat the same pose.  This Marker Pose makes you able to say, “Wow, what a difference!”  That’s the power of spinal release, aka spinal decompression.

It’s an inner change, technically an inner opening.  You have more breathing space, more space for your organs, and it even feels like you have more space to live in.  It’s about getting present, actually living in your body.  That makes it easy to find out who you are — who is it that is living in your body?   That’s the whole point:  you discover a deeper dimension of your own Self.

Has the pandemic helped you with this?  Do you feel more like you? If not, now is the time to do more yoga.

Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell, SVA Board President

It is hard to believe that our Giving Blessings campaign is coming to an end. I thank all of you who support Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram during our fundraisers and throughout the year.

I know this has been a difficult time for many, and I appreciate your digging deep.  It truly makes a difference; you truly make a difference.  Since donations make up a major portion of our income, every dollar counts.

In my opening blog for this campaign, I spoke of how blessings go both ways.  In giving blessings, you also receive.  Swami Muktananda’s described giving and receiving:

^{You receive because you give.}

^{If you do not give, how will you receive?}

^{Muktananda, do not mislead others.}

^{You cannot just receive.}

^{— “Mukteshwari,” verse 139}

Sunday is my day to “do more yoga.”  I start with meditation.  A few times a month, I try to join the New England GeoCenter’s offering of Guru Gita.  Then comes Swami Sunday online.  Lately, that is followed by yardwork.  In the late afternoon I take an online Ashram Yoga and Meditation class.  In the evening, I phone into Japa Club.

Truly, I experience a yoga-filled day that overflows with blessings.  So, although our spring fundraiser is over, the blessings and gratitude remain.  Day after day, week after week, month after month, I feel the Grace.  I give to the Ashram and Gurudevi, but I continue to receive so much more.

I am grateful for Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram and the Svaroopa^® Vidya community.  Your gift helps Gurudevi and the Ashram to provide Yoga Teacher Training, Meditation Training, retreats, satsangs and more.  In return, we all benefit.  Much love and gratitude to you!

Donate on our website or on Facebook. 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.

By Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

I went inside at Starbucks yesterday without a mask.  Yes, I’m fully vaccinated.  It was the 15^th day after my final shot.  I could smile at the barista who took my order.  It was lovely!   And it felt strange.  I’m used to hiding, hiding my face and even hiding in my home.  How long will it take before we really feel like we can come and go with ease?  I’m ready!

Last Sunday, I led a meditation program with 20 people onsite.  We did mask because at least one yogi said she hadn’t been vaccinated yet.  We masked to protect her.  Remember, my mask protects you.  Because being vaccinated doesn’t mean I don’t have the virus — it only means I won’t suffer from it.

And Patanjali teaches, in the Yoga Sutras, that the suffering yet to come can and should be avoided.  Of course, he wasn’t dealing with a pandemic.  And he wasn’t talking about improving the world.  He was talking about how you handle your mind.  But this is a time to handle your mind well.

You have choices you haven’t had in a year or more.  You have skills you didn’t have before.  Hopefully, you’ve been doing more yoga practice, so you feel different inside your own skin than a year ago.  What do you really want?  Where do you want to go?  What do you want to spend your time and money on?

These are big questions.  Your choices affect what you do today and how you feel while doing it.  More importantly, your choices affect your tomorrows.  As you set your feet on a pathway back into the world, what path are you choosing?  Where will this path take you?  What will you attain from your efforts?

For my part, I like to follow Patanjali’s recommendation, do more yoga.  [Yoga Sutras 1.22]