In closing our spring fundraiser — With All Your Heart — I want to
thank you for your donation, with all my heart.
This fundraising initiative has been the most exciting so far. Many of you responded with a gift for the
first time. in addition, many of you reached
out to your own sphere of influence through Facebook. In just a few weeks, you have greatly
increased the visibility and name recognition of the Svaroopa® Sciences as well as contributed to the Ashram’s financial
support. Thank you, with all my heart.
Another amazing result is that you have shared an important part
of yourself with those you love and value. By setting up your own fundraiser on your
personal Facebook page, you shared something important to you. As well, it could be beneficial to family,
friends and acquaintances. How beautiful
to be sharing the love widely! I thank
you, with all my heart.
Of course, some of you may not have felt comfortable using social
media in this way. Yet so many of you generously
opened your heart by donating on the Svaroopa Vidya Ashram Facebook page, on
another Svaroopi’s Facebook page or directly to the Ashram. Together, your generous donations have and
exceeded our goal of $20,000. I thank
you, with all my heart.
Giving is the ultimate heart opener. Just like the riddle of the chicken and the
egg, which comes first? Your heart opens
and then you give, or you give and your heart opens? The good news is, no answer is needed. Either order works miraculously!
In the coming year, your Board of Directors will be focusing on expanding
the reach of the Svaroopa® Sciences. The purpose is to bring Swamiji and the
ancient teachings to spiritual seekers the world over. Your loving generosity is supporting the flow
of Grace far and wide. Your financial
contribution, given with all your heart, makes it possible for Swamiji to
fulfill this vision. Your loving
donation, no matter the amount, fuels this transformation.
From my heart, to your heart, I thank you.
With Love and Gratitude,
Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi,
SVA Board President
Svaroopa® yoga opens my heart, which
is one of the many things I love about it. All the practices of the Svaroopa® Sciences, no matter which I choose, open my
heart. Then who I really am is revealed.
The more I practice, the more I reside
in my own Divine Essence. What a gift!
The
practices quiet my mind and turn me inward to an expansive experience. I call
it my “heart,” but really I am settling into my Self. I am carried into a place of immeasurable
vastness. It is infinitely greater than my
mind can ever imagine. When I live from this
inner vastness, everything changes. I
love more purely. I live more Divinely. I move through the world with an ease I never
thought possible. The more I maintain a steady
practice, the more steady my state remains. Weaving this profound yoga into my life keeps
me immersed in the Self.
Recently,
a Svaroopa® yoga teacher said
to me, “I have to tell you, Svaroopa®
Vidya Ashram is a world class teaching organization.” She had just returned from a Teacher Training
program. She marvels that this yoga is
developed specifically to take us to our own Divine Essence. by Sadguru Swami Nirmalananda created every
detail of the practices just for this inner experience and revelation.
Every
part of Svaroopa® yoga
opens your heart, thus opening you to your own Divine Essence. The practice of dakshina is one of those
practices, unconditional giving. It
supports the organization for practical purposes. It is important to keep the organization
running smoothly. In other not-for-profit
organizations, financial support is called fundraising. In this world class organization, however,
fundraising is “dakshina.”
Like your
other Svaroopa® yoga
practices, its purpose is support on the journey to Self-Realization. Dakshina frees you from fear and opens your
heart. Swamiji has based all these
practices in yoga’s ancient authentic teachings. She has designed them to open our hearts so
we move through the world differently.
The love that she gives us in doing this is just so beautiful.
I
practice dakshina with gratitude, to give back for the many things I am immensely
grateful for receiving. Just like all
the other practices, it opens me to a place more expansive than my mind can
imagine. It opens my heart and settles
me into the Self. The more steadily I
give, the steadier is my state. Yet it
is a paradox. This practice, which is meant
to be motivated by pure inner impulse, gives more back to me than I can give to
it.
Please help the Ashram continue to serve you in the many magnificent ways it does. Click to donate on our Facebook page or on our website page. Your generosity is heart-fully appreciated.
This fundraising season we have found an easy way for you to open your own heart in this way, as well as to make this practice available to those near and dear to you. Through a Facebook Fundraising Event, you can share your heart and raise awareness of Swamiji’s profound teachings that mean so much to you.
On our Facebook page, you’ll find the information to make a direct donation to the Ashram and create your own fundraiser for the Ashram. It is easy to do. Here is how.
• For a single personal donation, go to the Ashram Facebook page. Click on the Donate button on the cover photo. When asked, designate an amount and a payment method. Then click Donate again. One, two three — that’s it.
• Create your own event, to magnify your capacity to share your heart — with the Ashram — AND with your Facebook friends. Here’s how to create your own Ashram fundraiser on Facebook:
1. Click Fundraisers in the left-side menu of your News Feed. Then, click Raise Money and select Nonprofit/Charity.
2. Type in Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, and click on the link given.
3. Choose a cover photo, fill in the fundraiser details (we’re happy to provide them) and click Create.
4. When you’re given the opportunity to decide with whom you want to share this fundraiser, we suggest people who know how much you love your yoga, and who love you! We suggest you NOT send it to your Svaroopa® yoga friends on Facebook. Let’s avoid sending the same fundraiser repeatedly to our community.
I invite you to do more yoga, open your heart, contribute today and offer this great practice to others.
“It’s your mind that propels your frenetic pace.” Sigh.
Swami
Nirmalananda writes that our minds mess with us. Our minds compel us to perpetual motion.
When
I lead yoga philosophy discussions, I ask participants to find a phrase or
sentence in a teachings article that resonates with them. Maybe it’s something they relate to. Maybe it’s something that provokes a reaction.
One such line jumped out at me Swamiji’s
May article: The
Inner Threshold. “You do things, lots and lots of things, simply
because you want them to make you happy,” Swamiji writes.
marriagegeek.com
Yes,
I do lots and lots of things. But I
thought I did them out of love and responsibility. I’m sandwiched between my elderly parents and
my disabled daughter. Also, between my
paid jobs and seva duties, I’m still working full time. Initially I didn’t agree that my mind
compelled me to do all these things to make myself happy. I was wrong.
I
discovered this when I looked a little deeper, tracking back. All the things I do come with an identity. It is linked to an expectation — a “pay off”
of sorts. I am a devoted daughter, a
loving mother and wife, an effective employee, a good yoga teacher, a dedicated
sevite. My expectations of my actions — devotion,
love, effectiveness, dedication — are all about using these identities to give
me something. In other words, what I do
makes me happy with who I am. My mind is
messing with me, no doubt about it. Sigh.
When
I get wrapped up in the do, do, do, my mind needs help. I need to remember who and what I REALLY am —
Shiva! Swami says that it’s as easy as
taking a breath and allowing a deep yogic sigh. It’s her quick fix for May. And it works, of course!
Every
afternoon I stop the madness by doing at least 20-30 minutes of Ujjjayi Pranayama.
Yet when I need a quick fix, as I do often,
I can do a yogic sigh. It’s a technique
from the Vij~nana Bhairava, an ancient yogic text in our Kashmiri Shaivism
tradition. Having learned it in Meditation
Teacher Training, I often teach it in my introduction to meditation classes. Swami calls the space after a long sigh,
before the breath moves again, a “divine pause.” She’s right. It’s heavenly.
In
that pause, time stops. My mind stops. Swamiji calls it a “magical, mystical moment
of complete stillness.” Bahya kumbhaka
is the pause after an exhalation, before your breath moves again. It’s the pause that refreshes. Swamiji says when you linger and relax into
the pause, you hover “in the threshold between inside and outside.” She calls it a surrender, a melting, into your
capital-S Self.
I
don’t see my activity level changing any time soon. I have responsibilities. I have dharma — duties to perform. As I carry them out, what can change is my
state. With a sigh, I gain access to who
I am at my core. The “pay off” is the
calm and clarity arising from within. I
recognize who I am inside. I don’t rely
on recognition from others or even from my own small-s self. And all I have to do in the midst of my busy
life is take a breath. What a sweet way
to live! Sigh.
By
Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman, SVA Board Member
I
was stunned by an inner visual of my heart frozen in a block of ice. Swami Nirmalananda (then Rama Berch) had
asked us to travel inward, down from our heads and into our hearts. This was many years ago in Swamiji’s ”Heart
Openers” workshop at a yoga retreat center.
Later, I realized that I had traveled through some tough times at a
young age. At that time, I had been
unable to experience my experience while I was experiencing it. The block of ice was actually a gift. It preserved my heart for the future. Swamiji’s workshop was the beginning of opening
my heart and living from my heart.
Though I couldn’t feel my heart, I could feel layers and layers of muscular pain in my body. Practicing Svaroopa® yoga began the process of unraveling my body’s muscular tension. As my body began to open, I noticed the yoga defrosting my heart as well. When I was able to add Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation to my daily practice, the process accelerated. I had more and more experiences of my Divine Self within. I felt grounded and supported by the inner vastness, the undercurrent of quiet joy. I began to take that feeling into my life.
No matter which of yoga’s many practices you choose, yoga’s
goal is the experiential knowing of your
own Self. It’s an inside undertaking, an insight job, propelled by your practices. The Shiva
Sutras, a primary text in the Svaroopa® Sciences philosophy, describes
the process this way:
Firmly seated in the heart, the yogi will be easily steeped in pure bliss. (translated by Swami Nirmalananda)
“Firmly seated in the heart” doesn’t refer to your physical heart or your emotional heart,
but the heart of who
you really are. Swami Nirmalananda
describes it, “It’s what yoga does for you – immerses you in the heart of your own
beingness. This is the essential part of
every human being, that core essence that yoga names ‘svaroopa.’”
When you open your heart, you naturally want to give from
the bottomless depth of your being. You want
to contribute. It works the other way too.
Swamiji says that when you open your wallet,
even a little bit, you open your heart. Giving and sharing are a mark of personal,
and yogic, growth. You grow by caring. You grow by contributing.
Please join me in participating in our Spring Fundraiser: With All Your Heart. Giving back to the source of the gift is the ancient yoga practice of dakshina. Yet we are offering you a completely modern way to engage in it. Make your donation online in our Enrollment System or on our Facebook page.
Do more yoga. Open your heart. Grow by caring. Contribute today!
By Ben Waters, interviewed by Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast
I have begun to wake up free and happy, as I did as a child. My first waking thought is a happy one, “My God! What’s this day going to bring?” I feel more connected to other people, at the Ashram and everywhere else. I am experiencing a space of true freedom. Day by day, it continues to unfold.
For
most of my adulthood, I experienced life from a place of loneliness and
isolation. Sometime in 2014, I
discovered Sadguru Swami Nirmalananda and got on the Kundalini path of Svaroopa® Vidya. From the first, I trusted Swamiji and her
Teachings. Deep knowings began to arise
within me. I knew I was headed in the
right direction. I could tell that
longstanding pain was clearing as well as other “deep stuff.”
In
early 2019 I experienced a monumental shift.
I felt energy move in my heart area: waves of bliss and a sense of expanding
love. As energy moved into my heart
space, I felt that clearing was beginning. In that instant, a great amount of
pain was released.
In
childhood, as I awoke each morning, I would wonder with delight what the day
would bring. At puberty, I lost my
childhood self. I turned into what other
people thought I was. Over the years I forgot who I was. I identified with the thought stream in my
head. I believed there was an inherent
brokenness in part of me that needed to be healed before I was OK. I always thought that I wouldn’t be whole,
happy or complete until I became a better a person. Life goals needed to be fulfilled; then I’d
be happy.
When
I first experienced Kundalini awakening , I did get scared. Who am I without this familiar small-s
self? I feared I wouldn’t know who I
am. Now, however, I am coming to who I
am — who I have always been. Who I am is
not someone new. It’s a deep remembering of who I truly am. Then from this deeper space I am realizing
nothing within me was ever broken. I
have a sense of acceptance of everything as it is. I feel a welcoming toward who I am right now. There’s no sense of little corners hiding things
I don’t like about myself. I see myself
through a different lens, and realize there never was a problem. There is no better version of me, even spiritually.
The only problem was that I didn’t know
who I was.
These
days, I read and listen to spiritual teachings, and do the Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation practices almost 24/7. Then, just outside of my thinking mind, my
inner voice says, “Oh yeah, everything is perfect. I just couldn’t see it from my
old vantage point.” Then I forget! And
that keeps me on the path, steering me back to clear seeing. Thank goodness, that has been established.
Swamiji’s Teachings are invaluable in supporting me on this path. Her Teachings are seemingly so simple, yet incredibly deep and transformative. In a recent Satsang, Swamiji talked about how the practices of the Svaroopa® Sciences will take you to the heart. Yogis sitting closer to her began to ask, “What is the heart? The physical heart? The heart chakra? Is God love?” Swamiji responded, “Would you just stop thinking about the heart?!” She’s so good at taking us back to the actual, reliable practices. The practices will get you there. You can count on them to open your spine and your heart. Tripping on the mind, wondering about concepts, is ineffective. Instead, just do the practices. They will give you your own authentic experiences. The knowing that arises when you open up is beyond the mind.
All I know is, Swami Nirmalananda gave us the practices. If we do them, they lead us to this space of Self within. The only thing to do is engage in the practices: yoga, japa (repeating mantra), meditation. When I apply effort to them with my whole heart, they take me to my own Self.
The
blessing is that Swamiji has traveled the path as laid out by the lineage of
her Guru and his Guru and so on back through the ages. The practices have been passed down from time
beyond memory, saturated with the blessings of all the Masters on whose
shoulders we stand. On this path, you
don’t have to imagine transformation into existence. It’s a given.
By David (Devananda) King, SVA Board Vice President
What does it mean to follow my heart? How do I live from my heart? Before yoga, I really thought Hallmark made the whole heart/love thing up to sell greeting cards.
In school I was told to “pursue my passion.” I was encouraged to choose a vocation that I could
put my heart into. After school it was suggested
I follow my heart’s desire, find a job I loved.
I just could not reconcile the role of my “heart” in my life. I did all the things I was supposed to do: career,
house, wife, kids, neighborhood cookouts.
But there was a big gap between what I had and what I wanted. When I started yoga, things came into focus. Yoga
reveals your heart, the heart of your own beingness,
your own Divine Essence.
Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t have a miraculous epiphany. Often fueled by desperation, moving from neighborhood
cookouts to where I stand now has been a lengthy process. Yet yoga gave me the tools to cooperate with the
process. Svaroopa® yoga, specifically, leads one to understanding
the heart’s role in a human being. Yoga doesn’t refer
to your physical heart or your emotional heart.
Yoga’s teachings on the heart refer to who you really are.
Sadguru Swami Nirmalananda teaches, “It’s what yoga does for you – immerses you in the heart of your own beingness… This is the essential part of every human being, that core essence that yoga names ‘svaroopa.’” The Heart of who you really are!
My story is not unique. The lineage that Swamiji teaches from has supported
countless people travelling this path. What
is unique is how accessible she is and how she brings the ancient teachings to life. She does so in offering free programs weekly,
recording her discourses and making them available as online
Freebies. Having access to these ancient teachings triggers
in me an immense gratitude for Swami Nirmalananda. She is the One who can lead us to our own Self.
Knowing that She can lead us all to the Heart
of own Self further opens my heart.
When your heart opens, naturally
you want to give from the bottomless depth of your being. You want to contribute. It works the other way too. Swamiji says that when you open your wallet, even
a little bit, you open your heart. Giving
and sharing are a mark of personal, and yogic, growth. You grow by caring. You grow by contributing.
This spring, we ask you to share your heart, your joy, your hope with those nearest and dearest to you. We ask you to share the love by donating to the organization and the practices that give us so much. We are also asking you to share the love by using social media to raise funds and to raise awareness of Swamiji’s profound teachings. We’ve only got 3 weeks to go for our Spring Fundraiser. Help us by supporting the Ashram and its many services and programs.
We’re on our way to our goal, with only 3 weeks to go. Thank you to the many donors who have contributed $16,000 toward our $20,000 goal – help us make it all the way by donating now.
And see our new Donor Gifts, a heart-full momento of your loving gift.
On our Facebook page, you’ll find information to help you either make a direct donation to the Ashram, or to create your own fundraiser for the Ashram. When you create your own event, you magnify your ability to share your heart, not only with the Ashram, but with your Facebook friends.
It’s easy to do – here’s
how.
For
a single personal
donation, go to the Ashram Facebook page. Click on the “Donate” button
on the cover photo. Designate an amount and
a payment method, then click donate again. One, two three — that’s it!
To
create your own Ashram fundraiser, click Fundraisers in
the left-side
menu of your News Feed. Then, click Raise Money. Select Nonprofit/Charity.
Type in Svaroopa Vidya Ashram,
and click on the link given.
You will choose a cover photo and fill in
the fundraiser details, which we are happy to provide. Click create and choose with whom you want to share
this fundraiser. Send it to people who know
how much you love your yoga, and who love you! Don’t send it to your Svaroopa® yoga friends on Facebook
or they get the same fundraiser over and over again.
After you make a donation,
you’ll receive an email confirmation to the primary email listed
on your Facebook account.
The
email receipt shows that you’ve made this donation as a charitable contribution, and
that you’re not receiving any goods or services in return. Facebook sends your donation directly to the Ashram a
few days after
you make it! There are no
fees to you, and no fees to the Ashram. It’s
simple and effective.
Want some help creating your fundraiser? Let us know and we’ll have someone phone you and walk you through the steps. Call 610.644.7555 or email donate@svaroopayoga.org.
Swamiji says, “Life is rich and full and varied, and there’s enough time and money for you to nourish all the aspects of your life, including your spirit of generosity.” But, she says, “you must give if you want to be happy. It is part of human nature; it’s the way it works for a human being. And it is yoga.” Do more yoga. Open your heart. Grow by caring. Contribute today!
You take a Svaroopa® yoga class, then feel
more peaceful and settled, yes? Then, someone
comments on your eyes and face being so bright and how content you seem. This is due to the Grace of our lineage. The practice opens you to Grace, which
saturates your mind and your life with light and love.
In 2013, I experienced this on the India
trip with Swami Nirmalananda. As our wonderful
time in India drew to a close, I knew my life had changed. I told Swamiji she had removed walls from
around my heart, but I was not sure I could let the walls stay down at home. Swamiji asked that I keep an opening for her.
Now I sometimes want to rebuild those
walls. Yet I have learned what this path
teaches: you put your heart into
whatever you do, especially into your yogic practices. As yoga quiets your mind, you tune into your
heart, your own inner essence.
“Heart-full
experiences are essential to life,” says Swamiji. “Without them, life has no
meaning. You want to have the feeling of
your heart being full… overflowing with what you have to give.” When you do the Svaroopa® Sciences practices with all your heart, your
heart fills with love and gratitude.
Then you have so much to give.
Reflect on what your Svaroopa® yoga practices have
given you. Share the love by donating to
our Spring Fundraiser, supporting the organization and the practices that give
you so much.
We’re also asking you to share the
love by using social media to raise funds and to raise awareness of Swamiji’s
profound teachings. I thank you from the
bottom of my heart, whether you donate directly and/or help us raise awareness
and funds through Facebook.
Here’s how you do it. Make a quick and easy donation on our Facebook page. Simply click on the Donate button at the top of the page. One, two, three — give your name, the amount of your gift and payment method. You’ve just participated in dakshina, giving back to the source of the teachings.
Or create your own Fundraiser for the Ashram. * In the News Feed section of your own Facebook page, click on Fundraisers. * Another window opens. Click Raise Money; then select Nonprofit/Charity. * On the Select page that opens, type Svaroopa Vidya Ashram at the top and click on the Ashram link displayed. * Choose a cover photo; below it, fill in what the Ashram is and why you are raising funds for it. * Set an amount you’d like to raise. Almost done! * After clicking Create, decide with whom you want to share this fundraiser. Invite those who know how much you love your yoga, those who love you. Don’t send it to your Svaroopa® Yoga Facebook friends to avoid sending the same fundraiser over and over again to our community.
Want some help creating your fundraiser? Let us know and we’ll have someone phone you and walk you through the steps.
To firmly seat yourself in your heart, contribute today. Steep yourself in svaroopa: the bliss of your own being. Call 610.644.7555 or email donate@svaroopayoga.org.
By
Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi Heinlein
SVA Board President
When Swami Nirmalananda first asked me to do seva, I had a fulltime
job. Actually, it was the equivalent of
two fulltime jobs. I was living with a
lot of stress. She had just taken initiation
as a swami and the Ashram was still in the early stages. You might think that being asked to do more
work would send me right over the edge. On
the contrary! I chose to plunge in with
both feet. Surprisingly, seva saved me from
my small-s self. Seva continues to give
me my Self.
I am not the only one who is having this experience. Currently, approximately 100 sevites are actively working to support
Swamiji and the Ashram mission. Their generous offering of time and talent is a
priceless gift. It takes pressure off our
Ashram staff and helps operations run more smoothly. Our 11 working Board members, all volunteers,
have stepped into deeper levels of responsibility. Their commitment has enabled Swamiji to spend
more time teaching, writing, and traveling to support you and your local
communities.
Why do sevites do all this? What is the payoff? Seva keeps the sevite in the loving and transformational flow of Grace. While Grace is always present in your Svaroopa® practices, stepping into serving the flow of Grace is another level of experience entirely. Profound moments of transformation — spiritual breakthroughs — arise from supporting Grace through seva. No matter what your seva is, you are making a difference for your fellow yogis, and even more for yourself. The more seva you do, the more you push through your limitations. This increases your capacity for personal growth. The more you surrender into “not having enough time,” and dive into serving, the steadier your inner state becomes. It is quite amazing. Pushing yourself beyond your limitations through seva actually gives you your Self! Ask any sevite. You will likely hear the same thing. When you donate your time, your expertise, your hands and your heart, you will be reimbursed 100-fold. You get paid in joy!
By Kris
Curran, RN, CSYT
Interviewed by Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast
“How good do you want to feel?” is my question to clients. Depending on their needs and readiness, I offer them Embodyment® sessions, Svaroopa® Yoga Treating Pain protocols or Svaroopa®Yoga Neck & Shoulders Therapy. I have seen clients experience tremendous healing. Those who commit to weekly sessions have received the most benefit – even miraculous results. They first come to Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy for a specific issue, but keep coming back because they love how they feel!
About 18 months ago, a client came to me with achiness in her neck and shoulders. I began her sessions with Treating Pain therapeutic protocols. After completing Neck & Shoulders Therapy training recently, I moved to Neck & Shoulders protocols. She is just in awe of how much she is flourishing.
Every
session, she says, “I feel great!” If she
runs into relapse or some discomfort in new poses in yoga class, she says,
“Yeah, it’s just my stuff. I’m amazed at
how much lower my shoulders are, and that I’m feeling so good all the time.”
She even notices her body has changed so much that her pants are too short, though
they haven’t been altered.
As her yoga therapist, I marvel at seeing her go deeper in sessions, exploring deeper layers within. As a deep yogi, she notices — and is staring to dissolve — inner resistance (not just in her body). Her heart is opening, and she is becoming more in tune with emotions and her family’s needs.
A true Miracle Story comes from a client who had an inner ear virus. It caused dizziness and significant damage to head nerves. She would experience dizziness that would last for days and days, often requiring bed rest. Loss of equilibrium affected her work and caused other life losses as well. Diagnosed with a vestibular problem, she was prescribed vestibular physical therapy (eye movements, gaze stabilization exercises, head movements, etc.). This PT helped her condition to some degree. She was told, however, there was not much else that could be done for her.
blissfullyoga.com
When she decided to try yoga therapy in 2017, I began with the Ujjayi Ramayana protocol for Treating Pain. The next step was Embodyment® Yoga Therapy sessions for a year. By summer 2018, she had vastly shifted and was ready for Yoga Therapy protocols. Now, she says, “This is the only thing that has helped me. Even so, I am more than my condition.”
Her flare ups of dizziness do still occur. Yet they last for only for a couple of hours, not days. And she has no trouble dealing with this experience. She knows she is in a deep healing process and is more accepting of her condition. Tending to be quiet and shy, she says she has more confidence now. She even describes being able to speak up in meetings at work. In her yoga therapy sessions, she settles deeply into Consciousness within, which is when healing occurs on all levels. Sometimes my clients say that I have healed them so much. Then I have to remind them it’s not me. Instead, the healing power of Consciousness, which comes from the inside, is healing them. It’s beautiful to witness. I don’t have the words to describe all that I’m seeing in my Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy clients. It’s just Grace! To have a role in their healing and transformation is an honor.
I was
resistant and stubborn about seva at first.
I couldn’t see myself doing anything but the kinds of editing work I’d
done professionally for 35 years. This
was in 2009, before Sadguru Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati founded the
Ashram. At the time, I did want to serve
our Master Teacher as well as her Master Yoga organization and community. However, I wanted to serve from my identity
as an editor only. In this way, for
several years, I proofread Svaroopa®
yoga course catalogues.
Then
my body said, “no more.” I pulled back,
unwilling to spend more weeks, hours and years sitting at a computer. I realized I could drop the editor
identity. This shift was freeing and
came as a delightful surprise.
In
2018, when I was asked to do seva again, I came to it with a desire to be in
closer connection with our beloved Swamiji.
I use a computer again, this time to manage a publications subscriber list,
not editing. It takes a short while,
just right for me. Even from the first,
I did the work aware of Swamiji’s presence. I was grateful to have the opportunity to
serve.
One
day, I opened the list and felt an instantaneous surge of our Sadguru’s unconditional
love. My eyes rested on the list. Then,
in that moment, love filled my heart and expanded it. I recognized this as our Guru’s Light and
Grace. I realized in a new way, she is
right there. The closer connection I
sought is always within. I feel a
similar sweetness each time I interact with Ashram staff. The Grace of the Guru flows through every
aspect of my seva, and through each person with whom I talk or email.
With
a stripped down, simple seva, I open to the fullness of ultimate
interconnectedness. The sweetness, joy
and continuing revelations and realizations bowl me over. This is at the heart of the Self that She is
— unending Grace.
SVA Blog 