Go to One Who Knows

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By Sue (Shuchi) Cilley

I anchor my week in Swami Sunday.  I anchor my days in Meditation Club — every day of the week. 

It’s amazing how often Sunday comes around again.  Every Sunday, Gurudevi makes time in her schedule.  She invites me (and everyone else) to Lokananda for Satsang.  I come on Zoom.  Others, who live closer, come in person. 

I make it a priority in my week.  A monthly subscription makes it easy. Occasionally I can’t attend, but it’s rare. I care.

Baba says if you want enlightenment, go to one who’s got it.  I am so grateful to be able to spend this time with Gurudevi.  

What’s so great about Swami Sunday?  Technically it’s called Satsang. It’s an opportunity to experience Truth (sat), your own inherent Divinity, in the company of others (sangha). What’s a better use of time? 

Swami Sunday has a formal structure to it.  Using ancient practices invokes the inner arising of your own inherent Divinity.  It’s totally reliable.  So many practices.  We chant at several different times, we listen to stories and Gurudevi’s illumined teachings.  Can you keep your eyes open while she’s speaking?  

We use a candle flame ceremony to invoke the power of revelation. She gives meditation instructions; we repeat the lineage mantra and meditate.  She’s endlessly creative, always giving the gift of Self-Knowingness.  If you want to know, go to one who knows and can give it to you.

And now the Sunday subscription includes the Wednesday evening programs as well!  What a bonus that is!  

It’s a less formal evening, but no less powerful.  Each evening Gurudevi unpacks the nuances of the language from a multi-line quote from Baba’s writings.  Somehow each of them is magnifying the clarity of each other, invoking Grace.  She’s enlivening the teachings.  

Her words are profound and easy to understand.  I dive in deeper and deeper.  Then we do a longer chant and a longer meditation.  It couldn’t be any more perfect.  I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to be there.  Her invitation is open to everyone. 

Now Wednesdays are becoming a commitment, too.  All my inner and outer obstacles to attending have melted away.  I’m more securely aligned with the Grace which flows into every aspect of my life.  

If you want to know, go to one who knows and can give it to you.  I want to know and I keep showing up, sitting at the feet of my Guru – via Zoom.  Jai Gurudevi!

Sundays & Wednesdays

Yoga For Your Mind

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Clarity is when you look inside for answers, even about external things.

Integrity is when you base your words and actions in the inner levels of your being.

Transparency is when you let your inner radiance shine through your mind and life.

They are all based in one thing — your own Self, the light of your own divinity. When your life is based on anything else, you experience the opposite: confusion, fragmentation and density. I call that “normal” because yoga says this is the norm; it’s how most people live. Getting from normal (confusion, fragmentation and density) to a yogic state (clarity, integrity and transparency) is a process.

The process is a complex and multi-layered journey. Yoga’s practices keep you moving and support you along the way. Each time you do your breathing (pranayama) and poses (asana), you open in an inward direction. Svaroopa® yoga makes the opening tangible and even blissful, decompressing your spine from tail to top in every class, in every yoga therapy session or in your personal practice session.

Unfortunately, you can go from blissful inner openness to painful relapse in minutes if you don’t begin to work with your mind. It only takes a short conversation or even just a few of your own thoughts to create the tensions that you spent an hour or more unraveling. Your mind must do more yoga, too. Fortunately, yoga offers practices for your mind.

Excerpt from A Yogic Lifestyle, page 33

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Magical Tree Pose

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By Soraya (Sudevi) Pereira 

My all-time favorite pose is Vrkshasana (Tree Pose).  I love doing the pose as well as teaching it.  

I especially love practicing it outdoors beside a tree. In the midst of trees, I feel like one of them.  When the ground allows, I take my shoes off and feel the grounding effects of being barefoot on dirt or grass.

I feel deeply rooted as my straight leg leans into the ground. At the same time, I’m uplifted by the upward-moving energy (udana prana).  It starts to rise as I lift my arms towards the sky. Engaging my abs a bit releases my spine and lets the udana prana flow freely.  The balance between this downward rooting and the upward lift feels amazing!

With my bent knee wide and the straight leg and hip facing forward, I find a balance between right and left.  Finding balance, I feel at ease, clear-headed, invigorated, positive and in touch with my Self.

I feel the light of my own Self transmuting any mental or emotional contraction and negativity into openness, ease and deep understanding.  This is very much like the light of the sun allowing the tree to transmute carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen.

Just like trees, Vrkshasana is pure magic!  But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.

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The Radical Practice of Contentment

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

To practice contentment might make you a disruptive element in our modern world. 

Yoga names contentment, samtosha, as a primary practice. But the everyday influences of society propel you to an endless stream of desires. All you have to do is watch one television show and your “Discontent Factor” increases. It is not the shows themselves as much as it is the ads.

They are exceptionally effective at stimulating your desires, which makes you more and more dis-content. Yoga makes you content.

I remember the first time I felt content. I was sitting in my bedroom in a yoga ashram (residential yoga center), and I realized I felt strange. Something was missing on the inside. Something familiar was gone, and I did not feel quite like the “me” that I had known for so many years. But I did not know what it was. I cast about, looking for what was missing, and could not find it. So, I tried instead to describe to myself more specifically how I was feeling.  

Finally, I realized that I felt content. That scared me! While it felt so good to feel such deep contentment, I instantly felt fear that I would never strive for anything again. I realized that all the activities of my life had been motivated by a deep discontent, and now it was gone. It seemed that there was no reason to do anything, ever again.

Excerpt from Yoga in Every Moment, page 46

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God’s Grace

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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… 

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Uncovering Your Own Self

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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

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Chant, Meditate & Learn!

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Every week, you can attend two satsangs with Gurudevi Nirmalananda — in person or online!  Which works for you?

Sundays from 10:00 – 11:30 am (Eastern Time)

Wednesdays from 7:30 – 9:00 pm (Eastern Time)

When you meditate with a Master, you slip inward so easily. That’s what Gurudevi offers, along with the sutras and teachings from the ancient tradition. Join us for chanting, a discourse, meditation instruction and group meditation. 

It’s free if you can join us live in Downingtown PA.

If you cannot join us onsite, enroll in our online program. Our subscription service gives you a way to participate no matter where you’re located. You may enroll for a single satsang or for a series.

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The Importance of Connection

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Yoga says that your need for connection is a spiritual need, not a social need. 

The superficial conversations about the weather and traffic conditions are entertaining, but they don’t fill your need for connection. You make a connection in that shared moment of frustration over the traffic jam or the shared joy during the first snowfall. 

Even if it is only a moment of connection, a whole hour of superficial conversation is worth it. When the connection doesn’t happen, you think that person is a waste of time and you try to avoid them in the future.

Here’s what happens. When you share an experience with someone else, you have an understanding of the other person, while they understand you.  This understanding is a type of validation, making you feel that you are worthwhile as an individual — you are understood and accepted, in your frustration with the traffic or joy of the snow. 

Yet that is still superficial. If you both agree that snow is a big hassle, and there’s all that scraping and shoveling to do now, you have a shared experience, but you don’t yet have a connection. It is only a shared experience.

But if your eyes meet or there is a silent pause, that shared experience turns into connection. In that moment of connection, something happens inside of you. Something opens on the inside. 

Excerpt from Yoga: Inside & Outside, pages 205‒206

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I Caught the “Light Contagion”!

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By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess, SVA Board Member

Yes, the light of Consciousness is contagious. I caught this “light contagion” the first time I met Gurudevi. 

I did not fully understand it.  But when I received this gift, I wanted to give back. I became a monthly donor and began supporting the semiannual fundraisers. Join me in offering financial support. 

Supporting the teachings and the teachers who bring them to you is a sacred practice. It’s called dakshina — unconditional financial giving. This sacred way to share your own light uplifts you. There is nothing better to do than to dedicate your actions to your own upliftment.  And it helps Gurudevi reach more seekers in search of a Great One. 

What she offers is contagious. It’s an ever-expanding process. After meeting her, I was expanding and wanting more.  Along with practicing dakshina, I started traveling to take courses with her. The effort I was putting toward studying and learning with a Great One sped me along my spiritual deepening.

https://www.hawthorncenter.com/the-medicine-of-the-sun/

Gurudevi says, “Like if you sit in the sun, you get warm. If you sit with the Guru, you get lit up on the inside. Why? Because your nature is light. When you spend time with one who lives in the light full time, you start to perceive your own.”  When you come to Lokananda for trainings or retreats, you feel this most strongly.

Have you caught the “light contagion?”  You are a yogi drawn to the Svaroopa® Sciences which offer healing and transformation on many levels.  Arise! Awake! Learn!  And please participate in our fundraiser. You were born to share your transformation with the world, to let your inner bliss overflow into the world.

All that we do, we do for you. We appreciate your support more than you know.

Donate online or shoot us an email: donate@svaroopayoga.org.  Or send us a check: SVA, 116 E. Lancaster Ave, Downingtown PA 19335. Or give us a call and talk to a real person at 610.644.7555.

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Yoga Miracles Happen at Any Age

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

Adventurous and enthusiastic at 81 years of age, Bette sought Svaroopa® yoga therapy after ziplining and white water rafting in Costa Rica last winter.   Her neighbor — a Svaroopa®  yoga student — noticed Bette walking “strangely,” clearly in pain.  Her neighbor suggested yoga therapy. Bette replied with a resounding “yes.” 

After a series of 10 Overlap Healing Embodyment® sessions, Bette’s back pain was gone.  Her shoulder pain was gone too. But that can’t be attributed entirely to yoga therapy.  Midway through her Overlap Healing, her painful shoulder got an anesthetic injection from her physician.

Bette began yoga therapy with level 10 pain in her sacrum and 7 in her right shoulder. Her physician had diagnosed a fracture of the left side of her sacrum.  Years before, she’d had two surgeries to repair torn ligaments and tendons in the shoulder.  At age 9, she incurred a serious tailbone injury.

Per protocols for a high-risk client, I began her pain treatment by teaching her Ujjayi Pranayama.  She took to it immediately. Afterward, she felt “much more relaxed.” She was “only slightly aware of” the sacrum pain with which she’d arrived.  Her shoulder was also “feeling much better.”  During the six weeks of her Overlap Embodyment® sessions, Bette faithfully practiced daily Ujjayi breathing.

After four sessions in a row, she reported feeling “straighter without trying or straining, taller and just calmer up and down my back.”  Her pain steadily lessened through the six sessions at wider intervals.  In her final session, Bette arrived with no pain in her shoulder and just a level 1 in her sacrum.  At the end, she had zero pain and told me, “I don’t understand it.  It’s sort of mystical.  The pain is gone.”

I moved 2,000 miles away a few weeks later. So Bette has continued weekly sessions with another Embodyment® Therapist near her.  She wrote me a note saying that her “sacrum fracture has become less painful.” She feels that with continued daily Ujjayi breathing it “has a better chance to heal.”

Yes, Embodyment® plus Ujjayi opens us to the healing power of Consciousness.

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