By Mangala Allen

Swami Muktananda says, “You are purer than the pure, never manifold, you are indivisible consciousness. Unborn, unchanging, all pervasive… You are a mountain of joy.”

This is probably not how you experience yourself.  Muktananda is describing that, at the core of your being, you are Beingness-itself.  Experiencing and living in your core essence is the purpose of all yoga practices. Beyond the athleticism of most yoga styles, its purpose is to give you glimpses of your own Self. When you use yoga to turn your awareness inward, and develop your ability to explore who you are, you experience your Divinty more easily and for longer periods of time.

Yoga includes: breathing practices, poses, chanting, study, rituals, self-inquiry, mantra repetition and meditation. Swami Nirmalananda says, “Meditation is the ultimate practice, according to yoga’s sages.  All the other practices are to make it easier for you to meditate and to deepen your inner experience of your own Self.”

Your Self is the One Self, for there is only One Reality.  The One is being everything, One Self is being all selves. We are not simply a bunch of humans gathered together inside Consciousness. Each of us is Consciousness. You are Consciousness.  You are the One.  Consciousness is being you and being all of us, all at the same time.

The energy that exists everywhere and pervades everything everywhere is the energy that is being everything. Yoga calls this energy “Shakti.”  About this energy, Baba Muktananda tells us, “The most important thing to know about it is that it lies in the center of a person’s body.” He was a Shaktipat master, who could awaken your inner Shakti, just as Swami Nirmalananda is.  Once this energy is awakened within you, the mystery blossoms forth in your meditation.  Baba describes it: “You too can find the Shakti if you meditate.”

All of yoga’s other practices improve your ability to sit in quietude so you can experience your essential Self. The breathing practice I do, Ujjayi Pranayama, is also an important practice in Svaroopa^® Yoga, one that draws me toward meditation. The poses I have learned and teach decompress my spine and make it easier for the Shakti to rise within.

Chanting’s vibrations pervade my being and carry me deeper inside. Repeating mantra is the vehicle that takes me to my Self when I am meditating, and keeps me based in my Self when I am not meditating. All of these practices work together to provide peace in my heart and mind, enhancing my life.

Looking outward, I have a deeper appreciation and gratitude for all that surrounds me. I am learning to accept life’s challenges, to experience them with greater clarity and focus as I rise to meet them. My relationships benefit as I become less reactionary. I am no longer on the roller coaster of ups and downs I once knew so well. This is because on the inside I am finding out who I really am.

“Purer than the pure, never manifold, you are indivisible consciousness. Unborn, unchanging, all pervasive… You are a mountain of joy.”
– Swami Muktananda

OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo namah

To your Inherent Divinity again and again I bow.

By Niranjan Matanich

Change has always been hard for me. As topsy turvy as my life has been, I would expect that I would deal with change a little easier, but actually it’s made it even harder. I almost always expect the worse when things change. I want things to stay the same because it gives me a sense of security. The unknown is scary so I want things to stay the same.

I was recently surprised to find that my reaction to change and fear of the unknown has changed a little. The company I work for recently sold. Our CEO retired and we were bought out by a bigger company. I was surprised that I didn’t have a strong reaction to it. In fact I observed my mind trying to create scenarios that would incite fear but the thoughts wouldn’t stick. It’s not the most pleasant metaphor, but it was like my mind was dry heaving.

Why am I having a different experience? I attribute this to the years of spiritual practices that I have done. I do not base my sense of self in my external world like I once did. My sense of self is not dependent on my external world.

If your whole sense of self is based on your job and you lose that job, it’s terrifying. You are faced with the question “Who am I if I’m not this job?” This happens with relationships and a multitude of other things in life that you base your sense of self on. To avoid this fear of facing not knowing who you are, you try to create continuity in life. Same job, same friends, same TV programs, etc. In this way you avoid answering the question, “Who Am I?”

Swami Nirmalanda says:

You try to create continuity because you are hoping for a sense of safety to come from the outside, so the internal levels of panic will subside and your crazy mind will quiet. The true sense of continuity comes from the innermost essence of your being, the Self.

The external world is always changing. Basing your sense of self on the external world is sure to create fear and anxiety.

Who you really are is unchanging. You are the Self, the one Consciousness that has become all things. Your own Self is never changing.

So, how do you base yourself in the Self?  Hear the teachings of a master like Swami Nirmalananda, hear the teachings and follow the practices that are given. It’s not theoretical. When you do the practices like mantra repetition, meditation and studying sacred texts you will begin to experience yourself as the Self. The more these impressions are imprinted in your mind, the more you will base yourself in the Self. When you live your life from those deeper dimensions you will not be devastated when your external life changes. I can tell you from experience that it works.

By Yogeshwari Fountain

Recently I went mattress shopping.  If ever there were a place where we fixate on the finite, especially the body, it’s here.  “I used to be 6 feet,” the middle-aged salesmen told me.  He added, “You don’t want to know how many inches I’ve lost.” I replied, “When I was younger, I could sleep on anything!” It’s true that your body ages, but your essence of Beingness is changeless.

You have no beginning and no end.  Your essence is what yoga calls the Changeless Self, the source of the universe and that which pervades it and beyond.  The Self underlies your ordinary sense of self, so you rarely perceive it.  No matter what is going on in your life, your ups and downs, there’s more to you than you can ever imagine.  The ancient yogic sage, Shankaracharya describes your deeper dimension:

“Aatmaan is birthless and deathless.  It neither grows nor decays.  It is unchangeable, eternal.  It does not dissolve when your body dissolves.  Aatmaan is that which has become the universe and exists beyond the universe.  The nature of Aatmaan is pure consciousness.”  — Vivekachudamani

Aatmaan is a Sanskrit name for your Divine Self.  The one Supreme Reality, when experienced on the outside, is usually called God, in Sanskrit — Brahman.  Shen you look within, to your interior Realty, that same Supreme Reality is named “Aatmaan,” Self.  They are the One Reality, the same even in their different locations.

Your body and mind are limited, but the formlessness of your Inner Essence, Aatmaan, is eternal and never decays.  Your Self sustains you, bringing your mind and senses into existence: making your eyes able to see, your ears hear, your tongue taste and your mind think.  Aatmaan is being you and everyone and everything that exists, the One Self seeing through all eyes.  It’s time to think of yourself as an infinite being, as Teilhard de Chardin said, having a human experience.

Your energetic template solidified into a mind and body in order for you to be born.  Just as ice is the solid form of water, yet is still water, you are still the Consciousness from which you came, yet in a denser form.  While Aatmaan is your own Self, Aatmaan was not born when you were born.  Aatmaan is being all that exists in form and beyond form, while being you.  It’s a lot to take in, because your mind is an instrument of limitation.  Swami Nirmalananda explains:

It is Aatmann that reveals Aatmaan within you.  Mind cannot see Aatmaan, anymore than an ant can see the rising sun.  Any idea your mind has of it — Aatmaan is greater.  Much greater.

My mind says, “Now, wait a minute.  I was born to my parents in a certain place and at a certain time, and I am going to die at a time and place someday!” Yes, absolutely true.  And still, you have always been more than your physical birth.  There is more to you than your mind.

Somewhere deep inside, you already know your own Aatmaan.  Intellectual understanding, as great as it is, can only take you so far.  To experience your inherent Greatness, you can turn to one who lives in this inner knowing of Aatmaan all the time.  Who can better help you get there than someone who lives there?

The Guru of my yoga lineage, Swami Nirmalananda, gives me the direct experience of my infinite Self, over and over again.  She taught me how to meditate, and even how to stick with it, which opens up everything for me: my body, mind and more.  What you are seeking is already inside you.  If you meditate every day you will discover the Inner Reality you have always been, Aatmaan, the infinity of your own Divinity.

Om Svaroopa Svasvabhavah Namo Namah.

To your inherent divinity, again and again, I bow.

By Mangala Allen

In the beginning, was THAT. THAT was all there was, for THAT is existence itself. Everything that exists comes from THAT. There is nothing other than THAT.

In the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, we call THAT by a more personal name, Shiva. Shiva has no beginning and has no end. Shiva is all-pervasive; Shiva permeates everyone and everything. There is nothing that exists that is not Shiva.

Another name for Shiva is Consciousness. Yoga says, Consciousness or Shiva is THAT which existed before the Big Bang.  Shiva is indeed what banged.

Shiva moved within Shiva. This movement, energy, created the Big Bang. Ever since the Big Bang, energy is being everything that exists. Everything is made of the same stuff. The whole universe is made of the same energy. This energy, contracting into matter, creates everything — including you. You are made of Consciousness itself. You are THAT.

Swami Muktananda tells us, “Within the human heart dwells a shimmering effulgence, whose brilliance surpasses even that of the sun. This inner Consciousness is the same as that which creates and animates the entire universe.”

Life raises many questions like, “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” and “Why am I here?” Fortunately, yoga addresses these mysteries. As Consciousness contracted to become you, the process obscured your ability to know your own true nature. Your very nature is Divine. As a human being, you have the capacity to discover the light of your own Divinity.

Photo from Pixabay

Your Light, your Presence, your Beingness is hidden from you. You long to find your Self; yoga says you are here to discover who you really are. There is a way to uncover your inner light so it can shine through you and light up the world. There is a path to knowing your own Divinity.  This path is well traveled by many before you. Knowledge has been passed through the generations, from teacher to student, from ancient times to the present day. There is a teacher who will help you find your way.

My Guru, Swami Nirmalananda says, “You are that light, that presence, that beingness. You are that which the ancient yogis called “THAT”.

She is teaching me that everything lies within me. She is revealing my Self to me. She guides my ability to become aware of the subtleties within me, as well as to strengthen my ability to perceive them. She helps me explore my own existence.

In the beginning it was scary. I was not sure what I might find. Once I understood she was uncovering the layers of who I thought I was, and revealing my inner light to me, the fear began falling away. Following the guidance of my Guru, I continue to explore. I leave old habits behind and develop practices to reveal my inner light to myself and to the world. With the help of such a Guru we can all discover the reality within us and know we are THAT.

OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo namah

To your Inherent Divinity again and again I bow.