Swami Samvidaananda

Miraculously, I have found my way to a Shaktipat Guru. My Guru is Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati. We call her Gurudevi.  And today I write in celebration of her birthday.

A Shaktipat Guru is extremely rare.  She is someone who can awaken you to your Self.  I love this quote from Gurudevi that describes such a being:

One who knows the Self can simply up-vibe you to the inner knowingness of your Self. This is the Grace of the Guru, a person who has done their work and devotes their life to serving others.

“Up-vibe you to the inner knowingness of your Self” is a definition of Shaktipat. It’s the most informal, groovy way of describing it. “Up-vibe” sounds so effortless. And from all appearances, it is.  Gurudevi says it’s the easiest thing she does.  She lifts you up to a higher vibration.  

It’s the vibration of your Self, your inherent Divinity.  Your Self is Consciousness-Itself, pure Beingness, blissfully being everything that exists. Guru’s Grace up-vibes you so that you know the inherent wholeness, fullness and bliss of your own being. 

The effortlessness of Gurudevi’s capacity to give you Shaktipat belies what it took her to attain her state. The Guru is “a person who has done their work.” Gurudevi has done her work. Once she found her Guru, Baba Muktananda, she tirelessly dedicated herself to her own upliftment.  She made the most of what he gave her. She says it was out of desperation.

While I can certainly relate, I’ve always seen her as a beacon of light. She has always been at the forefront.  She is always blazing ahead of me on the path, showing all of us what’s possible. 

She shared that after she received Shaktipat, she found a spot to meditate in a corner of her family room, behind a big arm chair. She meditated there for three hours every morning.  She plunged into samadhi, a deep meditative immersion.

At the end of the three hours, she would open her eyes to find her three children curled up with her, a little head on each knee, and one in her lap. It touches my heart whenever she shares this story.

A key part of the story is, she jumped in to meditating three hours a day.  Right off the bat!  She has done her work.

And, a Guru is a person who “devotes their life to serving others.” Gurudevi could have taken what her Baba gave her and poured it into her job and her family.  She would have had a beautiful life, a happy life. A life that’s full of Grace. 

But she didn’t stop there.  She devotes her life to giving to others what she had been given.  Long before she became a swami, she radiated Grace and could easily up-vibe you.  But she waited until she was authorized to give intentional Shaktipat.

This was out of respect for Baba, and in deference to the teachings, which say you must be authorized.  And because she is authorized, she carries the Grace from every Guru in this lineage of Shaktipat Gurus. That is what makes the Shaktipat initiation she gives so powerful for you.

It’s an inner empowerment, the power of Consciousness. Once you receive it, every time you meditate, you invoke this power to arise within you. Guru’s Grace reveals your Self to you more and more— until one day you will live in the knowingness of your Divinity.

And you will recognize that same Divinity in everyone and everything.  That’s what Baba gave to Gurudevi. And out of gratitude to Baba, and her endless, compassionate generosity, that’s what Gurudevi gives to you.

Gurudevi does not celebrate her birth. She celebrates the day she received Shaktipat from Baba Muktananda. It was the day he gave her own Self to her. In the same way, Baba always celebrated the day he received Shaktipat from his Guru, Bhagavan Nityananda.

But I celebrate Gurudevi’s birth, because she is a glorious gift to the world. Without her, I would not be on this path of deepening into the depths of my Divinity.  Because of her, you can receive the awakening to your Divinity.

By Swami Samvidaananda

A full moon’s luminous glow — it is beautiful and captivating. On the fullest full moon of the year, which happens in July, it is traditional in India to celebrate the Guru. It’s called Guru Purnima.

Purnima means full moon. Guru refers to your chosen spiritual teacher. Why celebrate the Guru then? It’s because moonbeams light up the darkness of night. In the same way, your Guru dispels the inner darkness (gu) and reveals your inherent light (ru).

There are so many Gurus who are a light in this world. Teachers who inspire and uplift you. I hope you have had many in your life. I know I have. Perhaps because I really needed the help! Teachers showed up and encouraged and inspired me when I needed it the most.

Their guidance led me towards the next steps on my life’s path. I honor each one. And I’m grateful because their help on my path took me to the one who takes my breath away. It’s been 25 years, and she still leaves me breathless.

Her name is Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati. We call her Gurudevi. She is my Guru. She teaches from yoga’s ancient mystical texts, which say there is One Divine Reality. That Reality is ever-blissful, all-knowing Beingness. Everything that exists is made of the same Beingness, including you. As a human being, you have the capacity to know the Divine Beingness that you are. It is your own Self.

Why would you want to know? Because when you know your Self, you experience the ever-arising bliss of your own Beingness. You discover that your Self is the source of joy, happiness, love, contentment and creativity. These are merely a few of your Divine qualities. Plus you recognize this world and everyone and everything in it as another form of your own Divinity. There’s only One. And it’s you. Wow!

Unfortunately, you don’t start off knowing this is who you are. At least, not enough of the time. But help is available. Gurudevi can awaken you to your Divinity. Gurudevi’s Guru, Baba Muktananda, puts it this way:

Every house has a lamp, and in the same way there are many Gurus,

but rare is that Guru who, like the sun, gives light to all.

Baba Muktananda, The Perfect Relationship, page 6

Gurudevi is such a rare Guru. Like the sun constantly radiates light and heat, she radiates the light of the Self. And she has the ability to give that light to you. It’s not her personal light. It’s the light of the Self. It’s a Divine energy.

With that energy, she sparks the flame of your own inner light in a mystical initiation called Shaktipat. She can do this because her Baba gave her this capacity. And he had a Guru, Bhagavan Nityananda, who gave him Shaktipat. And Nityananda had a Guru, who had a Guru, who had a Guru, in a lineage of Gurus that stretches back to the beginning of time. Gurudevi is a modern-day representative of this ancient tradition of Shaktipat Gurus.

Baba Muktananda gave Shaktipat to thousands and thousands of people. Once you receive Shaktipat, it’s up to you to bank the embers and keep the fire going. You do that by doing the practices your Guru gives you, especially meditation. Of the thousands that Baba initiated, very few dedicated themselves to the practices with the diligence and perseverance necessary to become Self-Realized.

Self-Realized means you know your own Divinity all the time. And of those who became Self-Realized, even fewer were empowered and authorized to awaken others. A Shaktipat Guru is extremely rare. Gurudevi is such a Guru. My gratitude is boundless.

Are you curious? Here she is, in Pennsylvania and online as well. She’s just a few clicks, or a few steps, or perhaps a short flight away. Are you ready to get lit up?

By Swami Samvidaananda

Self-help gurus. Fashion gurus. Investment gurus. Health gurus. When I’m looking for help or to learn something new, I want to learn from an expert.

If you are really good at what you do, and you help a lot of people, you are called a guru. It’s not inaccurate. Guru, a Sanskrit word, means “teacher” when spelled with a small-g, “guru.” What about when you want spiritual help? It would make sense to go to a spiritual Guru. Wouldn’t it? Yet that seems to be a less popular option.

I didn’t know I was looking for a spiritual, capital-G “Guru.” I just knew that underlying my day-to-day life, with its responsibilities, relationships, happiness and pain, there was a quiet despair. I wanted my life to have more meaning, but I couldn’t find it. I had moments of joy, even bliss. But I couldn’t hold onto them. It wasn’t enough.

Then I met Gurudevi Nirmalananda. I didn’t know the word Guru, and I would not have said I was looking for one. But I recognized her as my teacher. So I began to orient my life in her direction. I had been like a lost sunbeam that had somehow gotten disconnected from the sun. And now, when I aimed my beam towards her, I shone brighter, like a sunbeam radiates from the sun.

I was being lit up with my own inner light. I began to experience more joy, more happiness, more peace. She didn’t give me her light; she awakened my own light within me. It’s the light of my Divinity, of my own Self.

Yoga’s mystical teachings say there is One Divine Reality. Everything that exists comes from and is made of the One. This universe, the stars and the planets, and everything on the earth down to the smallest ant and grain of sand is Divinity, concentrated into form. Including me. Including you. That Divinity is inherently who you are, so the One is called your Self.

Because you are the Self, you have the capacity to know you are the Self. But you need help to get to that knowing because it is hidden from you. It’s a cosmic setup. So, what do you do? You get help from someone who knows. Someone who is an expert at awakening you to your deeper knowing. That’s a Guru.

Guru is spelled, “Gee, you are you.” It means that you have someone in your life who gives you your Divine Self — Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Gurudevi is such a Guru. She knows her Divine Self, and she can give that knowing to you. She does it through an initiation called Shaktipat. Shaktipat is a transmission of energy that sparks your inner knowing. This is like a cosmic jump-start.

Your knowing of your Divine Essence will fill you with joy, love, creativity, peace and bliss. You’ll discover you are the source of the happiness you’ve been seeking out in the world. And you’ll come to recognize that everyone and everything is a form of the same Divinity. How glorious!

How did Gurudevi become a Guru who can do this for you? She found her Guru, Baba Muktananda. And he gave her Shaktipat. He could do this for her because he found his Guru, Bhagavan Nityananda, who gave him Shaktipat. Gurudevi is part of a lineage of Shaktipat Gurus that stretches through time.

Each Guru was at some point a seeker, looking for something they could not find on their own. And they found a teacher who could give them what they were looking for. They were looking for an expert. And they found one!

Of course, when you find an expert, the story doesn’t end there. Like anything you want to accomplish, you have to apply yourself. Baba Muktananda gave Shaktipat to thousands and thousands of people. He wanted to awaken and uplift as many people as he could. And he gave them practices to do, especially meditation and repeating mantra.

Once your inner flame is ignited, it’s up to you to nurture and grow it. Many people took Baba’s teaching to heart. Because of him, there are many more meditators in the world. However, very few people applied themselves to blossoming the inner awakening all the way, to Self-Realization. Gurudevi did. She gave it her all.

Once she received Shaktipat from Baba, she tirelessly dedicated herself to her own upliftment. She became Self-Realized, meaning she knows she is the Self, all the time. And she became authorized as a Guru, so she can give the inner awakening of Shaktipat to you. Now, she tirelessly dedicates herself to uplifting you. She’s not a Guru because she wants attention or fame or followers.

She wants you to have what she has. Do you want it?

By Swami Samvidaananda

I went to India and met other swamis — Australian swamis!  It felt like a sweet reunion with family members I’ve never met.  There was an ease, a ready friendliness, and an enjoyment of each other’s company.  We were all there for a retreat hosted by the Aussies at our lineage home of Ganeshpuri MH, India.  

The Aussies were sweet and welcoming in general, but underlying that was something more. The swamis’ deep practice and commitment to yoga really showed.  How? It was their bliss.  My experience with them is described in a yogic text:

Lokaananda.h samaadhi-sukham. — Shiva Sutras 1.18

This yogi experiences the sweet bliss of the Self in every location and situation, and shares it with others.
[rendered by Gurudevi Nirmalananda]

This yogi is a knower of the Self.  They know their Divinity. Such a yogi experiences the sweet bliss of the Self everywhere — in every location and every situation.  

There are other names for “a Knower of the Self”: Self-Realized, Enlightened, Illumined, God-intoxicated.  When you are Enlightened, you take your illumined Self-Knowing everywhere you go.  No place or circumstance can diminish your bliss, nor can it enhance it.

Meditation doesn’t make you more blissful.  Being out in the world doesn’t make you less so.  Your experience of the bliss of the Self is steady.  

And you share it with others.  God-intoxicated beings love to share! They don’t even need to try. They vibrate with bliss everywhere they are, whomever they are with, whatever they are doing.  They radiate bliss the way the sun radiates light and heat. 

The swamis I met in India have dedicated themselves to becoming a yogi like this.  Actually, they have dedicated themselves to a yogi who is already like this.  They are on the traditional Guru-disciple path. Just like me!  Their Guru, Swami Shankarananda (called Guruji), and my Guru, Swami Nirmalananda (called Gurudevi), are Self-Realized beings. More than that, they are both Shaktipat Gurus.  A Shaktipat Guru has the capacity to awaken you to the inner knowing of your Self, an initiation called Shaktipat.

Shaktipat Gurus are extremely rare. And I was in India with two of them. Actually, three.  No, four! Another Shaktipat Guru was there at his Ashram, just outside of town.  His name is Swami Nityananda (of Magod).  And Swami Brahmananda was there as well, another Shaktipat Guru. 

One afternoon, I had the unique and delightful opportunity to spend time with them as well as several other swamis. They had all lived at the Ashram in Ganeshpuri together many years ago, studying with their Guru, Swami Muktananda. You could call them Guru-brothers and Guru-sisters.

For me, being in the presence of these Great Beings was like being among superheroes.  My heroes.  But for them, it seemed more like the after-credits scene I loved from one of the Avengers movies.  All the superheroes had banded together and saved the world.  End of movie — roll the credits.  Then, there’s a brief scene of all of them together around a table in a tiny restaurant, eating in companionable silence.

What happens when Shaktipat Gurus get together? They chat.  They catch up.  They drink some chai. They enjoy each other’s company.  They are present, engaged and happy.  And then, they say goodbye, and go on to their next task, equally present, engaged and happy. They certainly appreciated the opportunity to spend some time with each other.  But they are Knowers of the Self: Lokaananda.h samaadhi-sukham.  And so their bliss was not increased by being together, nor was it diminished when they said goodbye.

This constancy and steadiness doesn’t mean that an Enlightened being’s life is boring, every day the same. It’s not that they’re “beyond it,” meaning they don’t care.  The opposite is true.  Enlightened beings are some of the most active, engaged, loving, generous, caring people you’ll meet.  This is their state, and it can be yours.

I don’t mean you have to become a Shaktipat Guru.  Nor do you have to become a swami, wear orange or move to an Ashram.  I mean you can live your life, do what you do, with the people you love, and you can be more YOU.  

You can be you at your best all the time: happy, content, loving, generous.  You can be your glorious Divine Self in every location and every situation.

How? First, get Shaktipat. This sacred and ancient initiation jumpstarts your knowing of your Self like nothing else can.  Then, you have your part to do: meditate.  Svaroopa^® Vidya meditation gives you the experiential knowing of your Divinity.  

Meditation by meditation, your inner realization that you are the Self deepens and develops.  Until one day, you’ll never not know that you are the Self.  And you will recognize that everyone and everything is another form of the same Self.  Everything is Divine, and YOU are that Divinity.  

Then you will be the yogi who experiences the sweet bliss of the Self in every location and situation, and shares it with others. This is your future, if you want it to be.

1. Avengers shawarma scene – https://ew.com/article/2012/11/29/avengers-shawarma-scene/

By Swami Samvidaananda

As a teenager in the Eighties, I loved when Prince sang, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate this thing called life.”  At least, that’s what I thought he sang.  The lyrics are actually “to get through this thing called life.”  I’ve had it wrong all this time!  

I think I misheard the lyrics because I actually celebrate this thing called life. Sure, at times I’ve felt like life was something to get through.  There’s been pain and the uncertainty of hard times.  But alongside that, I’ve had glimpses of the sacredness of life.  Moments of perceiving how being a human being is a precious opportunity.  And then I met my Guru.  She confirmed the reality of those glorious glimpses.  She teaches that life is Divine:

What seems to be only a mundane world is Divinely designed to engage you fully.  Each and every person, critter and object is made of the One Divine Energy, shakti, coalescing into a separate and fascinating form.  When you step into the marvel, the awe and majesty of this amazing creation, you live in the bliss of Consciousness

– Gurudevi Nirmalananda, “Being a Yogi in the World”

The world is made of Divinity.  Well before modern day physics, yogis knew that everything is made of energy. Named shakti, this energy is not an inert, lifeless substance.  Shakti willingly, knowingly, blissfully chooses to be the dance of Existence.  More than merely conscious, she is Consciousness, concentrating into everything.  Every thing on this planet, every thing in the universe, every thing that exists.  Including you.  

You might think, “Well, okay, everything is made of Consciousness.  But not me.”  What are you made of, Swiss cheese?  Oh, Swiss cheese is made of Consciousness, too.  If everything that exists is made of the same substance, then that has to include you.  Your body is made of consciousness-concentrate.  Every cell is distilled Divinity. 

It’s like what Salinger’s short story character Teddy McArdle says:

I was six when I saw that everything was God, and my hair stood up, and all.  It was on a Sunday, I remember.  My sister was a tiny child then, and she was drinking her milk, and all of a sudden I saw that she was God and the milk was God.  I mean, all she was doing was pouring God into God, if you know what I mean.

— J.D. Salinger, “Teddy,” Nine Stories, 1953

Do you know what he means?  As a human being, you have the unique capacity to know that everything is God, like Teddy did when he was six.  You’re not just a part of God, like you, Teddy, his sister and the milk are pieces of a God-puzzle.  All the pieces together make up the whole.  

It’s more like you are a drop of water When you drop into the ocean, kerplunk!  You merge with it.  Then, which part is the ocean and which part is the drop?  You’re the whole ocean.  Your Self = God = Consciousness = the One Divine Reality.  That is who you are.

So, how come you don’t know that’s who you are?  You do know, sometimes.  You get glimpses, like I did.  But it’s not enough.  You want more. To know your Divinity all the time, your capacity has to be activated. 

Gurudevi can do that for you with an initiation called Shaktipat. She is a Shaktipat Master, empowered and authorized by her lineage.  She doesn’t just tell you that you are Divine; she gives you the experience.  And she teaches you to meditate, so you can do your part. 

Every time you meditate with the lineage mantra, you immerse your mind in your Self.  Your mind needs the help, because it is used to focusing on the mundane instead of the Divine.  And it convinces you that you are small, separate, unworthy and unlovable.  

But when you meditate, you drench your mind in your Divinity.  Over time, your mind becomes less capable of blocking your bliss.  So you know the marvel, awe and majesty of this thing we call life.  We each have our role.  And we each are the whole — the whole of Divinity.  Outside and inside, there’s only One.  You find the One inside when you meditate.  Gurudevi will show you how.

By Swami Samvidaananda

The birth of Jesus is celebrated today.  It’s a holy day that honors a great being.  Merry Christmas!

I grew up in an Italian Catholic family.  I adored the baby Jesus nestled in the little wooden manger under our brightly lit Christmas tree.  I was taught that Jesus was both human and divine, and I believed it.  But I didn’t understand how it could be true.  I wanted to know. 

And then I found yoga.  Yoga opened up my ability to experience Divinity ― my own and the Divinity of everything that exists.  Yoga says you can experience your Divinity.  This is because there is One Divine Reality, and that Reality is your own Self:

Caitanyam-aatman — Shiva Sutras 1.1

Consciousness-Itself is your own Self.

(Translated by Swami Nirmalananda)

Consciousness is the source and substance of everything that exists.  The physicists and yogis agree that everything is made of energy.  The yogis go a step further.  They explain that everything is made of conscious energy: Divine, Sublime and Self-knowing.  More than conscious, it is Consciousness-Itself.

The sun, the moon, the stars, your houseplants and your pets are all made of cosmic Consciousness.  They are all inherently Divine.  And so are you.  Cosmic Consciousness is your own Self.  Except, you don’t know your Divinity, not enough of the time.  Instead, you experience yourself as limited.  You feel small, separate, and painfully alone. But you have the capacity to experience your Self.  This is yoga’s purpose: to reveal your Divinity to you.  

How does yoga do that?  Well, not with yoga poses, as beneficial as they are.  Yoga says, spend time with a living yoga Master, a Siddha.  That’s what I do.  I meditate with Gurudevi Nirmalananda Saraswati.  She knows her own Divinity.  She sees everything that exists as that same radiant Divinity, all the time.  In this tradition, she is described as Self-Realized.

Other traditions have their own names for those who live in a pure, steady, spiritual state.  In the West, Christianity recognizes great beings as saints and mystics.  The meditative traditions of the East — in India, Burma and Thailand ― call them enlightened, illumined, God-intoxicated. 

What happens when you spend time with such a being?  Their ecstatic, God-saturated state is catching.  They love to share!  They don’t even need to try.  They radiate Divinity.  They are like a tuning fork, emitting a pure tone of bliss.  When you’re with them, you begin to vibrate with bliss too.  

That’s because their bliss is your bliss.  Their Divinity is your Divinity.  There’s only One Divine Reality, and it is your own Self.  There’s only one difference between a Self-Realized being and you.  They know they are the Self and you don’t.  Not yet.  But you can. 

With a Siddha like Gurudevi, it’s not like going to a concert.  There, you catch a blissful high, then go home and lose it.  The yoga masters in her lineage give you more than a temporary experience of your Self.  They are empowered to give Shaktipat, the mystical initiation that awakens you to your Inherent Divinity.  

She received this initiation from her beloved Guru, Baba Muktananda.  And he received this initiation from his Guru.  And his Guru had a Guru, who had a Guru, who had a Guru, in a lineage of Shaktipat Gurus that stretches through time.  

When you receive this inner awakening, your Divinity is revealed to you.  You know your Self in a way that you will not lose.  Oh, you may get distracted and forget for a while, then remember again.  But you can’t ever not-know your Divinity the way you did before, unto lifetimes.  Meditation will clear your mind, body and heart from the inner distractions that get in your way.  So one day, you will be Self-Realized.  You will know your own Divinity.  And you will see everything that exists as that same radiant Divinity, all the time.

I wanted to know how it’s possible to be both human and divine.  Now I know.  Because when I meditate with Gurudevi, she gives me my Self.  I experience my Divinity reliably, unfailingly, gloriously.  And I am still human.  Do you want to experience your Self?  Then meditate with Gurudevi Nirmalananda.  She will be delighted to teach you how.

By Swami Samvidaananda 

“You are your own Guru,” wrote a renowned Guru, Swami Muktananda.  As a brand-new yogi, I didn’t know what a Guru was.  Let alone that I was supposed to be my own Guru.  That’s how I took this teaching when I first heard it.   

Fellow yogis seemed to confirm my understanding.  At classes and conferences, I met wonderful, independent, confident yogis.  They had focus, dedication and a daily home practice.  They were doing it for themselves.  I admired them.  I wanted to dedicate myself to yoga, too.   

So I found a teacher, one that I admired and respected.  And she taught me that “guru” is Sanskrit for teacher.  A Guru with a big “G” is a spiritual teacher.  A guru with a small “g” is any kind of teacher.   

How many gurus have you had in your life?  So many.  Your first guru is your mother or whoever raised you.  They taught you to eat, to walk, talk, play peek-a-boo and blow out birthday candles.  You had gurus who taught you to read and write, to play soccer or trombone.  

My dad learned how to be an electrician from his dad.  So my grandpa was my dad’s electrician guru.  Anything you’ve learned to do, a guru has shown you how — even if you go to YouTube or you read a blog or a book.  These are all created by people who are sharing what they know, so you can know.

The yoga teacher I found all those years ago is a Guru.  Her name is Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati.  She has dedicated her life to sharing with you what she knows: the mystical truth of your spiritual essence.  She teaches that there is One Divine Reality that is the source and substance of all that exists.  That One is called your Self.  

Gurudevi not only teaches you about your Self; she awakens you to the knowing of your Self.  And then you foster and further your own knowing every time you meditate.  That’s why this meditation is called Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation.  Vidya means experiential knowing, and svaroopa means your own Divine Self.  

Awakened to your hidden Divinity, you see the glorious Divinity of everyone and everything that exists.  This is a Divine world created of Divinity, expressing Divinity, rejoicing in Divinity.  That Divinity is you.  You are Divine.  You always have been.  You just didn’t know it, at least not all the time.  

When your Guru reveals it to you, then you know.  And then, you know that  “you are your own Guru.”  Because you are the One, and She is the One. There’s only One. 

Yoga is not DIY.  You do not have to figure it out on your own.  You need one who knows, one who can give that knowing to you.  Swami Nirmalananda will tell you she only has something to give because she got it from her Guru, Swami Muktananda.  And he would credit everything he had to give to his Guru, Bhagavan Nityananda. 

And he had a Guru, who had a Guru, in a lineage of Gurus that stretches through time.  Do you want a Guru?  Swami Nirmalananda will be yours, if you want her to be.  You’re the one who decides.