Gurudevi’s Discourses

Gurudevi’s Discourses

Marinate in enlivened teachings from a yoga master, Swami Nirmalananda, lovingly called Gurudevi.

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Gurudevi’s Discourses
  • Getting Blasted Trailer 11/24/24

    When I talk about getting blasted, I am referring to Shaktipat. As a young adult, getting blasted had a different meaning. Bliss was still the goal, yes, but bliss is so much better when attained consciously rather than through alcohol or drugs. The Shiva Sutras describe that yogis don’t depend ...

  • Your Closest Companion 11/20/24

    Your body is your closest companion, one you depend on for your very life. Whomever else is close to you — they are close to your body, but your body is closer to you. At the time of his departure from the physical plane, a yogic saint thanked everyone around him, thanked his Guru and thanked his...

  • Mind, Heart and Soul 11/17/24

    Your soul keeps moving through your feelings, through pain and pleasure, throughout its life. It’s not just your mind moving through feelings – it’s your soul. Throughout its whole life. How long is your soul’s life? Is it only the span of human years that this body can sustain? Or is your soul e...

  • Mind, Heart and Soul Trailer 11/17/24

    Your soul keeps moving through your feelings, through pain and pleasure, throughout its life. It’s not just your mind moving through feelings – it’s your soul. Throughout its whole life. How long is your soul’s life? Is it only the span of human years that this body can sustain? Or is your soul e...

  • The Space in Your Heart 11/13/24

    Looking deeper within your own heart, you get past the emotions and reactions to discover an inner space. Adi Shankaracharya called it the “cave of your heart.” In this space, your thoughts and feelings merge back into their source, Consciousness-Itself.

    Join Gurudevi online at her next Meditat...

  • Your Words Create Your Reality 11/10/24

    You lock Shiva down and hide him away by using the words you use. You are so powerful! You can imprison Divine Consciousness. You can hide God. You can dim your own inner light. You are able to make the all-pervasive seem to be absent. You can turn this Divine universe into a desolate landscape,...

  • Your Words Create Your Reality Trailer 11/10/24

    You lock Shiva down and hide him away by using the words you use. You are so powerful! You can imprison Divine Consciousness. You can hide God. You can dim your own inner light. You are able to make the all-pervasive seem to be absent. You can turn this Divine universe into a desolate landscape,...

  • Peace Is a Wordless State 11/6/24

    Your mind must settle into quietude for you to experience peace. As long as your mind is driven by the energy of words, Matrika Shakti, there is no peace. This is why you need yoga. All the practices of yoga are for one purpose, to quiet your mind. The yogic sage Patanjali explained this in the Y...

  • Open the Curtains 11/3/24

    Who you think you are gets in the way of you knowing who you really are. It’s like each identity is a curtain that blocks the light of your own being from shining through. With windows, the sun is outside and the curtain blocks the sun. With you, the sun is inside, able to shine the light of Con...

  • Open the Curtains Trailer 11/3/24

    Who you think you are gets in the way of you knowing who you really are. It’s like each identity is a curtain that blocks the light of your own being from shining through. With windows, the sun is outside and the curtain blocks the sun. With you, the sun is inside, able to shine the light of Con...

  • Inner Inspiration 10/30/24

    The light bulb lights up over your head. You have the answer! You know, you just know. This is called pratibha in Sanskrit, an arising of Consciousness within. Yoga says you don’t have to wait until you’re exhausted, overwrought or completely stymied. You can live in this inner arising, which is...

  • Wearing a Costume 10/27/24

    The Halloween sutra explains why we love to pretend to be somebody else. It is because Shiva is masquerading as you. Shiva knows he’s being you even when you get lost in the costuming and the part you play. Yoga opens the deeper dimensions within so you discover who you really are. As you deepen ...

  • Wearing a Costume Trailer 10/27/24

    The Halloween sutra explains why we love to pretend to be somebody else. It is because Shiva is masquerading as you. Shiva knows he’s being you even when you get lost in the costuming and the part you play. Yoga opens the deeper dimensions within so you discover who you really are. As you deepen ...

  • It’s All About Feeling 10/23/24

    Spiritual development is about bhava (feeling). All of life is about bhava. When you allow yourself to feel more deeply, you progress spiritually. It’s all based in Consciousness, for Consciousness is aware of its own Self, which gives rise to bliss. It’s all about the bliss of Consciousness.

    J...

  • A Personal Upgrade 10/20/24

    You get worldly benefits from a spiritual practice. While these are wonderful, they are not the spiritual benefits promised by the yogic sages from thousands of years ago: enlightenment, liberation, Self-Realization. These are much greater attainments. Yet, along the way to the Knowingness of you...

  • A Personal Upgrade Trailer 10/20/24

    You get worldly benefits from a spiritual practice. While these are wonderful, they are not the spiritual benefits promised by the yogic sages from thousands of years ago: enlightenment, liberation, Self-Realization. These are much greater attainments. Yet, along the way to the Knowingness of you...

  • How to Please the Guru 10/16/24

    Most people are pleased with gifts or compliments, but not the Guru. Such a teacher holds you to a higher standard, like an art teacher or gym coach. As you progress toward the spiritual expansion that is your destiny, the Guru guides and supports you. The Guru is pleased when…

    Join Gurudevi on...

  • Subtle Perceptions and Powers 10/13/24

    Siddhis, riddhis and nidhis — these are three different types of mystical powers that a yogi is endowed with, progressively more and more with their continued practice. Yet the yogis of yore, who gave us these practices and documented them in their writings, warn against the pitfalls of having su...

  • Subtle Perceptions and Powers Trailer 10/13/24

    Siddhis, riddhis and nidhis — these are three different types of mystical powers that a yogi is endowed with, progressively more and more with their continued practice. Yet the yogis of yore, who gave us these practices and documented them in their writings, warn against the pitfalls of having su...

  • The Highest Aspirant 10/9/24

    If you are a seeker after the highest level of Consciousness, you won’t be distracted by lesser things. This is important because meditation gives you the ability to sense things through inner perceptions. This is called siddhis. But if you use them, you don’t make further progress toward enlight...

  • Into The Blue 10/6/24

    Humans have four types of experiences, according to Kashmiri Shaivism: nila (blue), sukha (pleasure), deha (body) and prana (energy). Blue means you experience color. On the outside, that is like a blue shirt. On the inside, that is the Blue Pearl, a profound inner experience. It is so important...

  • Into The Blue Trailer 10/6/24

    Humans have four types of experiences, according to Kashmiri Shaivism: nila (blue), sukha (pleasure), deha (body) and prana (energy). Blue means you experience color. On the outside, that is like a blue shirt. On the inside, that is the Blue Pearl, a profound inner experience. It is so important...

  • Victory over Death 10/2/24

    When a Great Being leaves their body, it is different from an ordinary death. On the solar anniversary of her Guru’s mahasamadhi (great absorption), Gurudevi describes the difference and asks what you have planned for your death.

    Join Gurudevi online at her next Meditation Program - www.svaroopa...

  • What is an Ashram 9/29/24

    Like a 15 year old, the Ashram is growing up, growing into itself. Each of you brings yourself here, in whatever condition you arrive, then you take your own Self home with you in a whole new way. That transformation you are choosing to go through is powerful. The inner work you do here is holy w...