I have two birthday celebrations every year: the day I was born into this world and the day that I was born into the Self, my Shaktipat anniversary, plus on Saturday I will be celebrating the Ashram’s birthday. This is the second time this year I’m celebrating the birthday of a yoga organization. Master Yoga’s 21st birthday in May was a big event, yet I’m hoping our Saturday event is even bigger — our Japathon! You can participate from wherever you are… [click for more information}
I also celebrate other birthdays, including my Guru’s birthday and Shaktipat anniversary, plus the birthdays of those in the family I was born into, as well as those wonderful beings I birthed and raised. I’ve also birthed four not-for-profit organizations (working with many other dedicated yogis): Yoga Alliance and YES (the San Diego yoga teachers association) as well as Master Yoga and Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram.
Consider what happens when you tell others, “It’s my birthday!” People get excited and want to take you out for a decadent-something, or maybe create time to share some enjoyable pursuit with you. On birthdays, people want to pursue their favorite pleasures, usually with other people joining them so it is more pleasurable. About 30 years ago, all this stopped working for me. I now realize why — I was no longer pursuing pleasure. Yoga had showed me a greater goal than mere pleasure. For years I couldn’t figure out what to do, so I ignored birthdays (mine and others). It was frustrating to those close to me.
Now I delight in birthday celebrations, mine as well as others. The difference is that I now understand what we’re celebrating — we’re celebrating life. In celebrating an individual life, we are celebrating the whole of life, which is the dance of “Siva being “Sakti, being this world and all in it. As great as that is, birthday of a yoga organization is different.
The birth of a person is into limitation, the exploration of individual identity. Shree Guru Gita says it this way: “Birth is into not-knowingness, spellbound by Maayaa’s worldly dance…”[1] But the birth of an Ashram begins the liberation, a process that benefits not just one individual but all who yearn to know the highest. For this reason, the Ashram’s birthday is deeply meaningful to me. Regardless of the level of practice you choose (poses only, meditation only, a mix of both or more from our many offerings), the whole banquet is available to you. Whether you come to one of our three locations or you dial in from home, you are stepping through Ashram’s doorway. Ultimately, this is a doorway to your own Divine Self.
I find a birthday to be a great time to consider, “How am I doing? Am I accomplishing the purpose of my life? Am I still on target?” This turns my attention to purpose for which the Ashram exists. This an annual evaluation looks back to see how we doing are so far, and looks forward to see how will we fulfill our purpose in the future. Our purpose is eloquently stated in the Ashram’s founding documents:
to engage in & teach the worship of Parama”siva, the all-pervasive Divine Reality, focusing on finding and experiencing the Divine within the individual human being.
Now housing the consolidated programs for Svaroopa® yoga and Svaroopa® vidya, we are even more able to help you find and experience your own Divinity. Whether you are focused on the poses and breathing or on the meditative practices, you are focusing on finding and experiencing the Divine within you — which is you.
Thank you for your Birthday Gifts, the donations that support the Ashram’s work. Click here to donate.
With love and blessings,
Swami Nirmalananda
Svaroopa® Yoga 