Jai Maa everyone! I wanted to also share about the Bhakti yoga teachings on Swadharma and how Acharya Shunya ji’s teachings have informed my life.
When I first found her teachings I realized that what I was missing in my life was teachings on Moksha, freedom from the suffering of mind, body and the world and being in union with your highest self. When I found Acharya Shunya ji I had just completed a Masters of Social Work and I was hyper fixated on all of the injustice and problems in the world. I was agitated, hopeless and frustrated at my inability to make the changes I wished to see for all of the suffering that I felt so sensitive to.
I remember when I first walked into Vedika Global, I had a host of body imbalances that I knew could be fixed but Western medicine was not doing anything but making my frustration worse as I was hitting dead end after another.
From her Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta teachings I realized that I was viewing myself from my own shortcomings and the shortcomings of Samsara.
Shunya ji told me “Moksha is your birthright. You were born free. You just forgot. Moksha, however is accessible right here and now, in every moment. You experience a moksha moment when you see through your ignorant identification with powerlessness, when in fact, the supremely indestructible, supremely powerful, and eternally healthy Self is your true nature. The conscious dropping (hahaha) of your worldly, limited beliefs around your body, disease, and relationships and the acceptance of your inherent, invisible, limitless, inexhaustible, infinite afire is moksha.”
These powerful words shifted everything in my life. My relationship to mySelf, my ability to honor and take care of my personal needs, and my connection to Ishvara became my focus. I was able to shift my thoughts and attention. I was calmer in mind, healthier in my body and more connected to my atman and the universal paramatman.
From this new foundation, I was finally in a place where I experienced Moksha moments each and everyday. Since I felt free, I had more space to serve in ways that made me feel like I was actually serving my family, community and humanity in peaceful and helpful ways which has been part of my hearts desire and dharma since birth. Using the Vedic wisdom to go within cleared the hopelessness and made me feel inspired and empowered to embrace my true Self, and the beauty of our interconnectedness.
We each have a special life purpose, and our Swadharma is something to be celebrated. Shunya ji also said, “The path home is the path of Swadharma, and home is, of course, the expansive, infinite, eternally loving embrace of our true Self.”
What a gift it is and has continually been for me to receive this wisdom! Jai Maa!
Jai Maa Soumya, this is such a powerful testimony! I really appreciate your share especially around coming to an internal spaciousness around true karma yoga. Finding and following our swadharma gives us the ability to actually serve and reduce suffering in the world, instead of being stuck in our outrage, or overwhelmed by the impossibility of changing what is. Thank you.