Reviews of Living from the Heart:
“Nirmala's book is an invitation to explore the world through a new lens of perception…deep love, peace, stillness, and awareness. His coaching is followed by extraordinarily simple exercises that helped me to stop avoiding and resisting the challenges in life. He taught me how to relax into every moment and find the richness that was already there. Before reading this book, I felt an almost constant obsessive desire for more…more love, gratification, experience, more of almost everything. When I view reality from my heart, as Nirmala instructs, the obsessiveness stops and is replaced with deep fulfillment and peace. Nirmala's words are imbued with Spirit and seem to penetrate deeply, way beyond the mind. The ONLY other book that had a similar effect on me was Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. It is rare indeed to pick up a book and read only a sentence or paragraph and know that you have crossed the threshold of mind and entered into the larger domain of Expanded Awareness. I love this book and can't wait to share it with others.”
–Debbie Hartman, CA
“I first read one of Nirmala's books almost two years ago and it was my introduction to Avaita. It took what Pema Chodron's work had started for me to a more personal, practical level to apply in daily life. The most valuable "pointer" is how Nirmala, kindly, gently has us be with everything with a perspective of "allowing," not efforting to change anything. I've always had trouble being judgmental for not so wonderful feelings or experiences and his writings get right to the heart of being allowing and merciful of even the worst parts of my thinking and interpretations of life experiences. Nirmala, referring to your writings almost daily, I'm learning and practicing what "loving myself," my human nature, really means. His writing speaks deeply to me and compells me to practice living from the heart, even when I'm not. In person, at his retreat, his presence is also beautiful and a gift I am very grateful for experiencing.”
-Patrice Suave
“This book is really well written, clear and precise and if the exercises are sincerly followed you will be amazed at the experiences. This book will point you in the right direction, if you're willing to journey you will not be disappointed. What i enjoyed most about this book was it went into good instruction and reasoning without being watered down, redundant, or confusing. If you are someone interested in self-improvement/self-realization this is a must-read. Relax, open your heart and enjoy!!!”
-Brett Ward on Amazon
“Living from the Heart immediately took me into the feeling of my whole heart - the heart of my total and deeper being. From reading this book, my meditations have deepened. This simple and great work helped me to sink more into my body, my complete being, and attune to the subtleties of how my heart feels in the moment. Many thanks Nirmala.“
–Michelle Elizabeth on Amazon
“The initial sentences of Nirmala's book, Living from the Heart, captured my imagination from the start. He said, "You may think it matters what happens. But what if the only thing that matters is where you are experiencing from, where you are looking from? I immediately was curious to know more and see how he would approach this topic. He was not to disappoint me. Consider this additional quote from the book: "...looking from the heart shifts you more fully into your own Being, your true nature. While you are made of aware space, it is not exactly empty space. Everything that really matters is found in the space that you are and not in the external events or experiences of life, as we so often assume." Nirmala uses clear, concise explanations of the concepts he is teaching with helpful exercises to experientially ground one's understanding. The use of exercises is a clear strength of the first part of the book as he moves us from a contracted sense of heart to an expanded experience of the spiritual Heart including mind, heart and belly.”
- Gloria Achterberg on Amazon
“I have had the pleasure of sitting in Satsangs with Nirmala, as well as reading his books, and find that there is a feeling of total acceptance that permeates his being, and is equally felt through his writings. I hope I am not exposing a secret when I say that although there are many approaches in spiritual literature that direct us to move from the head to the heart, I find in Nirmala's writing a quality that I can only describe as disarming. The following quotations may give an idea of what I mean. In Part 2, ‘The Heart's Wisdom,’ he says: ‘The opening and closing of the heart is not a prescription—something you need to practice—but simply a description of what your heart has been doing your entire life.’ Such a phrase leaves nothing for the ego to resist, and adds spaciousness to the process of inquiry. And just when the ego feels it might have material to come back into prominence as it strives to succeed in the process, Nirmala says, ‘There is never a need to have a bigger or smaller experience, as Being is still Being, even in the small experiences…just as a single drop of water is still wet.’ ‘One more try,’ the ego says, and then it reads: ‘Being is never harmed by the limited perspectives we experience…Being is already resting within the endless opening and closing of the heart, so you might as well enjoy the ride.’ And it is then that the ego realizes that it is, and always has been, included in the ‘ride’ and it finally rests. I am very grateful for Nirmala's teachings, and I highly recommend his book to those who are ready to stop the struggle and rest in Being.”
–Arzani Burman, author of The Legacy of Violetta Rose
