Inner Strength & Blessings

At the heart of Siddha Yoga philosophy and culture is the understanding that the Siddha Yoga practices and teachings exist for the benefit of all.

Over the years Gurumayi has offered us an abundance of spiritual guidance that can be applied to uplift our inner state and help others. The following points summarize practical advice the Siddha Yoga teachings offer us to allow us to connect with our inner strength and to evoke wisdom and love, supporting others in doing the same.

1. Sustaining Our Spiritual Practices

By sustaining our daily practice, we build a reservoir of spiritual energy that enables us to uplift ourselves and offer our help to others. Some examples of these practices include:

• Continuing our regular practices of meditation, chanting, and japa.
• Reciting the Guru Gita.
• Reciting or listening to the Rudram.
• Offering our prayers and blessings to those in need.

A true blessing is conveyed when we contemplate and give expression to the genuine impulse that arises from our heart. To offer a blessing, we can formulate a sentence specifically stating what we would like to convey. For example, we may say, “My blessing to you at this time of personal challenge is that you are able to connect to your inner strength and courage.”

2. The Stance of Generosity

The stance of generosity starts with how we care for ourselves. When we are aware of what we can give to ourselves, to others, and to a specific situation, we act from the truth of inner abundance, love, and strength.

• We can become aware of the many blessings that fill our life. When we are aware of our own good fortune, we get in touch with blessings and goodness we can offer others.
• We can work to strengthen our mind and heart with the help of the practices and teachings, so we can be generous with our strength, courage, and fearlessness.
• We can remember that the most important action is to give and receive love in ways that can be felt and understood. Love is our greatest strength.

3. Taking Responsibility

Siddha Yoga meditation teaches that true spirituality combines inner awareness with loving, selfless action.

We can offer our prayers and blessings for the best outcome in each situation.

Everything we do makes a difference. Good thoughts, good actions, and good feelings uplift our world and us

4. Taking Refuge in the Sangham, the Community of Seekers

We can take refuge in the sangham. We can connect with fellow seekers to explore and share our insights and experiences of the Siddha Yoga practices and teachings. Through these kinds of informal discussions and dialogues, we can support one another and expand our understanding of how the Siddha Yoga teachings apply to all the situations in our day-to-day lives.

5. Accessing Your Own Wisdom: Contemplating the Siddha Yoga Teachings

One way to access our own inner wisdom is through contemplation. So, for example, we can take time to listen to and contemplate the Siddha Yoga message for 2006, “Experience the POWER within. Kundalini Shakti”, and then ask ourselves questions that will help us explore our understanding of the Message. Here are some questions that can help start a contemplation process:

• How is the experience of the “POWER within” already manifesting in my life?
• How does the Siddha Yoga message relate to the current challenge I am facing?
• How am I conveying my understanding of the Siddha Yoga message in my thoughts, words, and actions in ways that nurture, heal and protect (myself and others)?
• How does the Siddha Yoga message guide and clarify my intentions for the way I lead my life?

As insights come up, we can journal them and then have conversations about them with our families and friends.

Other ways to explore the Siddha Yoga teachings and how we can apply them in our daily life include:

• Journaling our insights and contemplating them in light of Gurumayi's teachings.
• Reading Gurumayi's and Baba's books to deepen our understanding and find answers to our spiritual questions.

Through giving our attention, our focus, and our time to contemplating and applying the Siddha Yoga teachings in our day-to-day lives and relationships, we are offering the world a profound and powerful gift of strength and light.