October 1, 2016
Dear all,
Shubh Baba Muktananda’s Mahasamadhi! I wish you all a happy, bright, and auspicious month of celebration.
When I think of Baba, I picture his lively eyes, his bright orange robes, and a warm smile spreading across his face—and I feel pure love welling up in my heart. I never met Baba in person, but by reading his books and having his darshan through photographs and video footage over the years, I feel there is an eternal bond of love between us. I feel he is my Baba, just as he is Baba to all who have been touched by his grace.
Throughout the month of October, Siddha Yogis around the world will celebrate Baba and his legacy on the anniversary of his mahasamadhi, the full-moon night on which he left his body and merged with the Absolute. The solar anniversary of Baba’s mahasamadhi is October 2, and this year’s lunar anniversary falls on October 15.
This month is a time of celebration—a time to delight in the pure inner love that Baba and Gurumayi have awakened within us and to share this love with others—and so rejoicing is our theme for the month of October.
The word rejoice is composed of two Latin roots. The first is re, which means “repeatedly” and also “returning.” The next syllable comes from the French joie, which has such meanings as “joyfulness,” “delight,” and “celebration.” Thus, the theme rejoicing shows us the path to take toward lasting joy: to return repeatedly to the joyfulness that lies within. This theme fits perfectly with all that I’ve come to understand through my study and practice of Gurumayi’s Message for 2016.
Gurumayi’s Message for 2016 is
Move with steadfastness
toward becoming
anchored
in Supreme Joy
This month, as we celebrate our union with the Supreme Self, we come closer to achieving the goal of Gurumayi’s Message—to become permanently established in the state of bliss.
I recently assessed my own commitment to putting Gurumayi’s Message into practice. I noticed that my attention had been going toward my daily chores and duties, and I wasn’t making time for my regular meditation practice. So I resolved to meditate again every day for at least twenty minutes—and I experienced the fruit almost immediately. When I emerge from our meditation room to begin the day, I feel centered and ready to take on the responsibilities of my life. I notice that those around me, especially my husband and children, are affected by my state, and now we have a more lighthearted home as well.
In fact, another meaning of rejoice is “to bring gladness and joy to others.” My recent experience has shown me that by focusing on the blissful inner Self, I can inspire and support rejoicing in those around me. It is wonderful to know that as we delight in the Self, we spread blessings to our families, to our friends, and to the whole world.
This month, as a global sangham, we will all rejoice together in the Universal Hall as we participate in the Global Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive in honor of Baba Muktananda’s Mahasamadhi. This is a sacred event in which the Guru imparts divine Shakti to awaken the spiritual energy within. This year’s Shaktipat Intensive is entitled The Dawning of Beatitude. It will be held in Siddha Yoga Ashrams, meditation centers, and participating chanting and meditation groups around the world on October 22 or 23.
For new seekers, the Shaktipat Intensive brings the gift of spiritual awakening. For Siddha Yoga students, the Intensive is an annual opportunity to rekindle the spark of divine love in our hearts and to renew our enthusiasm for the Siddha Yoga practices.
Each time I participate in the Intensive, I rejoice in the blessing of receiving shaktipat and my good fortune to walk the Siddha Yoga path. During the Intensive, I reconnect to the love in my heart, and I feel the great bliss that is my essential nature. By the culmination of the Intensive, I have returned to the state of unconditional love and longing for the highest Truth that marked my experience of shaktipat so many years ago.
Today, October 1, a satsang via live audio stream about the significance of the Shaktipat Intensive is being broadcast from the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland, California. The title is Pratimilana—Merging with the Self. The satsang will be available as an audio webcast until Sunday, November 20, 2016.
In honor of Baba’s Mahasamadhi, every day this month on the Siddha Yoga path website we will have the gift of receiving Baba’s darshan by reading teachings from Baba and seeing photographs of Baba.
Some of you may also wish to celebrate Baba as my eleven-year-old son loves to do—by taking and submitting photographs of Baba’s moon as it grows in fullness to its peak on October 15, Baba’s Lunar Mahasamadhi.
Another of my family’s favorite aspects of the Siddha Yoga path website is the Nature Galleries. Before bedtime, we sit down together and go through the photographs. Each one reminds us of the presence of the Divine in all that surrounds us; as we fall asleep, we have these sacred images in our minds.
This month, I invite you all to rejoice in the perfect love that is your essential nature—the perfect love that Baba and Gurumayi have revealed to us.
I look forward to joining you in the Universal Hall as we participate together in the Global Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive in honor of Baba Muktananda’s Mahasamadhi. My wish is that we all have an experience of true rejoicing and that, by continuing to live in this joy, we also uplift the world around us.
Best regards,
Vasudha Pigott
Siddha Yoga Student