November 28, 2023
Dear reader,
Happy month of gratitude!
As much as the virtue of gratitude is universal, the expression of it is unique to each individual. I’ve found that once you begin to experience gratitude in all its many hues, you discover just how much of a gift it is unto itself. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
On the Siddha Yoga path, we began the month by celebrating Deepavali with Gurumayi—reading and listening to Gurumayi’s poetry, receiving Gurumayi’s darshan, lighting diyas with Gurumayi, watching Gurumayi with children, and ushering in the Indian New Year together. As November has progressed, we’ve been partaking in the holiday of Thanksgiving as a sangham, letting the vibrations of our gratitude resonate in every particle of this world.
It is so important that we share our gratitude and express our thankfulness to one another. Recently I heard someone tell Gurumayi that when she reads the news—especially when she’s done so in the last couple of months—she gets disheartened. She feels herself losing hope as history repeats itself, as people’s hatred calcifies and turns to violence. But then, when she visits the Siddha Yoga path website, she has a moment of awakening: “Oh! I can send my light to the world, I can express my gratitude. There is something positive I can do.” Immediately, her spirits are lifted.
And how fabulous is it that so many of you have also been taking positive action! As soon as you received Gurumayi’s request in her poem for Deepavali, you set out to write your own poems about how to bring light to this world.
As you will have seen, each day for the last several weeks, the website has been featuring your poems. Over three hundred poems have been submitted to the website, and more than a hundred of those have been featured. There are poems here from Siddha Yogis as young as four years old. There are poems from Siddha Yogis in India, Australia, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States—from so many countries around the world. A number of these poems are in languages other than English.
I’ve been impressed by your words and your artistry. It never fails to astonish me how, even though we’re all following the Siddha Yoga path, each person has their own distinct perspective to express, their own particular way of sharing the light that’s been awakened within them. And that’s the thing—each one of these poems, regardless of the writer’s age or place of origin, regardless of where they are in their sadhana, does emanate light. You have written about being more attentive to the words you choose; about the smiles you will share with others; about the art you will create; about taking cues from nature for how to be, how to act; about turning inward and consciously expressing gratitude. It has been inspiring to see all the different ways you are ushering light into the world, and to join you for a short while, for a stanza or two, as you ponder what further efforts you might make.
Over the years, when I’ve extended invitations on behalf of Gurumayi for you to do something, I’ve also had the privilege of thanking you on Gurumayi’s behalf. Expressing thanks is a tradition on the Siddha Yoga path, one that Gurumayi has taught to everyone. In the month of gratitude especially, I am elated to be continuing this tradition.
What’s more, you’ve made it so easy to thank you. When I read your poems, I feel grateful. I feel your conviction when you write about the beneficial actions you have taken and will take.
You know, it’s synchronistic: when I first started reading your poems, I had the experience that they were like fireworks, sparks of light and joy and energy. After a couple of days, I saw that the page on the website had been updated with images of…exactly that. Fireworks! I’d like to think that all together, the sparks ignited by your poems are capable of illumining the entire sky.
It’s my hope that this letter, too, has brought a little extra light to your celebrations this year. Thank you once again for your beautiful poetry.
Sincerely,
Eesha Sardesai