Gurumayi invited everyone to stand and gently stretch in preparation for meditation. When we took our seats she asked us, “What is the Siddha Yoga Message for 2015?”
With reverence and joy we replied,
Turn
Inward
Meditate
Easefully
Gurumayi seemed pleased and said, “You all recited the Message so beautifully; thank you very much.”
Gurumayi glanced at the table to her side and saw that the satsang schedule included reciting Shri Adi Gayatri Mantra and meditation.
Gurumayi combined the recitation of the gayatri mantra with the practice of meditation. She instructed us to close our eyes and enter into meditation by listening to the music ensemble sing AUM followed by the Shri Adi Gayatri Mantra. What a glorious moment it was! Everyone closed their eyes, gliding into meditation as they listened to the sacred syllables and the incomparable sound of Gurumayi’s voice singing the mantras with the ensemble.
After the recitation concluded, Shri Nilaya continued to pulsate with the power of the gayatri mantra. Everyone sat still in meditation.
The meditation session concluded with the sweet voices of the ensemble singing “Sadgurunath Maharaj ki Jay.”
“That was very beautiful,” Gurumayi said. “Meditation with intent. We have participated in the celebration of the Sun god—a form of Lord Vishnu, the sustainer of the universe. May the glorification of the Sun illumine your minds, hearts, intellects, and souls.”
In my role as host for the satsang, I stood up to make concluding remarks. Gurumayi asked me to introduce three sevites who were transitioning from service as SYDA Foundation staff members that day—Gopi Wright, Vimala Houk, and Mallika Maxwell.
Gurumayi gestured for these three wonderful sevites to come to the front of the hall. When they stood to walk to the front of the hall, everyone acknowledged them with heartfelt applause. 
Gurumayi asked them to share what they would be taking with them from this satsang in honor of Makara Sankranti.
Gopi said, “Keeping my heart moist.”
Vimala said, “Saying hello in such a way that it touches someone’s heart.”
Mallika said, “Excellence. Always aiming for excellence, never doing something half-heartedly. Always doing everything with my full heart and focus.”
Gurumayi invited Mallika to share with us why she had made the decision to transition. Mallika said that in the SYDA Foundation one of her first seva assignments was in the Taruna Poshana Department. She also had the opportunity to offer seva in the Content Department. In these departments, she learned how to educate young Siddha Yogis and how to write clearly so that others can easily understand and study what is being conveyed. This sparked in her a huge interest in curriculum development. For this reason, Mallika made a decision in 2014 to go to graduate school to pursue a degree in education, especially in curriculum development. Her intention is to become an expert in this field and then reapply to offer seva as a SYDA Foundation staff member.
Gurumayi thanked the three sevites and told them, “We’ll miss you.” Everyone in the hall was in agreement. These three sevites—Gopi, Vimala, and Mallika—have been instrumental in making a difference in the departments where they offered seva. We couldn’t have chosen a better day to say farewell to these three sevites than the day that Gurumayi spoke about being an SYDA Foundation sevite par excellence. I felt the world will be a little brighter wherever these three Siddha Yogis choose to make their homes. They all assured us that we will see them again and again when they return to offer seva as visiting sevites in Shree Muktananda Ashram.
After they returned to their seats, Gurumayi smiled at us all and said, “Everyone have a good Sunday!” For a moment I’m sure everyone was puzzled, thinking, “Sunday? But Gurumayi, it’s Wednesday!” No sooner had we thought this, than Gurumayi laughed and said, enunciating each word: “Happy SUN day. Got it?”
As she said the word “sun,” Gurumayi made the shape of a heart with her hands and held it over her heart. We all laughed in delight at her play on words.