Through all the seasons, even while it is snowing, the birds sing. They may migrate, but wherever they are, they keep singing.
Today, when viewing the video vignette, Autumn IX, I realized that I want to be more like the birds; I want to keep singing. The seasons may change, circumstances may change, the flux continues but the song of the Self persists and pervades every level of being.
Connecticut, USA
The video vignette called Autumn III is a jewel. My eyes, my ears, and my heart have savored each second of it at a deep level. It helps me realize how our earth is a paradise—a divine paradise.
I am infinitely grateful for this realization, and for all the joy I experienced in the three minutes of this video!
Ontario, Canada
Each vignette is but a few moments, the space of a few quiet breaths, and yet in those few moments I am drawn into the core of my being and rest in the state of serene meditation.
New York, USA
In the video of tall trees and clouds moving with the wind, I saw the movement of everything in the world as the dance of Kundalini Shakti. From the nodding grass, to the shimmering leaves, to the air and space between them, to the clouds and the blinking of the radiant sun—everything seemed to be the flow of
shakti.
I became aware of the stillness within me, and perceived that this stillness is the point of origin for all movement.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this blessing.
Braddon, Australia
The butterfly's wings opening and closing with grace and exquisite beauty remind me of the pulsing of my breath. It is the same gentleness and beauty that support me throughout each day—the in-breath and out-breath are continuous and ever-present. The same stillness and tender beauty are in the soft breeze, the steadiness of the trees, and the exquisite beauty of the deer.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for each teaching, each beautiful gift on the Siddha Yoga Path website. Thank you for these vignettes of nature's great beauty!
Melbourne, Australia
In Video 5, the sound I heard as the trees swayed reminded me of the sound I imagine hearing when I view Gurumayi's Message Artwork for 2016—and that is the sacred sound of AUM.
Milan, Italy
What a blissful spring video series! As I watch the ant on the peony and the butterfly on the lilac, it is as if I become the size of the insects and explore nature with all my senses. I feel as though I can even smell the amazing perfume of the flowers. It's a truly delightful experience!
Montreal, Canada
Watching the wonderful colors and the abundance of nature, I feel my Guru's presence. She is continuously with me. And it feels like nature—showing her happiness so openly—is also wishing Gurumayi a Happy Birthday!
Mehsana, India
Sitting with our family to watch the Commune with Nature video is a great event! The moment we do so, I am aware of our hearts being opened. With loving eyes, I see our one-year-old baby become steady as she sits up straight in my lap and listens to the sounds of the water flowing, the bird pecking the tree, the wind blowing. For a few moments, we all embark on a pilgrimage to Shree Muktananda Ashram.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for inviting us to commune with nature.
Montreal, Canada
The beautiful, enchanting colors and shades of the vignettes captivated me. However, what I found totally fascinating were the various sounds I heard. As I watched these videos, I felt a vibration within myself, in sync with Mother Nature, instilling a feeling of oneness.
Indore, India
This video takes me right back to my childhood, to lying on the ground, looking up at the high, high tops of the trees. I was then—and am once again—filled with the wonder and magic of nature.
I’m so happy to remember this youthful experience of absorption in the natural world, grateful to recall this early experience of the Self. I feel young and open.
Massachusetts, USA
In viewing the Spring I vignette, I was transfixed by the
AUM symbol created by the forms of the tree branches as the snow delicately fell.
I experienced the immutable steadiness and witness consciousness of the Self looking back at me in the midst of a whirling dance of snow.
What a privilege to be given a glimpse into the secret language of the Self!
New York, USA
As my attention was absorbed in these beautiful moments of nature, both delicate and complex, my mind became still. I was in meditation with my eyes wide open. This continued in my daily activity as I found myself dipping into the stillness again and again.
The stillness has become deeper and even more inviting as I write about it.
Nevada, USA
Winter IX
I am struck by the colors…
the reflections of the clouds!
It’s Kundalini Shakti and her play!
A little creature swims by—
that’s her play too!
Practicing Gurumayi's Message:
it moves ahead with steadiness,
then dives back underwater,
into joy.
Thank you, Shri Gurumayi, for teaching me to see and to connect with your most valuable Message. I am becoming more and more aware of how the Message is a truly life-giving gift.
Pune, India
As I watched the small animal swimming in the Winter IX vignette, I marveled. I realized that it is necessary to exercise both the eyes and the heart to be able to recognize what nature is saying when she communicates with us. We must be in this very moment, attentive and open.
Niterói, Brazil
Reading Gurumayi’s invitation to “understand…how nature exemplifies its connectivity with the universe,” I was inspired to view the Winter VIII video with greater awareness. Instead of seeing this video as simply beautiful images of water flowing over rocks, I now see it on several different levels.
The video makes me smile as I realize that it embodies a number of different virtues that I usually think of as "human" virtues, especially the patience of the rocks, the purity of the rushing waters, the quietness of the silent snow, and the resilience of the branches which have learned to endure both the frigid winter snows and the blazing summer sun.
Viewing this video in the sacred framework of this website, I also see the flowing waters as emblematic of the great freedom, exuberance, and unstoppable energy that characterize my state when I am most aligned with my inner Self—even when the surrounding "scenery" is cold and wintry!
Connecticut, USA
In each video, I find myself present in the very moment of these breathtaking expressions of nature. After watching them, my perception changes completely—I feel that I am one with all these manifestations of nature.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for awaking this wonderful sense of communion within me.
Mersin, Turkey
While I viewed the splendid Commune with Nature videos, this prayer arose within me: "May I know the essence of the exquisite love and gratitude that Nature sends back to the Beloved through her offerings and actions."
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your steadfast love and presence in our lives.
Washington, DC, USA
I am traveling now and checking into a new hotel every day. I’ve found that connecting with the Siddha Yoga path website and watching the videos of nature in winter bring me back to my center. As I beheld the videos today, my mind stopped, relaxed, and then moved right along with the flow of nature. The videos revealed to me that the miracle of God is so obvious in everything I see.
Thank you, Gurumayi!
New York, USA
As I viewed these videos, what I noticed most was the constant movement inherent in nature. Even watching clouds drifting through the sky and the graceful swaying of trees gives me opportunities to see and move with the flow of grace! If I just stay present, I move as in a stream of joy, reveling in all the sights and sounds, each one pointing me back to the Self within nature and within me.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for showing me new ways to anchor myself in this ever-present, yet ever-changing stream of joy.
North Carolina, USA
A puddle-sized piece of ice
floats upon the surface of the creek,
trapped within a circle of water
cut off from the winter’s flow.
A breeze picks up the current’s pace.
The water dances, joins the circle—
pulsing… merging…
first together, then apart.
How beautiful it is,
I think, that movement
causes this embrace.
Michigan, USA
I had just read the February letter with the focus on the word
move from Gurumayi's Message when I turned to the Commune with Nature video. As I watched the water move toward the ice and saw the ice beginning to melt away, my thoughts turned to the way I experience the Guru's grace flowing toward me always—always!—and melting away any resistance in my being.
Thank you, Gurumayi.
Georgia, USA
I found the Winter IV video remarkably captivating. I watched it again and again. At first, I saw the round protuberances on the chunk of ice as the toes of a great elephant's foot. As the water rushed around and beneath the "toes," the elephant (in my imagination) remained wholly undisturbed in its greatness.
Then my perspective shifted, and I saw the rushing waters as akin to a river of grace, ceaselessly and abundantly flowing—now blessing the glistening ice block with its moisture, now rushing forward to bestow its blessings on innumerable recipients farther along its path. In every moment there was something fresh and vital to observe, some new play of light and sound amidst a scene of endless fluidity.
How fitting to view this video in the month when we'll be investigating the meaning of the word
move!
Illinois, USA
I was delighted to see the water wiggling its way under the ice! It seemed so alive, like little minnows. As I watched, this thought arose: “Moving… with love!”
Thank you, Gurumayi, for these beautiful videos to contemplate.
Massachusetts, USA
A flowing stream, rivulets of water under ice, brilliant rays of light bursting forth from a rising sun—through these images, Gurumayi is teaching me to take the time, and to turn my attention, to notice the presence of Kundalini Shakti in the subtlest forms of nature.
Thank you, Gurumayi.
Missouri, USA
I experienced the juxtaposition of moving water with the beauty of the frozen, patterned ice allowing my mind to take in Gurumayi’s Message for 2016 on a deeper level. All my senses are activated and pointed toward a joy within that shimmers quietly, steadily, and dynamically.
Thank you for this exquisite meditation.
California, USA