Today, in the middle of April, it snowed again in Minneapolis—not just the typical spring snow that melts when it hits the ground, but inches and inches of snow. It slowed driving to a crawl. People here are fond of complaining about the weather, so nearly everyone is expressing how tired they are of the snow and the cold.
As I began my drive home from work, which was three times as long as normal, I remembered Gurumayi's teaching, "Enjoy the moment." I settled into my seat, repeated the mantra, and thought "Enjoy this moment." It transformed my sense of difficulty into steadfast concentration with an inner smile. I marvel at how this one teaching has so much power to shift my life again and again, day after day.
Thank you, Gurumayi.
Minnesota, USA
Last night, as I was with a friend and my dad, we started making jokes. I found myself laughing and laughing, and I could not stop. I felt the breath so full, and filled with joy and serenity. And I remembered Gurumayi's talk and knew that I was enjoying the moment—and my friend, too. And my dad, too. We were laughing a lot. It was so contagious. So we all enjoyed the moment together.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your teachings.
an eight-year-old Siddha Yogi from Rome, Italy
A few people (too old for children's programs, but too young for the other ones) got together in our Siddha Yoga Meditation Center to read this talk. We were trying to load the chant and the computer was taking a long time to bring up the webpage. Standing around the computer, we were beginning to become impatient when my younger sister said, "Enjoy the moment!" That was when we realized what Gurumayi meant—to enjoy every moment and to take time to do so. At that point it was OK that the webpage took a while to load.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this wonderful teaching.
a fifteen-year-old Siddha Yogi from Washington, USA
In her talk, ”Enjoy the Moment—Laugh a Lot,” Gurumayi relates the word enjoy to many different types of situations. I began to wonder about the meaning of this word that I normally thought of as denoting simply taking pleasure in something.
I found several more definitions in a thesaurus. One of them is to appreciate. From this I understood that by teaching us to enjoy the moment, Gurumayi is showing us how to value and be grateful for all that a moment holds— whatever form it may take.
Thank you, Gurumayi.
New York, USA
A few days after reading Gurumayi’s talk, “Enjoy the Moment—Laugh a Lot,” I was reciting Shri Guru Gita. It was early in the morning; and, as I tried to sing, I found that my throat was so tight, it hurt.
I remembered that Gurumayi said that laughter warms and strengthens the vocal folds. But since I was in a hall with other people, I thought it would be disruptive for me to laugh out loud. Then I recalled something I learned in the Siddha Yoga Home Study Course:If you are unable to physically perform hatha yoga postures, you can still receive beneficial results by doing them mentally.
I thought, if doing hatha yoga postures mentally works, why not laughing?
So then, I visualized myself laughing. I took time to relish the mental image. Then I began to recite the text—and it worked! My throat relaxed, there was no more pain, and the sound of my voice was very sweet, sweeter than usual.
Since then, when I’m at my job in a customer service department, speaking with a person who is complaining, in order not to get into the same mind set, I have been imagining myself laughing. Not only have I been able to remain in an amiable mood, but the other person also becomes more cheerful.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this teaching that not only makes me happier, but spreads to others as well.
New York, USA