My heart overflows with gratitude to Gurumayi when I see how much I resonated with the verses of this bhajan. It is through the Guru’s grace that I have become convinced of the futility of pursing the attractions of the material world. My Guru has indeed “changed the direction of my wandering mind” and fixed it on her lotus feet, which give me the direction to live in this world.
How can I thank my Gurumayi, who has awakened me to this Truth? The only way I can thank my Guru is to live her teachings in every moment.
Hosur, India
The final line of this
bhajan by Brahmananda plunged my heart deeply into a well of gratitude to my own Guru, Gurumayi, for all that she has given me. My heart is so very thankful.
Massachusetts, United States
Brahmananda's
bhajan so beautifully articulates the great gift that it is to have a living master in one's life. It is so special and rare to find a teacher to show us that God is not in just one distant place—God is EVERYWHERE!
Like Brahmananda, I ask myself how I can ever I repay my Guru for the immense gift that she has given me. One way for me is to offer
seva and
dakshina as an expression of my gratitude for having Gurumayi and the Siddha Yoga path in my life.
Missouri, USA
I had heard of the Self before Gurumayi gave me
shaktipat. I had tried so hard and long to sustain an experience of it, but all I attained was confusion and dismay. In one moment, with one compassionate glance, Gurumayi shifted my world so that, for me, the planets now revolve around the sun of my own Self. Her compassion has made my life fulfilling and joyful beyond anything I could have imagined.
What gift can I offer my Guru? My unending gratitude.
Melbourne, Australia
On reading Verse 4, I was struck by the question about what gift one could offer to the Guru in return for the knowledge of the Self.
I came to understand that the greatest gift would be to honor the Guru by carrying the Guru’s teachings in my own heart, to live the teachings I’ve been given, and to become a reflection of those teachings in my everyday life with others.
Great joy and bliss arise naturally when I perceive what I have become by opening the gifts I’ve received through the Guru’s intention and compassion.
Florida, USA
This
bhajan resounded deeply in me as a perfect description of my life—the vivid play of wandering and mistakenness brought to an end by the loving, compassionate gift of shaktipat. How much we have to celebrate in the delight of a life illumined by the Guru's love! How much to be grateful for! How much sorrow we have been spared! How wonderful the blessings of our Guru. I am full of humility and gratitude.
Utah, USA
After few difficult days, my remedy was to play the beautiful “Sounds of the Heart” CD, as the purity of the children’s voices mingling with Gurumayi’s voice immediately shifts my state and uplifts my heart.
As my mood gently lifted and my heart expanded with sweet joy, I visited the home page of the Siddha Yoga path website and viewed this image. The flowers and the small, childlike hands in
namaskar were the perfect image of the fragrant sounds surrounding me. When I then read the words of Brahmananda, so simple and true, I felt as if his teaching was confirming my understanding that I can move beyond the drama of the world and experience the bliss that is always within me through the Guru's grace."
California, USA
Brahmananda’s words,
The Lord pervades everywhere, are especially meaningful to me in my present circumstances.
I'm selling my home, and I had to take down my
puja and empty my meditation room. Without any of the outer forms I love there to remind me, I’ve been more focused within. And I feel the presence of my Guru constantly.
I see that it has actually been a blessing to be forced to be more consciously aware and to remember that the Lord is with me all the time, and that I am with the Lord.
Arizona, USA
There is something about this picture that stops me every time I look at it. I feel as if I’m falling into my heart, into the most exquisite joy.Perhaps it's something about the combination of colors and the young hands in a beautiful posture of devotion.My heart is enraptured to see such purity and beauty.
Washington, USA
I live in a time and culture that differ in many ways from that of Brahmananda. And I might have other ways to describe the entanglements from which my Guru has freed me. Yet the words of this
bhajan touch me deeply.
I am reminded of how all the pieces of my life began to fall into place, all the frantic searching came to an end, when my Guru gave me an experience of God’s presence within my own being.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for awakening my heart and uniting my mind with the Lord.
a Siddha Yoga meditation teacher