It is so sweet and blissful to listen to the sacred sounds of this hymn. For the first forty years of my
sadhana, I lived close to and offered
seva in the Siddha Yoga Ashrams in Australia. Being part of the
sangham, offering
seva, and participating in
satsangs were a big part of my life.
Then, five years ago, I returned to my motherland of New Zealand, to a small town where there is no Siddha Yoga meditation center. I wondered how I would fare there. Would my state drop? Would I feel lonely or isolated? Would my
sadhana still progress? Well, thanks to the Siddha Yoga practices and the Siddha Yoga path website, I feel blessed and continue to experience the presence of the Siddhas every single day.
When I listened to this beautiful
arati this morning, it revived so many beautiful memories of taking part in
satsangs and Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensives and celebrations over the years. As I chanted and listened to these beautiful words, waves of gratitude flowed through me.
Central Lakes, New Zealand
Listening to
Jyota se Jyota Jagao takes me back to my childhood. Every time my parents and I went on a trip or felt we needed some love or protection, we played it.
I loved to sing it back then, for it felt so cheerful to me. As I listen to it now, I realize more deeply how beautiful this song really is.
São Paulo, Brazil
I feel so peaceful and calm during this
arati. I feel like I am so blessed to sing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao.
Rajkot, India
As we began to sing this prayer at the beginning of my first Shaktipat Intensive with Gurumayi, I started to weep, with the inner sense that I was finally coming home to what I had been longing for all my life. As I was totally new to the Siddha Yoga path, my weeping surprised me, but I realized it was a deep, heartfelt feeling, and later knew it was the beginning of my
shaktipat experience in that Intensive, which propelled me on this path thirty- two years ago.
Thank you for making this prayer available on the Siddha Yoga path website and for this sweet reminder of my first Shaktipat Intensive.
Maryland, United States
I have listened to and chanted this
arati countless times before, and I know it by heart, so at first I wasn’t going to listen to it. Then it occurred to me that each time I listen to it, I receive another experience of the Guru’s grace, and once again become aware of God dwelling within as my own Self. So, right there sitting on the train to work, I closed my eyes and welcomed the kindled light in my heart. And there on the train, I received
darshan from the Guru.
Such a blessing!
Warsaw, Poland
Through singing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao, I could feel the Guru’s warmth and compassion. I’m so grateful for this gift.
Madrid, Spain
Every time I listen to this
arati, I feel my heart dance and am filled with joy and love. This is my favorite practice. I love it so much!
Mehsana, India
The line “Remove the darkness covering my heart, O Sadguru” held special meaning for me as I listened to
Jyota se Jyota Jagao and read the translation. For several months it’s been challenging for me to see the light in my heart. Listening to these words, I realized that the light is always there and that my lamp has always been lit, even during this time. This realization gave me hope, and a sense of peace and calm came over me. My Guru is there and always has been!
Missouri, United States
I always have a great feeling singing this
arati. Every time I listen to it, it gives me enthusiasm and my legs want to dance to it. Each line is so beautiful, filling my heart with the sweetness of my beloved Guru’s love.
Nagpur, India
For me, this is one of the most beautiful texts that the Guru has given us. Singing it makes my heart vibrate with happiness.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Just reading through these verses makes my heart melt—like the wax of the candles shown in this gorgeous image invoking Baba’s grace.
Wisconsin, United States
Memories from years of loving this prayer wash over me—experiences in so many places, times, groups, all inspired and full of love.
One rises to my heart and spills over—watching my young children learn
Jyota se Jyota Jagao for themselves. And, with their friends during the children’s program in the local Siddha Yoga meditation center, taking turns performing
arati. Of all the experiences, this one holds the sweetest power—their eager enthusiasm, their innocent joy, their absolute delight and focused concentration when it was their turn.
This memory takes me to my own love. The love remains ever deeper and the light shines eternally, warming, guiding, sustaining me.
Washington, United States
During
satsang, chanting
Jyota se Jyota Jagao releases a flow of love and joy into my being. I am always reminded of Baba whenever I chant this
arati. It feels like a subtle dialogue between Baba, the Sadguru, and us, his students: we invoke and invite the Guru, and unfailingly his presence is felt, and grace flows. Amazing.
Sydney, Australia
When I met Baba in 1976, I carried home the mantra and the refrain of
Jyota se Jyota Jagao within me. They were my only connection to Baba and the
shakti until a few years later when I took my first Shaktipat Intensive and began formally practicing Siddha Yoga.
Without realizing it, all those years I had been singing, “Remove the darkness covering my heart, O Sadguru; light my lamp from your lamp.”
And, indeed, this is what happened. Baba opened my awareness to the unwavering light inside my heart. Little by little the darkness covering my heart has been removed, so that light is able to shine through more and more. I am happier than I have ever been. And for this blessing, my heart is full of gratitude to the Guru and the path.
Massachusetts, United States
When I took my first Shaktipat Intensive in 1982, I was brand-new to the Siddha Yoga teachings and practices. I knew nothing about shaktipat or anything else. All I knew is that each time we chanted Jyota se Jyota Jagao, I would have tears streaming down my face, along with feelings of joy and an inner longing that felt like an awakening of love and reverence.
New Mexico, United States
When my little girl was still a baby, each morning we offered
puja together: I sang
Jyota se Jyota Jagao and her whole body would dance in rapturous delight in my arms. Now she is four, and when it comes time to sing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao at the Family Satsang, she loves to dance with the “
Jyota se Jyota feeling” pouring through her body.
Every night since she was born, I’ve chanted to settle her to sleep. Three nights ago, as we lay down together, gratitude arose in me. I began to sing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao softly, like a lullaby. As I sang, my little girl closed her eyes, put her hands over her heart, and smiled contentedly. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and said, “Mama, I could really feel Lakshmi (the goddess of abundance) in my heart. She’s really there tonight!”
Newport, Australia
It has been my experience that in every center and Ashram I have ever been to since 1974, everyone always gets totally into singing this hymn. I can say with full certainty that of all the
satsangs I’ve ever been to, there was never one where the singing of
Jyota se Jyota Jagao wasn’t truly heartfelt. It’s always been a very happy and auspicious moment.
California, United States
What I remember most about the first time I participated in a Siddha Yoga event was my experience of profound joy while singing Jyota se Jyota Jagao.
I was fifteen years old then, and prior to that day, I had understood and experienced God as an all-powerful being who was far away. I loved God, but also feared God. This arati woke me to the truth that God was within and without, that love was God’s nature, and that the Guru lit the flame of God’s love in one’s heart.
This was my shaktipat experience. My life from then on has become anchored in the Guru’s unconditional love, protection, and guidance.
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
When I sing Jyota se Jyota Jagao with full attention, I often feel like the sun is coming up inside and that Baba and Gurumayi are taking their seat in my own body and heart. It always feels like a new beginning.
New York, United States
I was pregnant with my second child when I first went to a Siddha Yoga meditation center. I didn’t know anyone, and at first I felt shy and separate. But when I sang
Jyota se Jyota Jagao, I felt hope; I felt warmth and love. This beautiful hymn brought me back every Friday for the
satsang at the center. Eventually, I brought both of my children with me—and now I bring my grandson!
Singing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao always returns me to that deep feeling of love and connection to the Guru, and to all of my fellow lovers of God.
Washington, United States
One day recently, shortly after we began singing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao at the conclusion of a
satsang, I felt a very vibrant joy start to arise everywhere—and I could see this joy vibrating in everyone around me. The joy was so palpable, you could reach out and touch it. As I was seeing this joy, my attention was drawn inside me, and I could see and feel this same joy in myself.
All of a sudden the joy in me and the joy outside merged. The experience was of pure oneness: no barriers, no feelings of separation—just pure joy. At that moment I knew without doubt that God was everywhere.
Since having this experience, I have been remembering and contemplating it almost daily. And every time, there is something new to discover. I can truly say this experience has transformed my vision of the world forever.
a staff member in Shree Muktananda Ashram
In 1987, I traveled with several other sevites to Siddha Yoga meditation centers in the western United States, conducting Siddha Yoga teaching and learning events, and joining the devotees in their weekly satsangs. Many times, I experienced the high point of the visit taking place during the singing of Jyota se Jyota Jagao. This was the moment when everyone and everything became unified.
On one occasion, a snowstorm took place the night before a Shaktipat Intensive. This was in a town where snow almost never falls, so no snow removal was available. Sevites of the center came together with extra enthusiasm to ensure that everything was ready for the Intensive and that participants could safely arrive.
Gurumayi’s presence was palpable throughout the preparations, and as Jyota se Jyota Jagao began at the start of the Intensive, I clearly saw Gurumayi enter the room and sit in her chair—even though she was in India at the time. During the pause in the Intensive, I asked another sevite if she felt Gurumayi was literally there with us, and she replied yes—during Jyota se Jyota Jagao.
To me, this hymn is a treasure and a connection to the heart space we all share.
New York, United States
Today when I woke up, in my mind I was singing this
arati, and as I was singing, I felt that I was doing
seva in the Ashram. After the day’s work, when I opened the Siddha Yoga path website, I was surprised to see this
arati. Really, the words of this
arati are true. The light of my Guru’s grace has enlightened my whole being.
Bhilwara, India
Opening the Siddha Yoga website and seeing Jyota se Jyota Jagao brought a smile to my face because whenever I sing this hymn, I feel a mystical sensation of the wonderful Kundalini energy becoming enlivened in my body. It’s as if the energy wakes up or becomes alert to a memory of its own blissful existence. And it never fails that when I sing it, my whole being rejoices in recognition of love and bliss.
Iowa, United States
I have been singing
Jyota se Jyota Jagao in my mind first thing in the morning for weeks. It just comes on its own. The first lines of the refrain repeat again and again for a while, and then the beginnings of other verses a few times. Then I sing the whole prayer. It happened today, as on the other days. And then I opened the Siddha Yoga path website and saw the hymn on the front page!
What a gift to be able to practice today with the words on the website!
Modiin, Israel
When my wife first brought me with her to a Siddha Yoga meditation center many years ago, I could not immediately relate to what was happening there. I told her this was nice but that I didn’t think it was for me. However, the very next week I was back at the center because I needed to hear “that song” again.
Looking back at that time, I believe that the energy contained in
Jyota se Jyota Jagao had entered and ignited my heart. To this day, singing this beautiful invocation continues to awaken feelings of love and longing in me.
New Jersey, United States