September 1, 2023
Dear reader,
Namaste!
September heralds a change of season. It’s a natural time to assimilate what you have been learning and prepare for what’s to come. On the Siddha Yoga path, now is the time to prepare for one of the most significant events of the year: the Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive in Honor of Baba Muktananda’s Mahasamadhi.
The solar anniversary of Baba’s Mahasamadhi takes place on October 2; the lunar anniversary is on October 28 this year. On the Siddha Yoga path, we honor this profound event throughout the entire month of October—and by participating in the Shaktipat Intensive.
The title and focus of study Gurumayi Chidvilasananda has given for the Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive 2023 is
The Heart Is the Haven:
Behold the Light of Joy and Embrace Calm
Take a moment to be with this teaching from Gurumayi.
Savor, and write down, your initial impressions.
Continue to hold Gurumayi’s teaching in your awareness in the days ahead.
Observe how Gurumayi’s words speak to you.
This is a potent way to prepare yourself to participate in the Shaktipat Intensive.
The Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive is a one-day immersion in the teachings of the Siddha Yoga Gurus and in the Siddha Yoga practices—chanting, meditation, and contemplation. In the Intensive, Gurumayi bestows shaktipat-diksha through her sankalpa, her intention—awakening Kundalini Shakti within a seeker. This awakening makes it possible for one to experience—and ultimately become established in—the unwavering happiness that abides within one’s own being.
For those of you who have participated in a Shaktipat Intensive before, you know the power of the Intensive to connect you to the experience of the divine Self and inspire you to revitalize your efforts in sadhana.
The Shaktipat Intensive will be held at participating Siddha Yoga Ashrams, meditation centers, and chanting and meditation groups on Saturday, October 7 or Sunday, October 8, depending on the location.
As the Siddha Yoga meditation teacher for this year’s Intensive, I invite you to prepare to participate. And I look forward to being with you in the sacred, grace-filled atmosphere of the Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive 2023.
Warm regards,
Swami Ishwarananda
Siddha Yoga meditation teacher
I registered for the Shaktipat Intensive 2023 and was happily looking forward to entering that sacred space and immersing myself in the practices with no interruption. However, I realized that my husband’s health (as well as my own) was not creating the right opening for me to attend.
I am now looking forward to allowing myself to experience the sacred atmosphere in my home and amidst my duties here. I have invited Gurumayi into my home and my heart as I perform my dharma here, knowing that the Guru supports me wherever I am.
I am grateful to be able to follow the Siddha Yoga path. I have been blessed to have participated in many previous Intensives and will experience this one in a way appropriate to my life at this time.
Texas, United States
I am a lover of Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensives. Ever since this invitation to the Shaktipat Intensive 2023 appeared, my yearning for it grew ever stronger.
In my country, Mexico, extensive registration logistics have been established, with many lines of communication open to serve our community. Although I usually sign up the same day I participate, this year I decided to do it earlier—because I remembered that the Intensive often begins for a participant as soon as they’ve registered. However, a whole series of communication problems then arose, which made me feel insecure about being able to participate, since places were limited for various practical reasons.
But the yearning in my heart remained, motivating me to continue to pursue my wish. I knew I shouldn’t stop trying, and I wouldn't. And finally, I was able to register on time. As a result of my effort to fulfill my yearning to take the Intensive, I feel that one part of the Intensive title Gurumayi has given us, to “embrace calm,” is already permeating my being.
Mexico City, Mexico
I feel a wonderful sense of anticipation as the Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive draws closer and closer. Each day, in preparation, I am contemplating the words of the title. This is helping me to see the “light of joy and embrace calm,” knowing that the full meaning and experience of these words will be revealed in the Shaktipat Intensive.
California, United States
Today I contemplated the title of the Shaktipat Intensive in a Sadhana Circle. Two things stood out for me. First, my Heart or spiritual center is the only place where I can find lasting peace, protection, and fulfillment. It is my refuge. There is no other place to go.
Second, the phrase embrace calm caught my attention. I realized that it is one thing to experience calm while doing a spiritual practice but to “embrace calm” more consistently means to make it a priority, to constantly make choices that nurture this calmness.
Overall, the title gave me the understanding that I must return to my Heart again and again.
a Gurukula student in Gurudev Siddha Peeth
A few days ago, I was about to go to bed when I was astonished to see a stream of light entering my house through a window. I went toward the window and saw the sky—illuminated by a soft, diffuse, and colored light— emerging from the darkness. It lasted a few seconds and then the sky vanished again into the darkness. Amazed by this splendor, I was waiting for another apparition. Soon after, the light came back, illuminating the sky once again.
As this playful show continued, I noticed that I was increasingly happy. From my silent home, I was admiring this manifestation of God and relishing my union with the divine. And when I discovered the title of the Shaktipat Intensive on the Siddha Yoga path website, I was amazed by how perfectly it echoes my experience.
Rodez, France
When I hold the words embrace calm from the Shaktipat Intensive title in my awareness, I feel ease in my body. Since I registered for this Intensive, I have experienced more space in my days for being with myself, as well as for completing my daily work.
I look forward to learning more about the Heart and about how to “embrace calm.”
Warrnambool, Australia
I have recently been focusing on Gurumayi’s teaching, “To stay afloat in joy requires constant effort,” from her Message talk for 2004–2007, “Experience the POWER Within. Kundalini Shakti.” As a result of studying and assimilating this teaching, my work as a middle school teacher has never been more full of joy. This is especially satisfying because it became clear to me during one of the Siddha Yoga satsangs via live video stream that the key to my teaching work this year was to focus on one thing: “Be happy.”
I am working hard daily to stay happy. I feel that prioritizing participation in this Shaktipat Intensive as well as preparing for it fully are ways for me to give the perfect right effort to deepen my quest to “be happy” constantly—for the benefit of all my students, our school, and myself.
I am grateful to Gurumayi for making so gracefully clear what the path of effort is for me toward coming to “behold the light of joy.”
Washington, United States
I’m delighted to participate in the upcoming Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive 2023. Although I have participated in Shaktipat Intensives in the past, I am especially eager to take part in this one.
As it approaches, my longing grows to experience the peacefulness of the Self. To prepare, each day I have been practicing
svadhyaya and meditation to open myself to receive Shri Guru’s grace. I feel my recent meditation practice has been like a furnace, working to purify every corner of my being so I may reconnect to the energy of my Self.
Bhandara, India
When I read the title of the Global Shaktipat Intensive, “The Heart Is the Haven: Behold the Light of Joy and Experience Calm,” the first thing I realized was that offering seva is what always connects me with “the light of joy” that is in my heart, and which is reflected in my life in general.
Recently, I had the opportunity to offer seva once again after a long period of not doing so. When I was serving in my community, I experienced a long blissful state of tranquility that reminded me how blessed I am to have access to this state and to emerge from it toward my life, even in the most challenging moments.
I am so grateful to my beloved Guru, whose teachings are my life force.
Cuernavaca, Mexico
As I read the title of the Shaktipat Intensive for October, my entire body and mind relaxed and became very serene and centered. Any cares or stresses, conscious or unconscious, dissipated into peaceful contentment.
For me this is the beauty of the Shaktipat Intensive. It embraces me with the experience of the theme of the Intensive, and then I make the effort to embrace the experience. The Intensive is another form that the grace of the Guru takes.
New Jersey, United States
It is such divine news that we will receive shaktipat diksha from Shri Guru during the Shaktipat Intensive. I feel so blessed and fortunate that in today’s era Gurumayi herself is going to bestow divine initiation. I am always grateful to Shri Guru for this.
Khamgaon, India
It thrills my heart to even imagine once again attending a Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive! I can hardly wait for October!
Virginia, United States
A mentor of mine introduced me to the Siddha Yoga path when I was a young adult. I attended some satsangs and enjoyed the community, the music, and the fellowship. I also remember chanting at a Siddha Yoga satsang on one New Year’s Day and being mystified by the glow of enlightened energy that was generated. I remember thinking, “That’s how the world can heal.” It was very beautiful to experience.
Recently I’ve been guided back to this path, and I am so grateful for the timing of this Shaktipat Intensive and the perfection of its theme. I’m excited and honored to be able to look forward to participating in it.
Ohio, United States
Since meeting Baba and being on this path of love, devotion, healing, and consciousness, I have witnessed many, many different states of emotional connection, purification, and gratitude. The Siddha Yoga teachings and practices have provided me with a daily pathway for healing as well as discovery and inspiration. Maintaining my work in the world, I have experienced deep gratitude for Baba and Gurumayi. It would be a blessing to attend this upcoming Shaktipat Intensive.
New York, United States