In this Meditation Session, I discovered one way to befriend my mind is to be grateful for my effort to meditate on a regular basis and my effort to sit quietly, focusing on the mantra. This approach is an antidote for my dissatisfaction when my meditation is not going the way I think it should, and it helps me to quiet my mind.
Willemstad, Curacao
My sister recently recovered from COVID-19. However, her inner state has become more agitated, what with the illness, the pandemic-related restrictions, and her lifelong struggle with severe anxiety. I’ve often thought, "I wish she could have a direct encounter with the Guru's grace."
Yesterday she told me one of the ways she’s trying to cope is through meditation—a first for her! When she told me she found meditation almost impossible, I felt a genuine opening to sharing my path with her—through the gift of the 2020 Meditation Sessions. This filled me with hope, and gratitude to Gurumayi for providing this vehicle to touch my sister's life when she needs it most.
Then, last night, I dreamt that I was helping set up a
satsang in my childhood home. It was all very makeshift as we rushed around trying to get everything in place. Still, there was a palpable feeling that
satsang was coming to my family and that grace was descending on all who dwelled there. I awoke feeling comforted and excited, full of faith that my sister will receive all she needs to heal fully.
New Jersey, United States
Meditating with these meditation instructions is sweeter than sweet. It was so easy for me to blissfully watch the thoughts, images and feelings that arose. At about 20 minutes into meditation, a deep swell of contentment flowed into my heart.
California, United States
This meditation session made it easy for me to watch the thoughts, images, and feelings that arose in my mind and then gently merged back into Consciousness.
As my meditation deepened, I felt drawn into a well of contentment flowing into my heart.
California, United States
In the softness of the mid-afternoon light after this Meditation Session, I felt my heart and mind united, dissolving into one entity, at ease, in peace. All is well.
Sydney, Australia
During the meditation session, this insight arose in me:
If I stay on the surface of my awareness and follow my thoughts hoping to experience ease, I am depending on having thoughts that bring about an experience of ease. Since my thoughts are varied in content, the odds are not high that I would consistently have thoughts that induce ease.
So, I realized that the surest way to experience ease is to learn how to connect to the Self—the ocean of ease—and practice that as often as possible.
California, United States
Sukha-sadhya. Like a sweet balm, these words sound as beautiful as they feel. I experienced an easeful awareness as soon as the teacher began, almost as if
sukha-sadhya had descended upon me the moment I offered
pranam.
I have often struggled with seeing the mind and heart as separate. Today I truly experienced the mind and heart as one Consciousness. My perception is drenched in a comforting soft light.
California, United States
During the meditation, my neighbors’ dog began to bark. Since I recognize its bark, I didn’t get upset. I just let the dog and its barking enter my meditation as if I were welcoming a good friend. Without judgment, this “stone in the pond” became a joyful splash of Consciousness.
Afterwards, I realized that my mind is sometimes like this dog. Instead of judging its behavior, I just have to keep its friendly company, with compassion, and enjoy the happiness in my heart.
Rodez, France
While we were chanting
Om Namah Shivaya, I envisioned that Gurumayi was with me. I then heard inside of myself, "I am with you, I am with you, I am with you!" After I heard these words, a deep sense of peacefulness came over me—
Atma ki Prashanti!
Massachusetts, United States
Deep breathing with the mantra brought a stream of moving transparent colors. Indigo blue and golden-orange light slowly flowed into moving shapes, which transformed my mind’s thoughts into colored shapes for me to observe without words.
Oklahoma, United States
This was another extraordinary Meditation Session! During the meditation, the great power of the breath and mantra repetition became crystal clear to me. As I focused my attention on my breath and repeating the mantra, it was as though a wave of effervescent bubbles washed away any trace of thought or emotion in my mind or heart. This gave way to a wonderful state of gentleness, easefulness, peace, and tranquility. I felt that I had plunged into a state of meditation many levels deeper than ever before.
St. Laurent, Canada