In November almost thirty years ago I was very sad for no apparent reason. Something was missing in my heart; I needed to let go of old sorrows but didn’t know how. I felt so lost. One night, I put my head down on my arms, saying, “Help me, God!”—a deep plea from my soul.
Soon after, an old friend called me. We talked into the night and I shared my feelings. She told me she’d been attending a meditation center in New York, where she’d met a spiritual teacher—a Guru named Gurumayi Chidvilasananda! My heart chimed. I wanted a teacher too.
As we talked that night, my friend suggested we look for meditation classes near me. Opening the phone book, I found a Siddha Yoga meditation center less than a mile from my home. I signed up for an “Introduction to Meditation” course. That was the beginning for me of a deep understanding of what love truly is. Baba and Gurumayi were waiting right there for me. Step by step they led the way.
Such love! I was lost and I was found!
Michigan, United States
Many years ago, shortly after I had been introduced to Gurumayi, I was struggling with a feeling of discontent in a situation that needed resolution. My first thought was, “I will go to see Gurumayi; that will help.” When I spoke with a friend, she said, “Go where the light is.”
Well, I knew immediately what I needed to do. I made a pilgimage to see Gurumayi. My discontented state began to lift, the closer I got to the Ashram. When I arrived, I was beaming from ear to ear. That evening I approached Gurumayi in darshan to express my gratitude. She held out her hand; in her palm was a beautiful crystal.
“Do you see the light?” she asked. “It’s mine.” I looked at the crystal, and then into her eyes. Everything and everyone disappeared. I fell into her eyes and was immersed in a silent ocean, floating in a sparkling universe. And in an instant I was back in the hall. I thanked Gurumayi and sat back in my seat, ecstatic.
Gurumayi had guided my gaze to the light within my own heart. It is mine. The light of joy, the greatest gift.
Oregon, United States
This beautiful share reminds me of a time I spent in Shree Muktananda Ashram in 1992, right before going to get married. The whole time there I felt I had a small stone in my heart, which after some time became unbearable for me. I told my fiancée that I had to stay in the Ashram until this stone was gone.
During a satsang the next day, Gurumayi ecstatically proclaimed that this summer solstice day was a day of transformation. As we chanted, I thought, “I don't care if I get put in prison—I am going to chant continuously for the rest of my life!” Right then my heart exploded open. I felt a flood of nectarean water all over me, and I was drenched in love. I could feel my heart encompassing the entire hall, embracing every person in the hall. The stone was gone.
I went to the wedding, still carrying the joy that was unleashed from Gurumayi’s love that day.
Washington, United States
This share reminds me of my own experience of first meeting Baba Muktananda in 1970. I lived in India with my family at that time, and we went on a vacation to Mumbai. Without any planning, we somehow arrived at Gurudev Siddha Peeth. We had the great good fortune of having Baba ji’s
darshan.
That seemingly chance meeting irrevocably transformed my life and the lives of my family members. It started a lifelong journey in the shelter of Guru’s grace.
It is the most amazing miracle to me how Shri Guru found us. This miracle has continued to unfold in my life every day for nearly four decades under Gurumayi ji’s loving guidance and protection. As I walk the path toward the goal of realizing my supreme Self, my
sadhana has become a joyous celebration of the Guru-disciple relationship.
New York, United States
In this share, Baba’s final words—heard in the writer’s dream—about the Siddha Yoga path, “You must only follow the command of the Guru,” sent a bolt of energy into my heart. All the details of my life dissolved and only the Guru remained. Silence enveloped me, and I sensed I had been given the truth I needed for the rest of my life.
One moment. One word. One flash of the Guru’s light—and one recognizes one’s purpose of being.
Maryland, United States
I too received a gift of great love from Baba in a dream which changed my life forever.
I first learned about the Siddha Yoga path by reading Baba’s book
I Have Become Alive, and I knew I would always love Baba. But how would I be worthy of Baba’s love?
A few years later, while I was sailing in the ocean at nighttime, a huge freighter appeared and headed towards us. There was nothing we could do to avoid collision. As the sails of the boat hit the freighter and I prepared to leap into the ocean, Baba’s name emerged from deep within me. It was so loud it must have shaken the heavens! Miraculously, our boat brushed along the side of the freighter without damage.
Back on land, I dreamed of Baba. He was seated in the darkness in front of a small fire, and he beckoned me to come closer. Baba reached into the fire and threw something up into the air. I saw an explosion of light, and scintillating flowers began falling around me. I felt Baba’s love and a sense of my own worthiness. This love kindled my desire to serve him and Gurumayi for the rest of my life.
Vancouver, Canada
I hadn’t pieced together some experiences from my past until I read this story. It reminded me of being a young girl attending Catholic school. One day in middle school we were asked to sit quietly in a room and pray. As I sat there, the entire room turned into blue light. My being was scintillating blue, and I felt the warmth and whisper of a love I had never felt before.
Some years later in my 20s, I found myself at the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in Washington, DC. That same blue light enveloped my entire being. Only this time a blue pearl burst out of the top of my head, and I felt the warm, soft whisper of love all around me.
Reading this share gave me recognition and certainty that my own experience had also been true. Like a clear, crisp, mountain-cool day, nothing has ever felt more clear, connected, and certain than my path and my Guru. I’m grateful that this story helped me remember, and make the connection between, those profound experiences.
Texas, United States
I am very grateful to have read this share about the writer’s experience of longing for God. It reminded me of my own experience of wanting and needing God more than anything or anyone else. I too came to long for God, in part due to my suffering as a child. In my teen years, I tried to meditate on my own, having seen instructions in our local paper, which recommended the mantra Om Namah Shivaya. At the time, I felt it was okay but not what I thought I was looking for.
When I finally received the same mantra from Gurumayi, a living Siddha Guru, the outcome was way beyond what I could ever have imagined looking for. This share is one more way in which the Guru brings me close to her in ways both surprising and unexpectedly joyful.
Massachusetts, United States
My own story of how “I was found” started when I was seventeen: I saw a poster of Baba Muktananda and knew I needed to meet him. But when I couldn’t get a ride to hear him speak, I thought it was a fluke. Eight years later, a friend who’d just returned from Gurudev Siddha Peeth taught me to meditate. A few months later, the same friend asked me if I wanted to go to Oakland and meet Baba. I instantly said yes, not realizing that Baba was the same person I’d tried to meet much earlier.
As I entered the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland and saw Baba’s picture on the wall, I thought, “It’s the same man!” I had just come into some money, and registration for the Shaktipat Intensive that weekend was the exact same amount! So of course I had to register for it.
That was over forty years ago, and I have thanked God every day for my good fortune and all the many blessings I’ve received over those years.
Utah, United States
Reading this wonderful experience “I Was Found” and the equally amazing shares in response to it, I am heartened and uplifted. It’s so good to know that so many Siddha Yoga students have had life-transforming experiences even before they “officially” got on the Siddha Yoga path. It makes me feel miracles are still not only possible, but happening. I am grateful to Gurumayi for finding me more than forty years ago, and for never giving up.
Hawaii, United States
It was a medical crisis—one whose consequences I continue to navigate— that brought me to the Guru more than thirty years ago. If a genie popped out of a bottle today and said to me, “I will take away the medical challenges, and in exchange, you will have no memory of meeting the Guru,” I would say, “No, thank you.”
West Vancouver, Canada
As a child I had a dream of Baba Muktananda. Without understanding, I became a pilgrim. Not asking anything of me, Baba gave. Without my understanding anything, he filled me.
Without even a prayer, I was found.
London, United Kingdom
As I read this share, tears of gratitude ran down my face as I remembered my own similar experience. I was in the process of getting divorced, looking at repeated patterns in my life, and seeking a teacher who could guide me to live a spiritual life.
At this point I met a Siddha Yoga student who showed me a picture of Baba Muktananda and invited me to a satsang the following week. Before I attended the satsang, I had a dream of two men in a white van pulling up alongside me, beckoning me into the vehicle, and then taking off at great speed. I recognized Baba from the picture I’d seen, but was not sure who the other person was—until I attended satsang and saw a picture of Bade Baba!
I am so grateful that they found me and introduced me to Gurumayi, who became the living teacher my heart had sought.
Yeovil, United Kingdom
Every single moment of this share was dear to me. The surprising, transforming power of this share for me was in showing me in bright relief that it wasn’t the story itself, beautifully told though it was, that moved me so. What moved me most was the way this share communicated the depth of reflection and contemplation, the reverence and devotion for the experiences, and most of all the gratitude that this Siddha Yogi had so lovingly cultivated. This share has inspired me to go and do likewise!
Tennessee, United States
As I read this share, I experienced a flood of reassurance, wonder, and gratitude in response. Just recently I was listening to the CD of Gurumayi’s talk “God is Your Constant Companion” for the umpteenth time. In it she speaks about Lord Krishna’s flute and its exquisite music.
During more than three decades of sadhana on this sacred path, I have been blessed to have had many wondrous spiritual experiences, including just recently hearing the nada, the inner sounds, of sweet tinkling chimes. But I’ve never heard the inner flute and hadn’t heard anyone else’s experience of it. This amazing share about the writer’s direct connection with God and the inner Guru—manifesting in the form of Baba—is a treasured gift. It helps me build on my growing structure of faith.
New York, United States
Such a wonderment took over my heart when I read this incredible sharing on how a true request to find God was fulfilled. As I read through the story, moments of my childhood came up to the surface of my awareness: I too had been a child searching for God, and my request too was fulfilled by the Siddha Yoga Masters!
What an amazing realization this story gave me: God is always hearing our heart’s requests—and is always answering them!
Rome, Italy
Reading this sharing, I was moved to tears of joy. This story felt so extraordinary to me. It showed me the magnitude of the Guru’s compassion and power.
It also reminded me of what had happened to me along the path, how grace found its way toward me. What is even more amazing is the synchronicity. Just this morning, before coming to the Siddha Yoga path website, I had been contemplating how I had come to this path.
Garges les Gonesse, France