My Grateful Heart

When Gurumayi visited Heidelberg, Germany, in 1989, we were asked some questions at the end of a satsang and invited to answer on the basis of scriptural knowledge. One of those questions was: “What is the best protection against all things?” 
 
I was new to the Siddha Yoga path but I happened to know the scriptural answer. When the roving microphone reached me, I stood up, uttered the answer “Gratitude,” and sat back immediately. I had retained this amazing teaching from a Siddha Yoga course I’d taken a few months before and it had remained on my mind ever since—as if it had been written inside of me. The Swami asking the question remarked that this was the only possible answer as it came from the scriptures. 
 
Since then, whenever I have to meet challenging times, I practice asking myself, “How can I experience gratitude in this situation? What could I learn from this trial? Could it be a blessing?” It is not always easy to do so, but over the years I have gained stability, courage, and hope from this practice. I also try to count my blessings and express my gratitude for everything I receive.
 

My own deepest experience of “my grateful heart” is from when I lived at the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Liphook, UK. One month I was asked to give a talk about gratitude for a satsang. But due to a difficult issue in my life just then, I wasn’t experiencing any gratitude at all.
 
This put me in a dilemma. As the satsang drew closer, I finally shared the dilemma with Gurumayi. I remember saying quietly, “Gurumayi, I think I need some help with this one.” Almost immediately I felt a surge of gratitude for my mother, followed by another surge and then another. I became emotional, tears flooding through me.
 
And then the feelings of gratitude were followed by feeling grateful for the feelings of gratitude! I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and made another plea to Gurumayi: “Thanks, I think you can stop now.”
 
I'll never forget that experience and can reconnect with those feelings as I type this now. Needless to say, I was able to give the requested talk at the satsang.
 

As I read this heart-touching experience shared by a staff member in Shree Muktananda Ashram, my heart and eyes became moist in gratitude for Shri Guru’s love as I have experienced it during the course of my life and daily Siddha Yoga sadhana.
 
I read this share three times for contemplation. The line that particularly caught my attention was this: “It has been my experience that by practicing gratitude consciously, the way I look at things has changed.” I resolved to “practice gratitude consciously,” which I sometimes forget to do. When I did it for one whole day, I found that there was no place to hold a grudge against any thing, person, or circumstance. The only thing which remained was my love for Shri Guru and gratitude for the blessings she bestows on us always.
 

As I was contemplating my own “grateful heart” today, I found that there is absolutely nothing that my heart is not grateful for. I experienced it like a domino effect of events cascading down that have landed me in this most wonderful spot in my life. Had any event changed or not occurred, my life wouldn’t be where it is today. And so there is nothing that my heart doesn’t bow down to in gratitude. Of course, it is my Guru’s grace that awakens me to this magic of gratitude.
 

This share, “A Grateful Heart,” provided such great detail for what “a seemingly so-so day” can feel like when we look at it through the lens of gratitude. As I read about the writer seeing Gurumayi in the Lower Lobby and having the memory marked  by things like noticing the hues and movement of Gurumayi’s robes, I too was taken to my own grateful heart, full of precious memories I hold of being with Gurumayi. These memories may be of moments with Gurumayi in person or when she touched me through her teachings and grace.  
 
My experience of gratitude—connected with Gurumayi and the teachings of the Siddhas—centers and anchors me in the cave of my heart, where I feel safe, I stop following thoughts, and I can get still enough to really notice what a gift being alive is!
 

While reading this share, I felt tremendous love and gratitude toward my Guru. I even felt that I have received this gift from Gurumayi herself. This share deepens my understanding and refreshes my heart. In so doing, it also leads me to offer my heartful gratitude toward my Guru, who always protects me and blesses me every second of my life.
 
“My Grateful Heart” reminded me of the practice which I followed for several months of focusing on the sadgunas, the virtues. Love, respect, enthusiasm, equipoise, serenity, surrender, and gratitude have formed my “sadguna saptah” for this practice. Now I would like to refresh this practice once again to connect with and cherish the sweetness of gratitude.
 

I read this beautiful share with great admiration. I am so grateful that there are such loving and big-hearted people in this world who openly and lovingly share such tender and precious experiences with the whole world.
 

I’m feeling great amazement after reading this inspiring sharing. It taught me not only a great way to be grateful but also how to refresh my connection with Gurumayi. That pink, perfumed heart is now in my heart too. I am grateful with all my heart for this precious gift.

Ahhhh... gratitude! I feel such gratitude for this enchanting story as a vehicle for the Guru's grace. It has reminded me in subtle and distinct ways how, through synchronicity, my Guru calls me back to my heart again and again, letting me know that I am always guided and have so much to be grateful for.
 
Today as I was reciting Shri Guru Gita, verse 149 jumped out at me, and particularly one word in that verse: chintamanish.  When I read the translation, I saw it meant “the wish-fulfilling gem.” And then here—in this beautiful story I read on the same day—the writer mentions the heart-shaped crystal stone now lovingly named Chintamani. When I read that, my heart swelled with gratitude and a sense of mystery for knowing that, in every moment, I am guided home to my heart where gratitude resides by the grace of Shri Gurumayi and the Siddhas.
 
Gratitude itself is the wish-fulfilling gem!  
 

I am deeply touched by “My Grateful Heart,” which is so beautifully expressed. What a moment that must have been, when eternal love and gratitude merged in that sudden, unexpected darshan of our beloved Gurumayi! I am grateful for the way this story took me along with the writer in gratitude and awe.
 

This is an extraordinary experience! I am very grateful that it was shared. It immediately connected me directly to Gurumayi in my heart, as though it had been I who had received the gift. And of course, we all have received the gift of love from Gurumayi’s heart many times over.

I am amazed and inspired by the studentship of this Siddha Yogi. My heart melts to see how someone so graciously and respectfully embraced Gurumayi’s teachings and put them into practice.
 

I was so truly moved by this story of a grateful heart. It shows me again that our small daily practices from the heart, which we make our own and offer with love and gratitude, create ripples of love that extend out in all directions and are heard for sure. I love Gurumayi, and am deeply grateful for this cherished story of “My Grateful Heart.”