March 25, 2020
Dear readers,
Namaste. Buongiorno. 你們 好 Salut. Здравствуйте. こんにちは
On January 1, during the live video stream of Sweet Surprise, Gurumayi imparted her Message for the year 2020. We received Gurumayi’s Message in the Hindi language, and in the days that followed, Gurumayi explained why she had imparted the Message first in Hindi and then in English. This was because the two main words of Gurumayi’s Message have so many complex, intricate, and profound meanings that they are nearly untranslatable! The only way to understand and come to appreciate these words is by learning their different qualities, their different layers of meaning, and their scriptural basis as they relate to our Siddha Yoga sadhana.
We are also fortunate to receive Gurumayi’s perception of her Message in the form of her Message Artwork. In this way, we are able to study the words of Gurumayi’s Message—and we have the opportunity to receive darshan of the Message.
Each year, Siddha Yogis and those who wish to begin their journey on the Siddha Yoga path make Gurumayi’s Message Artwork an integral part of their study. When we study the Message Artwork, learning takes place in the four bodies. We cultivate knowledge through the physical body; the emotional body; the intellect; and the spiritual body, by the agency of Kundalini Shakti.
Please accept my invitation to have darshan of Gurumayi’s Message Artwork for 2020. Darshan is the exquisite Sanskrit word that means "to see," "to have the vision of the sacred," "to perceive the Divine."
- Please ensure that you set aside plenty of time—at least 15 minutes—to be with Gurumayi’s Message Artwork.
- Sit in a comfortable posture.
- Feel the natural flow of your breath.
- Look at the Message Artwork. Once you have taken in the entire Message Artwork, look at a specific part of it. Then let your gaze soften, allowing the Artwork to blur slightly before your eyes.
- Next, look at another part of the Artwork and repeat this process. Let the Artwork come in and out of focus; your eyes will behold it first with great concentration and then with more relaxed attention.
- As you will soon see, the Artwork depicts a portion of the cosmos. The bigger, brighter points of light in the foreground are stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The smaller, softer points of light are in fact entire galaxies, containing 100 to 300 billion stars, some of them more than 25 billion light years away. When you gaze at the Artwork with a combination of intensity and gentleness, it expands your ability to take in all that the Artwork contains and conveys. You better intuit its subtleties, its infinite depth, its many dimensions of meaning. You bypass the mind and allow the Consciousness in the Artwork to dance before you.
- To have darshan of the Message Artwork is to enter into communion with it. Take note of the impressions, insights, and feelings that arise when you first have darshan of the Artwork.
Many Siddha Yogis—both those who are professional artists and those who might not consider themselves to be artists—draw, take photographs, make crafts, and write poetry to express what they learn from having darshan of, and studying, the Message Artwork. I encourage you to go for it as well! Find your own creative expression of what the Artwork means to you.
May the darshan of the Message Artwork for 2020 permeate your day-to-day life all throughout this year.
Warm regards,
Swami Ishwarananda
Siddha Yoga Meditation Teacher
About Swami Ishwarananda
Swami Ishwarananda has been following the Siddha Yoga path for more than forty years. In 1980, he took monastic vows to become a Siddha Yoga Swami. Swami ji serves Gurumayi as a Siddha Yoga meditation teacher, and he has traveled throughout the world to teach in satsangs, courses, Sadhana Retreats, and Shaktipat Intensives.
Swamiji teaches with great clarity and wit, encouraging students to discover for themselves the essence of the Siddha Yoga teachings and practices. He especially loves to teach students how to meditate.
Throughout the year I have been meditating on Gurumayi’s Message Artwork for 2020. I want to share that through this focus my intention, my wish, my vision, my dream, my prayers, and my aspirations for this year have been fulfilled.
I feel wholehearted gratitude to Gurumayi for giving us this creation and for imbuing it with such
shakti. I’m also feeling deeply grateful to all those offering
seva to bring this Message Artwork to the Siddha Yoga path website for us.
Gurugram, India
Oh Leaf, remind me of Loyalty.
Please Heart, let me enter Devotion.
Mysterious Blue, guide me into Supreme Bliss.
All Stars, please awaken my Longing.
Dear Lotus, through you, may I dive into Meditation.
As a Crystal, let me experience Truthfulness.
May Sparkles let me feel Enthusiasm.
May the Fountain teach me Abundance.
Your Gold, my Guru, is Perfection.
Oh God, please remind me always of the virtues,
Through signs I can understand.
Obing, Germany
With zeal the darkness sings a hymn of brilliance,
each star the pulse which threads
our being to its own
and holds us in benevolent grace the night through.
And beneath it all, upholding, enfolding within sparkles of light,
the Heart that enchants me, fills me with joy
so that I feel I might embrace all
and rest in peace, the “Peacefulness of the Self.”
Thornbury, Australia
As I contemplated the magnificent Message Artwork, I experienced quietness and serenity. The fountain flowing in abundance reminds me of the qualities of non-attachment, freedom, balance, harmony, unity, and love. To me it seems that the flow of the fountain is so easeful, so peaceful, and free of fear. It reminds me to stay steady, grounded, and courageous in my
sadhana. I experience so much love and nectarean sweetness arising from my contemplation of Gurumayi’s Message Artwork.
Scarborough, Canada
This beautiful and powerful artwork spoke to me on many levels. I saw in it the primordial energy of creation and the many worlds that exist within each one of us. I felt that the foundation of creation is love. Looking at this fountain of love felt magical and calming for me.
New York, United States
To me, there is a phenomenal synchronicity between Gurumayi’s Message and the natural world. Gazing up at the sky the other night watching the comet Neowise, I could not help but make a connection between the Message Artwork and the comet. The comet’s golden light projects its rays upward, just as the fountain in the Artwork projects upward from the golden heart in the center of the lotus. I experience that nature, in her perfection, reflects Gurumayi’s Message to us. As I bathe in the silence of the night sky, practicing Gurumayi’s Message is easeful and perfect.
Maine, United States
After a sweet recitation of
Shri Guru Gita, I was drawn to Gurumayi's Message Artwork for 2020. What a profound experience I had, delving deeply into this Artwork!
What I see there is a powerful unstoppable force coming up out of the earth, which metamorphoses into a myriad of crystals from a gold heart and diamonds, as well as nine strong, soft sprays and seven tiny
AUM symbols. How glorious it has been to discover all these! And the more I looked, the more I found that Gurumayi has given us to see and to contemplate.
I look forward to further contemplations and more insights that will unfold further. I am grateful to Gurumayi for this divine experience.
Melbourne, Australia
I experience a life force within the Message Artwork. The mantra
So’ham echoes inside me as I gaze at it. I feel I am in the presence of Gurumayi, and I experience profound peace in my being. I have made an intention to spend time every morning with the Message Artwork.
Chitradurga, India
When I had the
darshan of Gurumayi’s Message Artwork on January 1, with that deep blue velvet cosmos and its stars, with abundance springing forth from the lotus heart, I immediately recalled an unforgettable vision I experienced once at Gurumayi’s feet during
darshan at my first Intensive in 1985.
At the end of this Intensive, just before
darshan, I felt a burning imperative to ask Gurumayi a question—but none came to mind. Instead, I asked Gurumayi for a mantra card. In that moment, sound and light disappeared, and I found myself suspended amidst the blue velvet cosmos, merging into the total serenity and love permeating my heart. I became the universe and was within it!
Gurumayi brought me back to reality with her delicate peacock feathers on my cheeks, and with her gift of a mantra card. I pressed this card to my heart, knowing I had just had an extraordinary inner journey.
Contemplating Gurumayi’s Message Artwork now helps my
sadhana, especially in these special times of pandemic.
Pau, France
Gurumayi’s Message Artwork is very potent for me. As I viewed the image, I heard within myself the words “fountain of grace.” The image seemed to take up residence in my heart
chakra. Now, as I go through my days, when I become quiet and turn my awareness inside, I see and experience this fountain of grace within, infinite and eternal, showering light throughout my being and out into the universe. I experience great fullness and expansion, joy, and peace! When I engage with the Artwork, my experience of the fullness of the Self gives rise to the experience of peace: Peace-fullness.
I am extremely grateful for Gurumayi’s Message Artwork, which became for me an inner experience.
Washington, United States
I appreciate Gurumayi's Message Artwork every day. It is filled with inspiration and beauty. When I gaze at the beautiful fountain of blessings and love, I'm reminded of the Kundalini Shakti coursing through my body, purifying and uplifting me. I feel the great Shakti permeating everything.
I have been chanting
Om Namah Shivaya with Gurumayi every morning. As we chant, I imagine the beautiful fountain emerging from Lake Chapala here in Mexico, towering high in the sky and showering protection for every soul around its shores. This gives me hope and peace.
Ajijic, Mexico
My whole family enjoys receiving
darshan of Gurumayi's Message Artwork for 2020. I experience a vision of unity; I see a great family of blue lights. I see the Blue Pearl of every being dancing with all the blue lights of the Siddhas in every plane of existence. I experience that we are showered by the Guru's love, in the Guru's cosmos. The light of her heart is expanding as a fountain in innumerable rays creating so many paths for peace to manifest.
For our 5-year-old child, the Artwork is like a fun Christmas tree, where she looks for hearts and
AUM symbols, lights, and stars; the treasure quest never ends. It's fun!
Montréal, Canada
The words that came to me to describe the Message Artwork as I relished it were:
luminous, effervescent, and
scintillating. When I looked them up, they added wonderful new dimensions to my appreciation of both the Artwork and the Message itself. I began to bask in the radiant, shimmering, sparkling, and even dazzling qualities of each of these gifts from Gurumayi as I reflected on them before meditation this morning.
Two things stood out for me. I had often thought of the word
peacefulness in Gurumayi’s Message as signifying a calm, quiet state, yet here I could appreciate the dynamic qualities of peacefulness. I thought about how I could imagine a vibrant, life-filled ecosystem even under the calm surface of a lake. I began to see afresh how peacefulness really creates the foundation for leading a dynamic life.
This reflection also highlighted how magnetic I find Gurumayi’s Message when I say or hear it in Hindi.
Atma ki Prashanti is so lilting to my ear, so full of energy and liveliness.
Then my meditation became awash in inner waves of jewel-like colors.
Kentucky, United States
When I look at the Message Artwork, I imagine that it is located inside my heart. It depicts a place of solace where I find support during these stressful times. I experience the fountain emanating from the heart in the middle of the lotus as showering ever fresh and eternal grace. This enables me to breathe in and out, to experience “Peacefulness of the Self.”
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
After the most recent live video stream, I was looking at Gurumayi’s Message Artwork that was posted after Bade Baba’s
darshan. The colors, the hearts, the
Om symbols, the millions of stars, the lotus—everything felt like a subtle vibration within me. As I continued to gaze at it, I understood that the inner Self is a reservoir of peace, infinite peace.
How I can access the peace within? By meditating regularly, like clockwork, and by studying the Workbook on Gurumayi’s Message for 2020.
Bangalore, India
In viewing Gurumayi’s Message Artwork, I was drawn into the immensity of the galaxies, the vastness of space where only the primordial sound,
Om, exists. I understood that when I go into the expanse of my own heart, the universe is within. I can choose to experience it as dark and silent like outer space, or to experience it illuminated by the knowledge of the Guru’s teachings, and continuously watered by the gentle flow of the Guru's love and grace.
Hong Kong
When I behold Gurumayi's Message Artwork, I feel deeply connected to it, and totally content and peaceful. I feel in those moments that I want to be in that state forever. I know this feeling is what leads my mind to become established in the awareness of the Self so I can truly live my best life.
South Carolina, United States