The Story of Motherhood

What a treasure is this moving tribute to mothers by Gurumayi!
 
In thinking of my mother, I remember how she sacrificed to send me and my sisters to college. As a result of her sacrifice, I entered adulthood with the tools to be financially independent. I have always been grateful for my mother's gift to me, and I shared my gratitude with her while she was alive. However, in reading and thinking about Gurumayi's words about motherhood, the immensity of my mother's sacrifices became so clear.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your love and for this reminder of my mother's love.

New York, USA

When I read Gurumayi's words, sweet tears just fell from my eyes. I felt such resonance with what she says. I was so moved by how she profoundly acknowledges a mother's love. 
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for always uplifting us with your teachings!

Pennsylvania, USA

As I read Gurumayi's words, I was deeply moved to remember my mother and her life lovingly dedicated to her children.

Gurumayi's words are very alive for me; she describes my experience of my mother so perfectly.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for bringing me back to the experience of the pure love of my mom.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I felt grateful and profoundly touched as I read Gurumayi’s words. 
 
My daughter is now about to go to college. As I read this poem on motherhood, I remembered a beautiful dream I had right before giving birth to my daughter. In the dream, I was swinging on a park playground swing and Gurumayi walked toward me and watched me very sweetly. With some doubt, I said to Gurumayi, “I hope I will be a good mother.” Gurumayi smiled broadly and said, “No! You will be a great mama!”
 
That dream has inspired me through the years to contemplate the many ways to bring forth the greatness of my heart with my child.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your constant love, grace, and compassion.

Maryland, USA

What a glorious, happy, heart-opening message from Gurumayi! My heart is moist with love and immense gratitude to my mother—and to all the mothers in the world. I am in awe of how Gurumayi's "The Story of Motherhood" brings to light and so beautifully extols the role of mothers. It expresses wonderfully my profound love for my own mother.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, so much for illumining the magnificence of every mother's offering in a way that helps me, and children of mothers everywhere, to recognize and honor our mothers with renewed kindness and love.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

My daughter called to wish me a happy Mother’s Day. This gesture in itself was a sweet, sweet gift. Partway into the conversation, she suggested that we read Gurumayi’s poem together. We read silently with the music playing in the background. And then I reflected on my experience as a mother and heard my daughter share her experience of me. How beautiful it was to do this with each other!
 
I couldn’t help but think of Mother Kundalini who is with me and all of us, gracing us with her love and guidance—with patience, forbearance, and compassion—and witnessing our travel on the spiritual path. I also recalled my deep and tender joy on seeing the first smile of each of my children— matchless gifts!
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this unexpected delight and profound expression of love in honor of Mother’s Day.

Ohio, USA

Reading Gurumayi's poem again and again keeps awakening cherished memories in me. 
 
After I received shaktipat initiation, I experienced so much love, which I never knew existed in me. Soon after I received shaktipat, I got married and gave birth to two beautiful daughters in two years.  
 
That was another experience of receiving so much love! It was amazing to give birth; I felt such awe that this love was coming from inside of me, and that it exists in me.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi ji, for living in my heart in the form of love.

New Jersey, USA

A sweet silence descended over me when I first read this poem. Gurumayi’s words describe how my heart feels about the glory of the mother.
 
It was thanks to my mother that I met Baba and Gurumayi. My siblings and I always feel such gratitude to our mother for her devotion and faith in the Guru. We are grateful to her for the way she expresses these qualities in her life. We celebrate her sadhana.
 
And we feel infinitely indebted to Gurumayi, who constantly nurtures and sustains us, inside and out.
 

Thane, India

Motherhood has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done and I am bursting with love for my two beautiful children. I had no idea I could give or receive love to these depths!
 
On Mother's Day, I was trying to articulate the love I have for my children. Then I opened the Siddha Yoga path website and read Gurumayi's poem. With each page, I wanted to jump up and say, "Yes! Yes! That's it! I feel all this!"
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your sacred words. I am filled with gratitude for the exquisite ways in which you illumine the path of my life. Happy, Happy Mother's Day!
 

Oregon, USA

As I read "The Story of Motherhood" I felt—Oh yes! That's my mother!

I especially loved the image of a mother as a mountain. This is an image I often associate with my own mother. She is sure when we are uncertain, and her steadfastness and wisdom are a constant source of support and guidance.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for teaching me about the priceless gift that children receive in the form of a mother. 

Montreal, Canada

I am grateful for being reminded me of my contribution to Mother Earth through being a mother of my eight-year-old daughter.

Thank you, Gurumayi, for seeing this worthiness in me.

 

Dombivli, India

I read Gurumayi's golden words thinking of my mother. She was in fact very strong. She was the pillar of my family and my existence. She transmitted to her three children the main values of life.

I saw her in Gurumayi's words and I was deeply touched.

Then my daughter read Gurumayi's words thinking of me, and she deeply appreciated Gurumayi’s wisdom. My daughter told me one of the most touching aspects of the story was the way Gurumayi described a mother's love, and the way she acknowledged every single aspect of even the tiniest challenges and struggles a mother faces every day that often go unnoticed.

Milan, Italy

My beloved mother was my first guru here on earth. She guided me to walk the path of dharma. From childhood, she taught me to always tell the truth, and to forgive others. I accepted and imbibed her advice easily, knowing it was good.

Thank you, Gurumayi ji, for your abundance, your blessings, and for this story—it reminds me of everything that I have been blessed with in my life.

Basamathnagar, India

This beautiful poem captures so perfectly how a mother feels, how a child feels about her mother, how I have heard my husband speak about his mother, how I hear grandmothers talk about young mothers.

Gurumayi's love, her compassion, her teachings, and practical way of being, have helped me LOVE being a mother!

Thank you, Gurumayi, for this exquisite poem.

It is wonderful to know that in every country, all of our mothers’ hearts have connected through your poem!
 

 South Yarra, Australia

Last evening my youngest son appeared at my door, as a Mother's Day surprise that he and my husband had arranged. Because he lives in another city, I hadn't seen him in three months, although we talk often. I felt the full force of motherly love the instant I saw my son in the doorway.
 
As I read Gurumayi's beautiful poem this morning, tears of gratitude welled up. Gurumayi put into beautiful poetic verse the unconditional love a mother is blessed with. I offer my gratitude again and again for knowing and experiencing this love so joyously.

Illinois, USA

Gurumayi's words gave me a sacred inspiration to recognize the purity of a mother's love, which can take so many forms. I honor my mother, who passed away peacefully in her sleep at age 93, after briefly waking to look up at her four sons and say with great love, "All my sons rise above me." I honor my wife at my side now, who gave joyful birth to all four of our children, and has seen them all bring their own love into the world.
 
Thanks to "The Story of Motherhood," I understand more clearly than  ever the sacred purity of this love.

Toronto, Canada 

"The Story of Motherhood" shines such a beautiful light on mothering. As a mother, I feel truly validated by its words.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this immeasurable gift.

California, USA

Gurumayi's words have helped me to more fully appreciate what being a mother means. Being a mother has given me patience, strength, humor, and the hardest thing of all—the ability to let go. For when a child is happy, that is a mother's greatest happiness.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, from the bottom of my heart for "The Story of Motherhood." Happy Mother's Day!

New York, USA

I was blessed this year to become a mother for the second time just a few days ago, on the Mexican Mother's Day, May 10. Reading Gurumayi's words today brings tears to my eyes. 

I am a mother, although I never thought I would be one. And today, I am a mother of two beautiful children, for whom I experience a love like no love I have ever experienced before. I am so grateful to have the great fortune and destiny to be a mother at this time. And I am so grateful for the way that Gurumayi has reminded me of the meaning of this sacred role in life.

Thank you, Shri Gurumayi, for your beautiful and encouraging words, which make me feel proud and capable and even more blessed than before. I bow to you with reverence!

Berlin, Germany

Through this splendid poem I have come to realize the great virtues my mother embodies. As a young adult, I can now acknowledge the fact that, yes indeed, she has guided and cared for me at each and every step of my life since birth.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi ji, for helping me to realize this. Salutations to all the beautiful mothers in this world!

New Delhi, India

Gurumayi’s heartfelt words on a mother's love take my breath away and give me renewed breath at the same time. In them, I experience the essence of love!

California, USA

I became a mother only a few months ago. As I read "The Story of Motherhood," tears of love and gratitude were rolling down my cheeks.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, from the bottom of my heart for these most loving, kind, inspiring, and touching words.

 Mexico City, Mexico

What a beautiful rendering of the life of a mother and the heart of a parent! In my own experience, I have learned that raising a child tests the navigation system of a mother’s heart. In difficult times as a parent, I have recalled darshans in which Gurumayi tenderly and clearly demonstrated being a loving presence. This has given me courage to parent my child with greater understanding and respect.
 
In this passage Gurumayi speaks of how "the invisible umbilical cord is never severed" between a mother and her child. For me, these words are also a reminder of the never-ending bond between the Guru and the disciple, and between God and God’s creation. 
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for nurturing us with your ineffable love.

West Virginia, USA

As the mother of a three-and-a-half-year-old child, I found the wisdom in Gurumayi's "The Story of Motherhood" to be a beautiful yet firm reminder of the auspicious role that I am playing and that I see my own mother and mother-in-law playing, day in and day out. It refreshed my understanding of how crucial, how benevolent, how significant, how compassionate, and how unconditionally loving this role is!
 
Just by performing this role with all my heart and by acknowledging the role of mothers around me who are playing this role, I have a golden opportunity to be a harbinger of love, peace, and joy. It is so reassuring to realize that by playing my role in this world to the fullest, I can perform great service to humanity and to Mother Earth.

My pranams to you, O Gurumayi, for showing us the light in so many different ways.

Mumbai, India

When I read Gurumayi's description of how a mother feels when her child calls to her for the first time, it reminded me of how I felt when my son, as a young infant, would smile at me. He seemed to be looking at me as though I were the most wonderful person ever! It was incredible to be on the receiving end of a love, joy, and trust that was so free-flowing and full. It made me see myself in a whole new way. And it made me wonder whether this is the way that God sees each of us.
 
Now my son is a teenager, and there are still moments when, in his presence, I experience this same love. The wonder of this love continues to astound me and make me feel connected to all the goodness in the universe—so powerful is it!

California, USA 

On Wednesday, May 10, 2017, Gurumayi visited the Bhagavan Nityananda Temple in Shree Muktananda Ashram to offer puja in honor of Baba Muktananda’s Lunar Birthday. At the conclusion of the puja Gurumayi did pradakshina around Bade Baba.
 
As she was walking, Gurumayi looked down and noticed a thread on the floor. She pointed to it and I came forward to pick it up. As I looked closer, I saw that this thread was very fine and gold in color. I was in awe of how Gurumayi had noticed something that was barely noticeable to the naked eye.
 
Today, when I read “The Story of Motherhood” by Gurumayi on the Siddha Yoga path website, I was amazed to read Gurumayi’s teaching about the bond between a mother and her child being as fine as gold! I also realized that Wednesday, May 10, the day Gurumayi saw the fine gold thread in the Temple, was Mother’s Day in Mexico.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for teaching me to have a keen eye and to recognize sweet synchronicities! Happy Mother’s Day!
 

Shree Muktananda Ashram