What has given me sustenance ever since my mother first introduced me to the Siddha Yoga path many moons ago? The Guru’s love.
The Heart is the hub of all sacred places. Go there and roam.
Bhagavan Nityananda
If you feel love, know that you are special.
If you are special, know that you are love.
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
ನೆಲದ ಮರೆಯ ನಿಧಾನದಂತೆ
ಫಲದ ಮರೆಯ ರುಚಿಯಂತೆ
ಶಿಲೆಯ ಮರೆಯ ಹೇಮದಂತೆ
ತಿಲದ ಮರೆಯ ತೈಲದಂತೆ
ಮರದ ಮರೆಯ ತೇಜದಂತೆ
ಭಾವದ ಮರೆಯ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮವಾಗಿಪ್ಪ
ಚೆನ್ನಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನನ ನಿಲವನಾರೂ ಅರಿಯ ಬಾರದು
Like treasure that is tucked into the earth,
and flavor contained in fruit,
Like gold that is embedded in stone,
and oil hidden in a sesame seed,
Like the splendor of fire that is concealed in wood,
you, O Chennamallikarjuna—
O Lord who is as white as jasmine flowers—
are the Absolute,
and the greatness of your being,
masked as it is by fluctuating emotions,
eludes perception.
Akkamahadevi,
twelfth-century poet-saint of India
Будет и мой черёд -
Чую размах крыла.
My turn shall also come:
I sense the spreading of a wing.
Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), Russian poet
El día que tú naciste, nacieron todas las flores.
The day you were born, all the flowers were born.
Traditional Mexican birthday song
ब्रह्माण्डं खंडयन्ती हरशिरसि जटावल्लिमुल्लासयन्ती
स्वर्लोकादापतन्ती कनकगिरिगुहागण्डशैलात्स्खलन्ती।
क्षोणीपृष्ठे लुठन्ती दुरितचयचमूर्निर्भरं भर्त्सयन्ती
पाथोधिं पूरयन्ती सुरनगरसरित्पावनी नः पुनातु॥ ३॥
May the pure and sacred waters of heavenly Ganga
that emerge from the blue above, as if breaking the universe in two,
that run through the curls of Lord Shiva
and flow among the caves and trees of Mount Meru—
may these waters fall torrentially upon the earth.
May they wash away the faults of all people
and make the oceans and seas overflow their banks.
May Goddess Ganga,
the sacred river that wends through the city of gods,
bestow her blessings upon us all.
Adi Shankaracharya,
revered sage of eighth-century India
Il mondo nasce per ognun che nasce al mondo.
E in ciò è il mistero della tua essenza e della tua funzione.
Tu sei antichissimo, o fanciullo!
E vecchissimo è il mondo che tu vedi nuovamente!
The world is born for each one who is born in the world.
And in this is the mystery of your essence and your purpose.
You are ancient, O child!
And old is the world you newly see!
Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912),
Italian classical scholar and poet
Pūʻolo waimaka a ke aloha.
Tears are bundles of love.
Hawaiian saying
柳は緑 花は紅
Willows are green, flowers are crimson.
Japanese proverb
Everything has become new for me,
since Siddhanath changed my life.
My mind is new,
the moon is new,
the sun is new.
The whole world
appears fresh and new
as if rinsed with water.
Since I washed my mind and body
with the soap of So’ham,
I have become like new.
I am transformed.
Now Lalli has become
the great Shakti,
which leaps with bliss.
Lalleshwari,
fourteenth-century poet-saint of Kashmir
English rendering by Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
Passava os dias ali, quieto, no meio das coisas miúdas. E me encantei.
My days were spent there, in quietude, amid small things. And I became delighted.
Manoel de Barros (1916-2014), Brazilian poet
There is boundless love within.
It is supremely true.
We inhale and exhale because of its pulsation.
The prana circulates throughout the body due to the throb of love.
It is love which has given the eyes the ability to perceive forms.
This independent love is eternal bliss.
It is the abode of the Siddhas.
Baba Muktananda
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941),
Bengali poet of India
雨ニモマケズ
風ニモマケズ
欲ハナク
決シテ怒ラズ
イツモシズカニワラッテイル
Unbeaten by rain
Unbowed by wind
Free from greed
Devoid of anger
Always smiling serenely
Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933),
Japanese novelist and poet
May you experience the world as it is—ensconced in God’s heart.
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
千里之行始於足下。
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher and writer, sixth-century BCE
Den Weg des Herzens gehen.
Walk the way of the heart.
German proverb
बहुत पहले से उन क़दमों की आहट जान लेते हैं
तुझे ए ज़िन्दगी हम दूर से पहचान लेते हैं
Long before, I came to know the sound of those footsteps.
I recognize you, O life, from a distance.
Firaq Gorakhpuri (1896-1982),
Urdu poet of India
Walk straight ahead
and soon you will merge
into supreme Shiva.
Lalli followed this path
and found him.
Lalleshwari,
fourteenth-century poet-saint of Kashmir
English rendering by Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
यथोर्णनाभिः सृजते गृह्णते च यथा पृथिव्यामोषधयः संभवन्ति।
यथा सतः पुरुषात्केशलोमानि तथाक्षरात्संभवतीह विश्वम्॥
Just as a spider unspools a silken thread
and absorbs it back into its own being,
just as the earth sprouts herbs
and so many healing plants and trees,
just as hair grows from the body of a human being,
so this entire creation, this manifest world,
springs forth from the Imperishable One.
Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.7
Rest your mind on the leaf of peace.
Rest your gaze upon the flower of love.
Let them be, and be with them.
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
天高任鳥飛
The sky is high so the birds can fly freely.
Yuan Lan, Buddhist monk
of eighth-century China
आधी बीज एकलें ।
बीज अंकुरलें रोप वाढलें ॥धृ॥
एका बीजापोटीं, तरु कोटी
कोटी जन्म घेती सुमने-फळें॥१॥
व्यापुनि जगता, तू हि अनंता
बहुविध रूपे घेसी, घेसी
परि अंती ब्रह्म एकलें ॥२॥
In the beginning there was just one seed.
This seed sprouted, and from it, a sapling grew.
From the womb of one seed emerged innumerable trees.
And from these trees came countless flowers and fruits.
O boundless One,
O you who pervade the entire world,
You have assumed many and various forms.
Yet ultimately, you, O Lord, are one.
Shantaram Athavale (1910-1981),
Marathi poet-lyricist and filmmaker of India
गगनीं मी पंडुसुता। चंद्राचेनि मिसें अमृता।
भरला जालों चालता। सरोवरु॥
तेथूनि फांकती रश्मिकर। ते पाट पेलुनि अपार।
सर्वौषधींचे आगर। भरितु असें मी॥
ऐसेनि सस्यादिकां सकळां। करीं धान्यजाती सुकाळा।
दें अन्नद्वारा जिव्हाळा। भूतजातां॥
O Arjuna,
I am the moon, a moving lake of nectar in the sky.
With moonbeams pouring down in limitless streams,
I nourish all vegetation.
In this way, crops of all kinds are produced
that give food to every living creature.
Jnaneshvar Maharaj, thirteenth-century poet-saint of Maharashtra, India
Ruhe (German) “peace, calm, rest, stillness”
हळुवार (Marathi) “gentle, soft, tender, caring”
Миру — мир (Russian) “peace to the world”
અમન (Gujarati) “peace, harmony”
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda