Gratitude—A Path to Beatitude

As I continued to study this stunning, beautiful, and rich poem, I recognized it holds so much more than I experienced reading and hearing it for the first time, when I welcomed it as healing balm for a personal situation.
 
I now can see that this poem is brimming with good wishes, with redeeming power, with liberating advice. It could serve me as a lifelong guideline, as a lifeline, as medicine, as a “jumper cable” for making a new start into a new world and as a means for maintaining that new start.
 
Of course, for me to hear and read this most encouraging text is one thing; to assimilate it and to implement it present a high challenge—but one with the sweetest outcome if all goes well. This is my hope, my wish, my intention, my resolution.
 

As I was reading Gurumayi’s sublime poem over and over again, I found myself entering the path of beatitude. Her loving words brought me into deep meditation, where it felt like my “restored” heart was being gently wrapped in a meditation shawl woven with sacred threads and permeated with the exquisite fragrance of Gurumayi’s profound and unshakable devotion to each one of us.
 
What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day I had in Gurumayi’s loving presence. How loved we are! How blessed I am!
 

As I took my walk on Thanksgiving morning, a dried leaf blew along beside me, tapping on the pavement several times as though it wanted to get my attention. It was as if this leaf had joined me on my walk to keep me company for a short time. 
 
After returning home, I read Gurumayi’s Thanksgiving Day poem on the Siddha Yoga path website. When I discovered her description of a leaf like the one I’d seen on my walk, I thought, “This is the part of the poem I should especially contemplate.”
 
The leaf blew along so freely with no expectations, with no attachments to “where it will land or what its ultimate destiny will be.” Yet it blew along with such resilience. I thought of verse 99 in Shri Guru Gita: “One should purify one’s mind by following the path shown by the Guru. Whatever transient things are ascribed to the Self should be discarded.”
 
I need to remember this teaching. Instead of becoming something, I need to just purely be.
 

After reading this poem, I felt elated to the core of my being. This divine prasad from Gurumayi has brought me sweet remembrance of my blessings.
 
To begin with, Gurumayi taught me the art of gratitude. I am thankful for being able to breathe freely, knowing that my Guru is always present in my heart. I appreciate having the understanding that I am always connected to my Guru through daily sadhana. In byzantine situations, I perceive Shri Guru's hand over me as a symbol of her protection and presence, and I am grateful for it.
 
On a daily basis, I offer heartfelt gratitude to Gurumayi for the priceless gift of shaktipat diksha, which has changed my destiny. This simple yet profound practice affords me wisdom and tremendous contentment when making important decisions at work or in general. And Gurumayi's teachings inspire me to value and adore nature as an integral part of my life.
 

Gurumayi's magnificent words of divine inspiration could not be more timely for me personally. It is as if she has lifted the curtain that hid the sunlight from me. I had forgotten the teachings about gratitude completely, and to have them represented to me by Gurumayi in words of such power and authority is the greatest grace.
 
I am always so amazed at how Gurumayi composes poetry and presents her teachings in such an original manner, with such beautiful words and images. There is nothing like this anywhere else. I thank God every day for my Guru.
 

I was deeply touched by the power, beauty, and eloquence of this poem. Each word imprinted deeper gratitude in my heart; I still feel the words echoing in my being. Gurumayi's love for us is so palpable, it brought me to tears, as did the beauty of her words. 
 
I am so grateful to Gurumayi for this reminder to be our most authentic selves and to live through the heart with kindness and gratitude.
 

I found such truth and brilliance in this poem! As I read this, I wish everyone on the planet could read this as well.
 
I suddenly am deeply aware of the profound privilege it is to be here reading this poem again now, and for my own heart to experience recognition in these words because of the effect of Gurumayi's divine guidance and love. My gratitude for these gifts knows no bounds and cannot be forgotten or obscured by the small, ephemeral problems of life. Reading this poem made me shed joyful tears as my love and gratitude simply overflowed.
 

Reading Gurumayi's words on this special day today was a blessing and a gift. My heart is brimming with gratitude, love, and deep surrender to my Guru, Gurumayi. It was almost as if the Guru had encompassed my past, present, and future within these words and phrases, as she carefully reminded, reiterated, cajoled, guided, and taught me about life's truths.
 
The gems of wisdom and the nuggets of deep understanding shared by Gurumayi in this poem make me refresh my resolve to see the goodness in every situation of my life, and to feel gratitude for it.
 

When I read Gurumayi’s words, “my trusted good souls,” I actually felt like one—like a “trusted good soul.” The next breath I took felt different— freer. In that same moment, I realized how much I have allowed negative internal messages to impact my life. To that tape-loop of negativity, I now say, “You have had your way long enough. You are now permanently dethroned by my Guru’s love.” 
 

This poem affected me strongly, bringing tears to my eyes again and again during this blessed day. For months I have been feeling this “thick, almost impermeable membrane” of guilt for having harmed Mother Earth deeply and irreversibly, and I felt this was “irredeemable.” I pray to find a way out, to be careful that this would never happen again, to stay on the right path.
 
When Gurumayi assures me that “your prayers have been heard unequivocally / and your heart has been restored to its original state of being,” I embrace the grace in these words, which is so huge that my system literally is too small to comprehend it. Yet my heart knows the immense power of the Guru's words, and that they refer to “lifetimes of false being and behaving.” I feel that I would need to inflate my grateful heart to be as big as the universe to hold such grace!
 

This poem evokes in me inner contentment and immense gratitude to my beloved Guru for her guidance, full of love and truth. It inspires me to offer my gratitude for this amazing path. Following it, day after day, step by step, I have the opportunity day and night to experience more love, more compassion, more gentleness. Every day I can renew my wish to serve this world and all humanity so that we may all walk together to the light that is the final destination.
 

As I read these words at the end of Gurumayi’s poem, “my trusted good souls,” my heart offered a full pranam of gratitude, as I sank into the pool of bliss that gratitude evokes.
 

How deeply golden is this poem on this golden, resplendent Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving—a holiday and an experience that everyone in this world can celebrate fully and with delight. I was feeling quite content and peaceful to begin with after chanting and meditating. But after listening to this poem, I could feel my heart unfolding like the rose in the vase on my puja.

This feast of layer upon layer of beautiful sounds carrying these sacred words from my beloved Guru arrived in my heart like pure, crystalline raindrops, seeping down until I could feel that my peacefulness and contentment were becoming deeper and even more golden.

I am having this most delicious vision that so many Siddha Yogis and their families will listen to this feast of delight, and it will drop nectar into every household and every heart.

I read Gurumayi's poem, savoring each line. I could not help but smile ear to ear as I drank in her blessings on this Thanksgiving Day. 

Having some training in design, I noticed with delight that the font used in the main title is one of my personal favorites. It is called Maghfiera, and not only is it a stately script, it captured my imagination because this word is derived from the Arabic word maghfira, which means “forgiveness.” 

In the poem, Gurumayi writes, “Praise the Lord for giving you a heart that is capable of forgiving...” and this really resonated with me. In my life forgiveness has cleared away so much emotional debris! It invariably gives me new eyes, allowing me to see the things before me with greater appreciation, celebration, and indeed gratitude.

What resonated with me as I read Gurumayi's blessings is how she refers to the fleetingness of gratitude. How often have I felt so completely full with thanks for everything and everyone in my life—and then, in the next moment, been irritated with someone's demeanor or action that doesn't match my expectations.

In the same vein, I loved Gurumayi's acknowledgment that we are human and we live day to day with the ebb and flow of our challenges and humanness, which, of course, affects our attitudes. I also completely related to the leaf that “knows not” where it's going. But I know that as I navigate my life, I can offer my heart and my love to others and make this world—my world—a better place.

Reading this beautiful poem, I am washed clean, baptized by my own tears as a flood of gratitude is released from my heart. I am so grateful to Shri Gurumayi for her abundant blessings, reassurance, and guidance.

What a blessed moment it was as I was reading Gurumayi's words. Each word was enhancing my world of thankfulness. I praise the Guru for everything that I have in abundance: it’s a zone of blessings, a zone of love.

I especially appreciated Gurumayi ji’s reminder to “make a practice of regularly remembering your sadhana.” Immediately I recalled the resolution I took at a retreat in Gurudev Siddha Peeth in 2017. My heart filled up with the fresh essence of Gurumayi's poem that I can fulfull this resolution: I can achieve beatitude! Meditation will support me tangibly; it’s tremendously helpful for sustaining my interest in gratitude in many ways.

What a great day; I'm drenched in the experience of beatitude!

I have been having the physical problem of very “dry eyes” recently. This deep poem that sank straight into my heart, and my tears are flowing.

I am so grateful to Gurumayi for bringing me back to the heart. How is it that she knows my deepest wishes? This poem reminds me that my first recollection of true gratitude was at my first Shaktipat Intensive—when I realized Baba was my Guru.

This “trusted good soul” remembers walking away from a program with Gurumayi at the Shakti Mandap in Shree Muktananda Ashram and experiencing a sudden tsunami of gratitude for my parents and all they had done for my siblings and me.

The waves are only getting bigger. This inspired meditation in the shape of a poem is such a wave—of only love.

As I was reading Gurumayi’s words, I saw gratitude emerging from my mind as I recalled the wonders of my life, made up of freedom and beauty and culminating with the experience of beatitude.

The pattern of the text frame led me into the spirit of Thanksgiving and the tradition of Native Americans living in symbiosis with nature.

Thanks to my Guru, and with the support of my sadhana, I strive to see the world through the expansion of my heart and thus to appreciate the modern world as well as nature as forms of the same universal Consciousness.

I had seen the button labeled “Happy Thanksgiving” for several days. Even though it took much patience to wait until the holiday itself to click on it, I am so thankful that I did.

What a profoundly uplifting way to begin a celebration of gratitude is this poem from Gurumayi! I will let these rays of love shine on all the people in my life today—and every day. I am so thankful for this opportunity—and for Gurumayi's guidance!