I have found that humming
AUM clears my mind and refreshes me. My intention is to hum
AUM at different times throughout the day. I am ever grateful to Gurumayi for her guidance.
London, United Kingdom
Today when I was distracted by some worrisome thoughts, I tried humming the primordial sound
AUM. After a few minutes I found myself feeling very good. Paying attention to my breath and repeating the mantra play a significant role in my daily
sadhana. Now I wish to also include humming
AUM to deepen my experience of the Self.
I am grateful to Shri Gurumayi for giving us these teachings on the Siddha Yoga path website. It is my intention to contemplate them in depth and implement them in my
sadhana and daily life to bring benefit to myself and those around me.
Udaipur, India
While sitting in a bustling cafe in New York City, I was feeling pain in my heart from past challenges. So I decided to reread Gurumayi’s teaching and remembered to hum. I started to hum
Om Namah Shivaya. It was so soothing, and I felt a blanket of calm and compassion wrap around my being. I took a deep sigh and felt much better. What a simple and powerful practice!
California, United States
I love to hum! I have hummed a version of
Om Namah Shivaya for many years now. I know from personal experience that humming quiets my mind and relaxes my nervous system. I hum to express joy and contentment. I appreciate that Gurumayi’s teachings so often affirm a practice or understanding that I may have “stumbled into.” Gurumayi’s teachings encourage me to trust my own experience, to remember that grace is always present, and to allow myself to be open to inner prompts as they will lead me to what I most treasure.
Washington, United States
Many years ago I started hearing a spontaneous inner humming sound, and my meditation became naturally focused on listening to this inner resonance. One day during meditation I heard an inner voice inviting me to “follow
AUM to its source.” This is when I realized that this humming sound was nothing less than the reverberation of the mantra
AUM going on naturally inside me.
This morning when I read Gurumayi’s words “Your attention remains on the hum, and you can follow that hum to its source,” I was overwhelmed by the similarity of this to the inner guidance I had spontaneously received so long ago.
This was, for me, an awe-inspiring confirmation of the teaching that the Siddha Yoga Guru is both inside and outside of the student. It is such an amazing blessing for my
sadhana to be personally guided by the presence of the Siddha Yoga Guru who is closer than my own breath!
Laval, Canada
I’ve been humming the mantra
Om Namah Shivaya ever since Gurumayi instructed us to hum it during a live stream earlier this year. I have also been singing and humming
AUM. These practices have changed my life and have catapulted me into a new realm of peace and contentment. I simply cannot remain grouchy while humming. Rather, I become instantly cheerful and connected to the divine—inside and outside. My thoughts fade away, I am more present, and my life—which used to sometimes feel like a burden—feels like a blessing in which I can do
sadhana. I am so grateful to Gurumayi for these practices.
Florida, United States
I am so grateful to Gurumayi for these precious words. In the past, I had noticed that sometimes I would experience that “Eureka moment” that Gurumayi describes. During those times I found that ideas, solutions, and conversations came easily and effortlessly to me. But I could never figure out what caused these moments. This meant that I couldn’t repeat them. I believe that following Gurumayi’s suggestion about humming AUM is exactly the practice I need in order to remember and return to the source of these moments.
New Jersey, United States
Recently, I practiced connecting with the breath, as Gurumayi encourages us to do in this teaching. As I did so, I had two experiences that enabled me to perceive the Truth in the Guru’s words.
First, looking out at the bay, I took a deep breath in. When I released the breath, my gaze was drawn to a pattern of light that formed a large AUM shape on the water. I was delighted to recognize how connecting with the breath had led me to discover this.
Later on, there was a heavy rain. When it stopped, I stepped outside and was surprised to see a brilliant sunbreak shining on the grass. Again, I practiced breathing in deeply, and as I let out the breath, my attention was drawn toward the sight of a small sparrow joyfully splashing in a rain puddle. It was a wonderful moment made yet more profound by following the grace of the breath.
Washington, United States
I so love these teachings from my beloved Guru. I really needed to read this teaching today and was particularly moved to learn more about the practice of humming. While reading this teaching, I started humming
AUM very softly. After a while, I felt myself enter a different, more detached state. Yet Gurumayi’s words remained clear in my awareness. I experienced them as fluid—flowing like a stream through my mind, vibrating to the sound of
AUM. When I finished reading, I knew that the practice of humming
AUM would be a real gem for me. I cherish this teaching and plan to make this practice my own. It is so simple, always at hand, and so effective and profound. It refocuses my attention on my breath. It ennobles my thoughts. And it opens me up to my heart, to the love I feel for my Guru, and to the divinity within me. This is the path that my heart has chosen for me to follow at this moment in my
sadhana.
Quebec, Canada
I so love receiving these teachings from Gurumayi. They bring joy and vitality to my life. The process of carefully reading them feels like going on a pilgrimage where the destination is my own heart. Last night, after seeing this teaching posted on the Siddha Yoga path website, I had a most blessed experience while sleeping. Warm gusts of wind blew through my window all night, which I experienced as a gift of pure grace. The wind felt like God’s breath touching my face. This morning, I read Gurumayi’s teaching and practiced humming in the way she suggests. As a result, I now feel the joy in my heart. And, like a pilgrim, I will offer
bhajans, dance, and other forms of gratitude to extend my blessings.
Warrnambool, Australia
Usually, in my daily meditation practice, I pay attention to my breath along with the mantra. Also, during the course of my days, I am in the habit of sometimes reciting or humming melodies of Siddha Yoga
namasankirtanas.
Recently, when I felt distracted by some worrisome thoughts, I tried humming the primordial sound
AUM in tune with my breath. After a few minutes, I began to feel very good. I have found that paying attention to my breath and repeating the mantra play a significant role in my daily
sadhana. I now intend to include the humming of
AUM, as suggested in this teaching of Gurumayi, in order to more frequently and profoundly experience the bliss of the Self.
I am so thankful to my beloved Shri Gurumayi for these teachings, which are enabling me to discover more about the Truth. As I contemplate and implement them in my
sadhana and daily life, I feel they bring enormous benefits to me and to the world.
Udaipur, India
I read Gurumayi’s words on the humming of
AUM with great attention. Later, after my evening meditation, I lay down on the carpet and attempted to put Gurumayi’s teaching into practice. I hummed
AUM as if it were a prayer containing the essence of all my longing to be one with God. As I did this, I allowed the sound vibration to “fill my cranium,” as Gurumayi advised. I immediately realized that my humming was coming from my heart and that it represented both my call and God’s response at the same time.
There are a thousand ways for me to hum
AUM discreetly and unobtrusively. Doing this will enable me to connect quickly, powerfully, and effectively with my divine essence, at any time, in the midst of my everyday life! I will have fun with practicing this.
Konolfingen, Switzerland
For me, one of the most notable benefits of this set of teachings from Gurumayi is that my relationship to my own sadhana has shifted. I feel these teachings are giving me greater confidence, as well as an increased vocabulary for understanding, describing, and experiencing my own “inner landscape.” Most of all, these teachings have encouraged me to approach my sadhana with a playful spirit of adventure, which I cherish.
After reading “Remembering, Breathing, Enlivening…,” I felt inspired to experiment with humming three different kinds of songs to see their inner effect. One was a tune my mother used to hum as I fell asleep as a child; one was a tune I composed that I like to sing while reflecting on Gurumayi’s Message for 2024, and the third was AUM. As I did this, I experienced states of relaxation and tenderness, rippling bliss and profound meditative stillness, and a cessation of all thought, respectively and in that order. What a revelation! I felt these were the opening notes of a great resounding inner aria that I can now continue to sing (and hum).
California, United States
A few months ago, I was experiencing back discomfort, which made it difficult for me to find a comfortable position for sleeping. On one such night, I was feeling hopeless and fearful, when I suddenly heard Gurumayi’s words from her Message for 2024, “Stand tall in your dignity.” At that moment, I received the inspiration to hum. I began to do so, very faintly at first, but then louder as my breathing deepened. After a while, I felt my fear starting to be dispelled and my confidence beginning to grow. As I hummed, I felt the sound vibration enter all of my chakras and every part of my body, and a great sense of peace came over me. Spontaneously, I entered meditation, where I saw a blue inner light. In this state it was as if I could feel the vibration of the humming moving my vertebrae and loosening my muscles. I was soon able to carefully change the position of my body. After that experience, I hummed every night until I was able to fall asleep easily. My body has since continued the healing process.
California, United States
