It is wonderful to be communicating with you during this period of new beginnings. And I think it’s always the right time to be connecting with like-minded people.
On January 1, New Year’s Day—a day which has come to hold great significance on the Siddha Yoga path—we were in each other’s company in the Siddha Yoga Universal Hall. We welcomed the new year in the way we like best, in the way we most appreciate on this path. We participated in Sweet Surprise with our Guru, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda.
I know I speak on behalf of all Siddha Yogis when I express my gratitude to Gurumayi for imparting to us her Message for 2025. And this Message, with its rhythmic, sutra-like quality—there is just so much to it, wouldn’t you agree? On the one hand, the central concept of this Message—time—is deeply familiar to us. As soon as we are born, we are forced to contend with time. We enter into a relationship with time, and whether we like it or not, we are in that relationship all our lives. Still, you know—and I know, and we all know—that there continues to be something mysterious, elusive, and downright challenging about time. No matter how old or young we are, we are always wrestling with time, always trying to make sense of time, always trying to understand how we can interact with time most beneficially. We are led to the age-old question: what is time?
On January 2 of this year, Gurumayi was holding satsang with the children, young adults, and parents visiting Shree Muktananda Ashram to offer seva. At one point during this satsang, the parents of an eleven-year-old boy shared that in the last couple of months, their son had begun to take an avid interest in time. Many nights before going to bed, he would ask his parents about time and share his own thoughts and philosophy about time. To support the boy’s budding interest, his father started to watch documentaries with him on the subject of time and eternity.
Clearly, as this young boy intuited, there’s a lot to explore and understand about time. And I feel particularly grateful to Gurumayi for imparting this Message at this time, given the social and cultural landscape we find ourselves in. The world feels precarious. We are seeing that the structures on which we have built our lives, our communities, and our countries are not as sound as we may have once believed. It is hard to feel certain about anything. Our reality is shifting on almost a day-to-day basis.
Yet in the midst of all this, Gurumayi’s Message for 2025 reminds us of our own agency. Gurumayi uses the phrase “your time”—not once, but twice in her Message. Even as we confront the seeming destabilization of what we’ve always known, even as we deal with what feels like a pervasive loss of control, we have full rein over what we choose to do with our time.
Having said this—and having dwelled on what is perhaps the more trying nature of time—I do have some news to share with you that makes my heart absolutely ecstatic. Throughout this year on the Siddha Yoga path website, we will be receiving teachings from Gurumayi about her Message.
Gurumayi has said that you might consider each teaching to be like your own personal mantra, something that is easy to remember and that you can find ways to apply as you go about your day. I feel certain that these teachings will be an immense support for our Siddha Yoga sadhana this year—that they will generate endless possibilities for contemplation, interpretation, and implementation. Many of you, I know, have already been considering how you will put Gurumayi’s Message into practice. As one person shared recently on the Siddha Yoga path website:
“What…stood out for me in hearing Gurumayi’s Message is that I must practice respecting time. I must honor time. I must appreciate time. Time is essential for my life. A great contemplation is now rising in my heart about what, how, and where I need to implement the Message.”
It is a boon upon boon to receive, first, Gurumayi’s Message, and now, these teachings from Gurumayi that will guide us in our exploration of her Message. I feel incredibly blessed—incredibly fortunate. I am deeply moved by how much love Gurumayi has for her disciples and for the new seekers who come to this path.
I also feel that along with this good fortune comes a sense of responsibility. That’s the crux of the Guru-disciple relationship, isn’t it? The Guru gives her teachings, and it’s our responsibility as disciples to follow those teachings by exploring them, understanding them, and endeavoring to apply them in the context of our own lives. It is, after all, when we are in dialogue and communion with the Guru’s teachings that they become real for us, that we experience their transformative power and become that much more able to access our own.
The sixth and seventh paragraphs of Eesha’s letter to us about “In the Presence of Time,” made such a big impression on me that I have read them over and over again, including reading them aloud to my family and friends. These words ground me during this time of “seeming destabilization of what we’ve always known” because they remind me that no matter what we feel is beyond our control, “we have full rein over what we choose to do with our time.”
I realize that I have only a finite amount of time left in my life and I want to focus on enjoying my life, bringing joy to others, and fulfilling the purpose of my life. I am grateful to have everything I need and to have the time, skills, well-being, and abundant grace in order to offer my best to the world around me. These daily teachings from Gurumayi accompany me wherever I go and whatever I do.
California, United States
Ever since I heard Gurumayi’s Message on January 1, I have been holding this Message in my awareness. Each day I have been able to savor it just a bit more. But I have also been patiently waiting for some uninterrupted space to spend with the Message.
Today during my lunch break, I read this introduction with great love. My heart felt like it opened wide and soared with this most auspicious gift from Gurumayi. And the thought arose: “My time is also God’s time. I am always in the same space as the Beloved.”
My heart feels saturated with a sweet peace.
Wisconsin, United States
I have created a journal in which I daily write down the teaching that Gurumayi has offered for that day. In this way, every day I am able to explore a new way to spend time with and reflect on Gurumayi’s Message for 2025. Some days I look up the meaning of certain words and jot them down in my journal. Other days I repeat or sing the words of the teaching to myself. This practice is keeping Gurumayi’s Message in the forefront of my awareness, where it can remain fresh and alive.
Maine, United States
This wonderful, insightful reflection on the gift of Gurumayi’s Message provides rich suggestions of how to absorb and imbibe her teachings. I have found that since receiving Gurumayi’s Message, time has expanded for me in a way that I am no longer constricted by a sense of limitations and lack, but instead fulfilled with a sense of abundance and possibilities. No longer am I becoming aware late in the afternoon that I have already spent so many hours in the day lost in an unconscious routine. Instead I find myself pleasantly surprised that it is still morning and I have already received so much grace and yet have the remaining hours and opportunities in the day to be able to explore and honor the Self joyfully and consciously. Time is truly becoming my friend and my ally in supporting my path.
New Mexico, United States
This beautifully worded introduction to the study and implementation of Gurumayi’s Message for 2025 through her teachings has made me happy and grateful, since I know from deep within that with consistent effort I will learn to respect time from the highest perspective.
Nairobi, Kenya
I appreciate that this essay acknowledges the current moment that the world is living through. And that it also encourages me to go through each day recognizing the beauty and love around me.
Since hearing Gurumayi’s Message for 2025, I now constantly ask myself if what I am doing is the best use of my time. Doing this puts everything in perspective. It gives me clarity and pushes me to act in a more conscious fashion.
I am looking forward to receiving Gurumayi’s guidance on time and to refreshing, renewing, and reestablishing my understanding and experience of time.
Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Last Sunday, I took a long walk in the mountains of my region called the Cevennes. It was cold, and the sun was brilliant. As I walked with my friend, talking and laughing, I often looked upward toward the rays of the sun, which were playing between the branches of the trees. My attention was drawn to the stability of the sunlight. I felt as though this walk were a reflection of my life—moving along the path from birth to death—yet with the imperishable sun reflecting my deep feeling of being eternal. I felt so joyful and grateful.
Juvignac, France
After reading this introduction, something very deep inside my heart melted away, leaving behind a sense of relief and subtle joy. I am always amazed at how Gurumayi sews together many layers in my life with her Message each year. I feel Gurumayi’s efforts supporting me daily to deepen my understanding, to reach my goals, and to complete my sadhana.
Rome, Italy
As I read this wonderful introduction, I am keenly aware of how I am spending my time right now. I am on a pilgrimage to visit many of the sacred sites in India. I have prepared myself for many years to visit this sacred land, and each of my companions is aware of how we are spending our days and evenings and how brightly the sun is shining on our experience. I pray that I remember this time with full appreciation and that I use it well.
I am grateful to Gurumayi for offering us such a profound and exquisite lesson in how to approach our lives and walk this path. May I bring my hands together every morning and every evening in gratitude and remembrance.
