Launch Meditation Session I

I am new to the Siddha Yoga path and feel grateful for this first session with a Siddha Yoga Meditation teacher!
 
Right from the start of meditation I felt bliss and my head felt light. As I continued to meditate, I experienced Bade Baba enter my being and I became one with him. It lasted for only a brief moment, but in that moment I was filled with peacefulness. My meditation culminated in complete inner silence.  
 

Iowa, United States

Right from the start of the first meditation session of 2016, I  connected to that space inside the center of myself. Chanting the mantra felt like such bliss; I could feel its presence throughout my whole body, and that let me go right into meditation. I am looking forward to the coming year of learning different ways to access that space of the madhya.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this great blessing and opportunity to learn how to become established in the madhya.

Iowa, USA

During the Meditation Session, I experienced moments of extreme joy and bliss. I felt the vibration in my body along the line of the chakras, and then this spread out to fill my whole being. I still feel immense calmness, peace, and bliss permeating my being.

Exeter, United Kingdom

As I prepared for the live audio stream, I experienced the sacredness of the Universal Hall in my own home.
 
During the meditation session, I enjoyed the way the meditation teacher introduced the meaning of the word madhya and her instructions on the mantra. To me, her words were filled with clarity and a benevolent sweetness, which helped me to turn my attention toward the madhya.
 
I could feel the mantra vibrating within. Focusing on this sensation, I became fully absorbed in meditation. I experienced the witness state, a state of great stillness and pure Consciousness. After the session, I felt as if I had been washed by the light of love.

Ramonville Saint Agne, France

I found this session to be very powerful. At times I became aware of my mind wandering, and I did my best to continue bringing my awareness back to chanting and meditating. At one point, I noticed I was feeling a little discouraged by my wandering mind, and just then I experienced an inner sense of reassurance and guidance. I  became aware of all the grace present in this session and sensed that by simply making the effort to continue bringing my focus back to chanting and meditating, over time, my efforts—suffused by the Guru’s grace—will have a beneficial effect.
 
By the end of the session, I could already feel the positive effects of my intention; I found myself sitting in a peaceful, contented state. I also saw with clarity the progress I have been making in my sadhana, and I felt new inspiration for those areas where I wish to grow. 

California, USA

As I chanted Om Namah Shivaya in the meditation session this morning, I could feel the vibration of the mantra in the region of my forehead. The vibration then moved down to my heart, and a feeling of great love welled up inside. Later, as I went about the day meeting with clients, I could feel shakti moving through my eyes and flowing in an unbroken stream as I interacted with people. When I arrived home in the early evening, I was still filled with the joy of the morning session. I sat down and chanted Rama Raghava in gratitude for the grace that continues to expand and fill my awareness.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for continuing these meditation sessions into 2016. The grace that flows from these sessions is immeasurable.

New Jersey, USA

Before, when I would focus on the breath during meditation, after some time I would drift away in thoughts. In this session, moving with the sound of the mantra, I glided into depths within me, and I could stay there with the resonating sound. I have never before gone this deep into the power of the mantra.

Moving with the sound worked out well for me. After chanting, the thought of moving with the sound was so strong that I experienced effortless meditation. I did not have to make a conscious effort to focus; with the sound of mantra, I just let go.

Gurudev Siddha Peeth

During the session, a neighbor began loudly working on his sports car.

Instead of being upset with this interruption, I reminded myself that my neighbor and his car were forms of God. Then I relaxed and had faith that this situation was perfect just as it was, and that I would receive the teachings even with the noise.

I am very thankful for this opportunity to receive the Siddha Yoga teachings. Thank you, Gurumayi.

Arkansas, USA

Paying attention to the vibrations of the mantra as we chanted, I became aware of my throat. As the chanting progressed, my breath became deeper and more even, and the sound became smoother.
 
After the meditation session, when I began to speak, I found that my voice had dropped in pitch. I felt more connected to my voice, and the sound was coming directly from the center of my being.
 
I have been working on speaking my truth. This morning, this practice brought me in touch with the very nature of my voice, and its origins: my voice is not separate from the madhya; rather, it flows directly from that center. And when I am aligned with that place, and aware of it, I am in contact with Truth itself.

Massachusetts, USA

Chanting Om Namah Shivaya, I felt the vibrations of the mantra filling the center of my heart and then spilling outward into my arms, all the way into my hands. I thought about my arms and hands—how I use my hands to work and my arms to reach out and embrace the world around me.
 
Then a prayer arose from within me: that this loop of energy from my heart to my hands, activated by the mantra, might be a vehicle for the Guru’s grace in this world.

Vermont, USA

Moving
Moving with the mantra—
The subtle inner breath bathes the heart.
 
Moving
Sweet breath moves into the interstices of my being.
 
Moving
Tender breath enters samskaras
known and unknown to the mind.
 
Moving
Sweet release,
Detritus falls away.
 
Moving toward the madhya
Easefully creating a pathway to the Heart
A pathway I move toward again and again.
 
Moving toward the madhya
 

Michigan, USA

This meditation session really helped me focus on the energetic quality and power of the mantra in the raga in which we chanted it. My experience of that energy strongly reminded me of the visual energy that I see in Gurumayi's Message Artwork.
 
For me, both the visual energy in the Artwork and the sound energy as we chanted the mantra in this meditation session have a scintillating, nourishing, and inspiring quality. And why "inspiring"? Because they help me more deeply appreciate the glorious promise, the magnificent goal, expressed in Gurumayi's Message for 2016!

Illinois, USA