The Disciples and the Fruit

This morning my  seven-year-old son was participating in his classroom remotely; the students were discussing whether they are all different or all the same. My son spoke up and said that they are neither; he said, “We are all one.” As I paused in my work to listen to this exchange, I heard my son repeating with conviction “We are all one.” When he said that, I felt Gurumayi's presence in my heart.
 
Later in the day, we came to the computer together. When I clicked on the Siddha Yoga path website to open it, we found this story on the homepage. I started reading the story to him and found the timing of this story and his comment today so synchronistic. We are all one, God is in everything!
 

This story shows me that the Guru's prasad, the Guru’s state, and the ripening of true understanding in the disciple all come from following the Guru's command. And that true aloneness is being with God everywhere at all times in all people. I'm grateful for this precious understanding.
 

For twenty-two years I have been on this amazing path, where I am rewarded with Gurumayi’s priceless teachings. They are golden nuggets which have taught me to see God everywhere—like in this story.  I am the disciple and the teachings are the fruits that the Guru bestows on me. I always feel God’s presence in the whole universe, and see his creation as a reflection of him. I also feel Gurumayi’s presence very strongly in my heart, where distances are nonexistent.
 

This story reminded me that I have been given commands by Gurumayi that I feel I did not follow directly. After contemplating this story in regard to one of those commands which was accompanied by prasad, I had to realize that the Guru's prasad comes with layers of meaning. In my case, I had limited knowledge at the outset, and so took her command at face value.  
 
Now, however, as I contemplate the role of this command in my life over the last 25 years, I realize how it has made my understanding expand, enabling me to apply it to people and things that I never before considered part of God. I don't know where the prasad will end, but now I see how it keeps expanding—as long as I continue to contemplate it. 
 

This story reminds me of an experience I had at my very first Siddha Yoga retreat with Gurumayi, in 1995 in Palm Springs, California. I was sitting outdoors by myself, resting, and then I heard someone approaching, and calling out to someone else, "Come on, there is no one here!" I recognized the voice and immediately I was puzzled: how could he say and believe that there was no one else around, in light of the Guru’s teachings?
 
That experience was fundamental in my sadhana and it keeps reminding me of two things: the truth that I'm truly never alone, and the need to keep my awareness open so that I notice how I perceive any situation, and how I label it. This is a deep and ever-challenging practice, but ever so vital in my sadhana and my life.
 
Today is the twenty-sixth anniversary of my receiving shaktipat diksha, spiritual awakening. I'm eternally grateful to have received this gift and to have been awakened to this deeper awareness and ongoing seeking of the Truth.