Emerging from my inbox was an email with the subject line, “Nature Celebrates.”
Many messages unfolded from this one message regarding the celebration of the “mahasamadhi” (which means “great union” in sanskrit) of a spiritual teacher affectionately known as Baba. It was twenty-seven years ago, on the full moon of an October evening, that this great yogi performed the deathless act of dying. He simply merged into consciousness, becoming all things and nothing at once. His presence is now felt in every October moon and in every corner of the Siddha Yoga centers and ashrams located worldwide.
Baba’s essential teachings in Siddha Yoga were the following:
Meditate on your own Self.
Worship your Self.
Respect your Self.
God dwells within you as you.
The simple act of opening this email unlocked my heart today.
I clicked on the following link to view photos of nature taken to honor Baba’s great ascent: “nature celebrates”
Scenes of sunrise, sunset, dawn and Baba’s moon on October 3rd at both of his ashrams stirred immediate contemplation. I remembered my brief stint at Shree Muktananda Ashram in South Fallsburg, New York.
It was late one night in the dormitory that moonlight crept from an open window to the bottom bunk bed. Eyes closed and mind restless, I chanted the mantra, “om namah shivaya.” New to Siddha Yoga, it was all that I knew. Sleep snuck in between repeating breaths and syllables. It was then that I first experienced the warmth of a spiritual teacher. Gurumayi, dressed in white robes, sat on the top bunk bed and swung her head down between her feet. I cannot recall her words but her presence was a feeling of immense calmness and warmth… like sitting by fireside in the chill of an autumn night.
The next morning, I shared my dream with Carl who informed me that she never wore white. After a morning of meditation, I walked back to the dormitory. A photo graced the entrance of the doorway. It was Gurumayi in white robes. I smiled and continued to chant the mantra silently as I stepped inside.
That evening, I met a young woman who guided me to a meditation hall for chanting and sitting meditation.
“Does the Guru ever join us?” I asked.
“Yes but rarely does she attend evening arati.” She replied.
Shortly after grounding my sitting bones on a meditation cushion, we began chanting, “Om namo bhagavate Muktanandaya.” I sat singing and surrendering to the strange sound; completely enchanted by the sacred syllables. I listened to how my voice merged into the collective voice formed by the chanting of others. It was then that I heard the hollow voice of Gurumayi.
I looked and saw her in lotus position leading the entire hall in chanting Baba’s name. Her guidance graceful and presence powerful. It wasn’t long before I found myself weeping. For what, remains a mystery to this moment. I felt formless and warm. It was an intensity never felt before … take the tingles from falling in love and multiply it by infinity, subtracting the physical attraction. It was intense and infinite.
I felt the same way today when I clicked on the “slideshow” link on the webpage featuring the nature photos. The sound of Gurumayi leading the same chant echoed from my computer speakers as photos of Baba faded in and out. I re-experienced the sweetness of chanting as a spiritual practice.
In her book, “My Lord Loves a Pure Heart, The Yoga of Divine Virtues,” Gurumayi says that, “chanting is a great feast. Chanting is nectar. Baba Muktananda used to say, when you meditate for a long time all the rasa, the juiciness, may burn up in the fire of yoga. To replenish yourself, to regenerate the cells, you need the flavor, the nectar, the sweetness, that is released in the body by chanting.”
I walked tonight humming Baba’s hymn and heard the vibrations during my sitting meditation. Music as a form of practice invokes creativity and collaboration within oneself. I found myself breathing in “om namah shivaya” and breathing out “om namo bhagavate muktanandaya.” The rhythm freely merged into other mantras I have learned to sing: “namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassa.” My heart mixed the sacred songs from Baba and buddhism. I breathed both truths. Singing silently within myself added much needed sweetness to the seriousness that I have lately found in the tone of my recent practice.
Gurumayi also said of spiritual practice that “sadhana is the process that takes place within you. When you chant, if your heart is completely open, waves of nectar wash over you. Even if your heart is not completely open, somehow the nectar deep inside you seeps through anyway.”
I am grateful for the many teachers in my life. Their presence and teachings are powerful pathways for entering and re-entering my own heart. In contemplating this, I see deeply now that everything and everyone preaches the dharma: the moon and sun, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, bosses and bullies, trees and flowers, spouses too. Everything is both Buddha and Baba. With great respect and great love, I welcome you all with all my heart.
