June 1, 2025

Dear reader,

Happy Birthday Bliss Month!

Everywhere I look in Shree Muktananda Ashram, it seems like each new flower and branch and cloud above is glowing. My eyes are feasting on the unique loveliness of what nature has to reveal. My heart is glad to feel the subtlety of nature’s breath.

Just a few days ago, on Monday, May 26—as Baba Muktananda’s birthday month was culminating and Gurumayi’s birthday month was about to commence—a dazzling rainbow arched over the Ashram grounds. It was so vibrant in color, so deeply pigmented, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d gone back a few hours later and found its imprint still on the sky. As it was, the rainbow lasted a full forty-five minutes, and its echo—what I’ll call its “shadow rainbow”—was visible too. I was watching the rainbow with one of my friends, and she shared with me that Gurumayi had once told her, “Don’t waste your time waiting for the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You must ride the rainbow—and enjoy each of its colors.”

So, we’re in a blissful month of celebration (and my very favorite one at that). And we’ve just come from a glorious month of celebration. Nature is affirming as much, the two ends of the rainbow figuratively spanning time as much as they literally span space. It’s good to remember, therefore, what our Guru has taught us about celebration on the Siddha Yoga path.

Gurumayi has often spoken about how, on the Siddha Yoga path, we seize any opportunity we have—whether that’s on a regular old day or a special one (like during Birthday Bliss)—to create an atmosphere of sacredness. To recognize and immerse ourselves in the auspiciousness that’s always pulsing in the air. Gurumayi teaches that every day gives us cause for celebration. Every day belongs to God. And so, when we refocus our attention on God, when we honor the Guru, when we recommit to our Siddha Yoga practices, we make the time before us an auspicious time. Any time becomes the perfect time to reset the heart.

It is with this wisdom in mind that we have been embracing Gurumayi’s Message for 2025: Make your time worth your time.

Now, let’s consider what it means to reset the heart.

Would you like to hear how I understand it?

I’ll put it like this. Yesterday, I had time to chant. Today, I will set aside time to chant. Tomorrow, I will look forward to chanting again. A week from now, I know I’ll be longing to chant. A month from now I will definitely be maintaining an awareness of how beneficial it is to chant. I will be reminding myself, through repeated practice, of the power of chanting.

In this way, there’s always time for chanting. Or, to be more precise, we can always make time for chanting. Similarly, we can make time for meditation. We can center ourselves to receive the Guru’s darshan. We can prepare ourselves to read and reflect on the Guru’s teachings. We can create time to enjoy the silken feel of silence. We can eagerly anticipate when we will be going on a japa walk. We can heed the scriptures and pray at the prescribed times—or whenever we wish. We can understand that any time is a good time to invest in the practice of dakshina. We can devote ourselves to service, acknowledging that, in truth, there’s never enough time to complete our offering of seva. This is our good fortune.

And what about invoking grace? We’ll absolutely want to make time for that. I love anything that has to do with Gurumayi’s grace. It is always present, yet there are those moments when we notice it especially—an ethereal fragrance enveloping us unexpectedly, a glimmer of that diaphanous light gilding our existence. Give me any opportunity to invoke Gurumayi’s grace, and I am here for it.

Also, what about wishing the best for everyone and sending blessings to the world? This world, in all its simplicity and strangeness, in all its seeming perfection and contradiction, is the inescapable context in which we exist. Shouldn’t we do our part? We have within us all we need to create a more harmonious world. Any time we chant, therefore—or any time we meditate or offer seva—we can do so with a generosity of spirit, with the understanding that we are sharing the fruits of our sadhana with everyone and everything around us.

The throughline here—why I’m mentioning all of these activities—is that we can be purposeful with our time. This has been important for me in my own life. My parents began following the Siddha Yoga path around the time I was born, yet it was as I grew up and entered adulthood that I became a seeker in my own right. I was impelled by a need to have purpose, to do something that matters with the time I have been given on this planet. Now, after all these years of following the Siddha Yoga path—of studying Gurumayi’s teachings, and also receiving advice from longtime Siddha Yogis—I feel I have gained so much knowledge about what my purpose is. I finally have the assurance that I am not frittering away my time on this or that; I am directing my time toward something greater.

Something like, for example, the cultivation of gratitude. Because isn’t that what we experience by following the Siddha Yoga path? Isn’t that the purpose of resetting the heart and making each moment a celebration? We do it to bring forth the experience of gratitude—gratitude for all we have, for all we can do, for who we are and who we are surrounded by. I am grateful for so many things in my life, and especially my parents, for showing me the Siddha Yoga path.

I want to stay with the virtue of gratitude for a moment. What’s so intriguing about gratitude is that it can be occasioned by something as miniscule as a droplet of water or as vast and all-encompassing as the ocean. Yet its rasa—its essence—remains the same. It holds equal potency in either scenario. We want for nothing when we experience gratitude, and that applies even when we’re appreciating something very simple, very ordinary, very tiny and ephemeral. Because truly speaking, gratitude leads us to the innermost chambers of the heart. And once we are there, in the heart, gratitude reveals to us the experience of God’s love.

As disciples on the Siddha Yoga path, we receive untold grace and blessings from our Guru. It is impossible to describe the depth and breadth of it all, the plethora of ways in which the Guru’s grace manifests. Still, as a writer, I must emphasize that among the most valuable gifts Gurumayi has given us—among the most indispensable blessings—are her words. Her teachings, written and spoken. In my last letter, I explained that the Guru’s teachings are what endures; they are what ultimately matter. It is through Gurumayi’s teachings that people will experience Gurumayi’s grace for generations to come. Of course, the extent to which they recognize and draw upon this grace will be in proportion to their effort. But with the Guru’s teachings before them—as well as the experiences that we record of these teachings—they will have ample opportunity to learn about the power of the Guru’s grace.

How wonderful is it that from mid-January through May of this year, we received Gurumayi’s teachings from In the Presence of Time! These teachings have been an invaluable support for our practice of Gurumayi’s Message for 2025. Even though we’re now in June, and it’s summertime, party time, fun time, free time, celebration time, let’s remember that our study of the Siddha Yoga teachings doesn’t stop. Right? It’s our way of life. Isn’t that beautiful?

In the month of Birthday Bliss, we will continue to study Gurumayi’s teachings on time and its worth in our lives by engaging with the sadguna vaibhava. The divine virtues.

It was in 2013, two years after the relaunch of the Siddha Yoga path website, that Gurumayi first imparted her teachings in the form of these virtues. They were a birthday gift from our Guru to us, one for each day of the month. Most of us who follow the Siddha Yoga path have been studying and practicing these virtues ever since. The virtues for Birthday Bliss stay the same from year to year, giving us the opportunity to further crystallize our understanding of them. The exception is the virtue for Gurumayi’s birthday on June 24. On this day each year, Gurumayi gives us a new virtue. It’s a birthday surprise—a welcome and wondrous addition to the treasure chest of virtues that we have been learning to cultivate.

Over the years, as I have made time to be with the virtues during Birthday Bliss, I have come to envision them as distinct pathways that lead to and emerge from our hearts. Each day we go on a pilgrimage to the very core of our being, encountering familiar and surprising features of our inner landscape along the way. Sometimes we might find something we don’t like, something that bothers us. That’s okay, and we should take comfort in having this conversation with ourselves—in telling ourselves that it’s okay.

Why do I say this? Because even in such a circumstance, we are learning something about ourselves. And everything we learn about ourselves is useful. I’ll explain this further by way of analogy. We’re on a journey, right? On this journey, we come upon a series of stepping stones in a river. But the stones won’t be laid out in a straight line. We have to figure out which stones are stable and which ones are loose, which stones to step on and which are best to navigate around. As we progress toward our destination, we have to continually maintain our footing. It requires a lot of patience. Luckily, we have the virtue as our travel buddy. We’re in good company.

So, empowered as we are by the virtues, we draw closer to the inner sanctum of our heart. (As a brief aside, I want to ask: do you ever place your hand on your chest and acknowledge for yourself that you have a good heart?)

When we finally reach the hallowed space of the heart, we bask for a time in the abundance we find there. Then—we keep on going. You see, the path continues, a direct line from our hearts to the world outside. And this is important because it’s how our authenticity, our honesty about who we are, can shine forth. All too often there’s a disconnect between the inherent goodness in people’s hearts and whatever it is they are projecting outside. But when we cultivate the virtues, the inside and the outside come into alignment. A metaphorical rainbow forms, brought into being by a fortuitous synchrony of conditions—the moisture in the air meeting the rays of the sun, the viewer being positioned at just the right angle. The sky bursts into color, and we behold its magnificence.

I have heard Gurumayi say in satsang that when she meditates, she makes the conscious intention to visit the shrine of her heart. She has encouraged all of us to do the same. “It is essential,” Gurumayi says, “that you visit the shrine of your heart every day.”

When you do this in meditation, you are turning your attention away from all those other things that jostle for it. You are keeping at bay—and fortifying yourself to manage—the vacillations of the mind, the fickleness of human behavior, and whatever news you may have heard of the atrocities taking place in the world.

It’s about giving yourself that moment—that moment of creating sanctity, as when you light a flame.

Your attention is one-pointed on the flame. You are not distracted, therefore, by your usual concerns about what’s happening around you. In this moment, as the light in your heart grows stronger, everything else falls away. Your ears hear no sound save for the rhythm of your own breath. Every molecule in the atmosphere is utterly still and peaceful. It’s just you, the quiet, and the flame. It is a grace-filled moment.

Grace will follow when we take the support of Gurumayi’s teaching and visit the shrine of the heart. When we do so, we realize that we are not lonely or bereft. We can find solace within ourselves, and enormous fortitude. We can perceive our own goodness. In fact, as I write this, I’m becoming inspired. I want to pause; I want to take a moment to cherish the goodness that permeates my own heart and the hearts of so many living beings on this planet.

I am reminded of a famous line from a poem by Emily Dickinson: “Forever – is composed of Nows.”ⁱ What is eternity if not the accumulation of each new present moment? Every fleeting second—every blink-and-you-miss-it millisecond—adds up to something expansive. It is similar with our practice of the virtues. Embodying a given virtue is not a matter of taking one grand, sweeping action. Rather, it’s an aggregate of all those visits to and from the shrine of the heart. It is a composite of our everyday acts of service or benevolence—the help extended, the kind word given. If forever is composed of nows, then the virtues are made up of all our seemingly “small” good deeds, strung together.

I want to share with you an observation that I’ve made. This is that when we consistently recognize our own virtues, and when we acknowledge the virtues we see in others, a shift takes place in the atmosphere. The benefits of our effort transcend us; they go beyond our real and perceived smallness, and they enrich everything around us.

A few weeks ago, Gurumayi gave a teaching related to this, and I completely resonated with it. It was Mother’s Day, and Gurumayi was giving satsang in the Bhagavan Nityananda Temple in Shree Muktananda Ashram. We were chanting the namasankirtana Niranjani Annapurneshvari, and as the music and the words swirled around us, I heard Gurumayi say:

“Raise the vibrations in the universe.”

As soon as I heard these words, they lodged themselves in my mind; they cocooned themselves in my heart. I wanted to learn more about this teaching from Gurumayi. I wanted to linger with its vibrations. So after the satsang, I talked about the teaching with a seva colleague of mine, and she shared some very illuminating context.

Gurumayi had recently spoken to her about how there is too much fear being generated in the world. This fear is taking many guises—like anxiety, greed, cynicism, and negative thinking. Gurumayi explained that it isn’t as though these unpleasant traits and tendencies didn’t exist before, but they do seem to be gaining steam right now. Collectively, these unfortunate habits are swallowing up too much of people’s time, sapping their energy, draining their spirit. For this reason, Gurumayi is teaching us that we must be even more committed to doing what we do best on the Siddha Yoga path. We must allow goodness to grow. Let that gain steam. Let that spread in the world.

I continued to be enthralled by Gurumayi’s teaching about raising the vibrations, so I asked a couple of other seva colleagues, whose native language is Hindi, how they might translate it. I thought I might get a new perspective on the teaching by hearing it in another language.

Here is the phrase they shared with me. I’ve come to love it:

संसार को सकारात्मक स्पन्दनों से भर दो
sansār ko sakārātmak spandanon se bhar do

If we were to translate this Hindi phrase back into English, it would literally read: “Suffuse the world with positive vibrations.” As you can see, my colleagues used the Hindi word for “suffuse” instead of “raise.” They also had to specify that the vibrations are “positive,” in order to make clear that this is a good and elevated energy we are wanting to foster.

That’s the beauty of translating the teachings into different languages. In the process of making a teaching comprehensible to people around the world—and ensuring that its intent is accurately conveyed—what is implicit in one language must often be stated more explicitly in another language. In this way, the many dimensions of the teaching, its nuances and richness of meaning, become all the more evident. And I have to say that ever since I heard Gurumayi’s teaching in Hindi about raising the vibrations, I have literally seen the world around me scintillating with Consciousness. Of course, I can’t say that I’ve been seeing this 24/7, but I’ll take whatever glimpses I can get!

As I mentioned earlier, during the Mother’s Day satsang, we put Gurumayi’s teaching into practice by chanting. It was an incredibly powerful experience. There we were—Siddha Yogis of so many ages, backgrounds, and nationalities—united in our love for our Guru, who has awakened the Kundalini Shakti within us. We chanted together with Gurumayi, in praise of the Devi, in homage to the shakti, with the intention of raising the vibrations in the universe. I felt that my whole being was shimmering—that it was pulsating with light, with the billowing energy of the chant, with the humbling realization that Gurumayi has empowered me, and all of us, to raise the vibrations in the universe.

This is something I will continue to work with—how to carry out Gurumayi’s mandate, how to be the conduit of her blessings in this way. It’s definitely a sizable task that we have before us—but as we know, when Gurumayi tells us to do something, she also imparts the grace to do it. And so, I consider fulfilling this mandate to be part of my Siddha Yoga sadhana. Perhaps you will too!

As anyone who is interested in putting good energy out into the atmosphere will know, there are myriad ways we can raise the vibrations within ourselves and, in turn, throughout the universe. In June, our focus is our Sadguru, and Gurumayi has given us a focus—the sadguna! Studying, practicing, assimilating, and implementing the virtues are all excellent means of elevating the frequency of the atmosphere.

As we set out to do this, I want to first say that we must not feel daunted. One simple practice that I like to do is to remind myself that I’m a good person. Similarly, I want to remind you that you are a good person—and I also want to encourage you to remind someone else that they are a good person. This is the place we are starting from—the understanding that we are innately good—so it’s only a matter of going up from here. (If you’d like to learn more about why I’ve come to do this practice, you can read about Gurumayi’s teachings on the word good on the Siddha Yoga path website.)

I’ll speak a bit more now about how we might approach the virtues.

Many of you may have already established a daily practice of the virtues, especially in June. That being said, what I’d invite you to do this year is to come up with a novel way of practicing the virtues. Something you haven’t done before. Something that’s exciting for you. And then, once you have settled into your “updated” practice, pay attention to how it yields fruit for you, in ways big and small.

Have you noticed that even your supposedly “small” or incremental efforts can have a lasting effect?

For those of you who are new to the Siddha Yoga path and embarking for the first time on your practice of the sadguna, let me just say: the sky’s the limit! You can start pretty much anywhere. Maybe you will look up the day’s virtue in the dictionary; maybe you will journal about your understanding of it. Maybe you will bring this virtue into your meditation; maybe you’ll ask others what the virtue means to them.

Whatever you choose to do, make note of how you feel at the end of the day. Now, you might think that nothing has happened. Does that sound familiar? Do you believe that you are one of those people for whom nothing happens? What if I told you that if you really concentrate—if you carefully observe the state of your mind and body—you might just find something…else…glimmering at the edges of your thoughts?

This year, we have the privilege of receiving the virtues in the midst of our ongoing study of time and Gurumayi’s Message for 2025. This adds an intriguing new element to our engagement with the virtues; we might start to make all sorts of fascinating connections and associations. Consider the virtue of worthiness, which comes toward the end of June. It is evocative of the word worth in Gurumayi’s Message—and there’s a thematic link too.

If we don’t feel good about ourselves, if we are not assured of our own worthiness, then it will be challenging to value our time. For example, if our self-esteem depends on the opinions of others, then it’s only too easy to give over our time to their whims, preferences, and inclinations. Or if we are living in a state of lack, then we may spend our time looking outside ourselves for what we think we are missing. It’s something I’m sure we’ve all experienced. The thing is, if we continue to live like this—without ever questioning our assumptions—nothing will ever be enough. Nothing will satiate us. Our complaints will sprout wings; there will always be something more, newer, shinier that we think we require in order to achieve that elusive sense of contentment. It’s ironic, isn’t it? In the pursuit of greater self-worth, we compromise who we are, and we barter away the most valuable resource we have: our time.

Our time is the best gift that we can give to ourselves and to others. How will we raise the vibrations in the universe if we’ve used up our time on things that don’t warrant it?

I alluded to this earlier in the letter—how we have been given time on this earth, in this human body, to do something meaningful. Actualizing this purpose is easier said than done. We know that life is difficult. We know it is unpredictable. We understand that we must contend with any number of pressures, stressors, and external influences. At the same time, I want to point out what is strikingly obvious. We have a living Guru! Our Guru is always showing us the way forward. We can, at any time, take the support of Gurumayi’s teachings. We can implement them in our lives; we can do this again and again.

At the start of our beloved Guru’s birthday month, I want to share with you my intention to make the most of each precious day in June.

How will I do this? Well, one action I plan to take—starting today—is to hold up a dandelion. I’ll borrow one from Mother Earth for as long as they’re growing here in Shree Muktananda Ashram, and later I’ll imagine one in my mind’s eye. I’ll give my imaginary dandelion the full treatment: I’ll make it larger than life, replete with enough seeds for all the wishes I’ll be making. I’ll paint it many colors, iridescent like a rainbow, and every time I bring this dandelion to mind, a different-colored brushstroke, a different-colored seed will catch the light.

And each day in the month of June, I will make this wish:

Om Shānti Om.

May we extend respect to one another.
May we all come forward with a helping hand.
May we sing in harmony, our music uniting our disparate voices.
May we learn from the starry sky, which casts its light on everyone equally.
May we know that it is our dharma, our duty, to partake of the ambrosia of peace.

Tathāstu. May it be so.

Sincerely,

Eesha Sardesai