In the previous installment of “Meditation on Swami Muktananda’s Words,” I wrote about how the saint in Baba’s story admits to the duress he put his body under and thanks his body for supporting him nonetheless, especially in his sadhana. I also explained that on the Siddha Yoga path, our Gurus teach an approach of moderation, wherein we work with our bodies, rather than against them, to come to know God.
It’s a topic I have been contemplating a lot since the satsang in honor of Easter, and I believe it merits even further elaboration. We can look at the example that Gurumayi has often given us—of nature. Nature is always true to itself; everything it does is in service of its being what it needs to be, going where it needs to go. Take the so-called “homing” or “carrier” pigeon. Its navigational ability—and specifically, its ability to return home—is so precise that, for centuries, these birds were used to carry messages between people, including between military forces. The pigeons have actual internal compasses, thought to be activated by their exposure to the earth’s magnetic fields. And they’re not the only animals to have such capabilities. Certain species of trout, salmon, and sea turtles, for example—as well as several kinds of migratory birds—have similar internal compasses.
As human beings, we function a little differently. If the “home” we are seeking is the Self within, our journey back to it is not so automatic. Generally speaking, the person we become is some combination of biology and the accumulated experiences we’ve had—the things we’ve been taught and the consequent understandings we’ve come to about ourselves and our world. And this amalgam of influences changes us. Science says it alters our brain chemistry. The scriptures of India speak of samskaras, or impressions left on the mind and accrued over lifetimes as a result of past thoughts, actions, and experiences. These impressions do not dissolve on their own. Without our conscious effort, we cannot return to the person who exists beneath them.
This is why we do sadhana. This is why we endeavor to develop self-awareness. I have learned from Gurumayi that sadhana is a continual process of learning, unlearning, and relearning. We must do, undo, and redo. Certain faculties must be sharpened. Certain tendencies must be uprooted. And certain ways of being must be resurrected. Fortunately, on the Siddha Yoga path, we have the Guru’s teachings as our guide. We have the Guru’s grace empowering our efforts. With the invaluable support of the awakened Kundalini Shakti, we can hone our discernment, so that we know what to keep, what to release, and what to restore.
Being in a human body—this exceedingly complex physical and mental apparatus—is work. There’s no getting around this fact. Yet the sophistication of the human body is also what makes it such a gift. It is because we are in a human body that we can recognize all that it is and does—that we can value the body, that we can do as the saint does and express gratitude for the body. We can understand that it is through the body that we transcend the body, that we experience the nature of God.
Gurumayi has told the story of when Baba Muktananda visited the city of Philadelphia in September of 1979, during his Third World Tour. Speaking in a theater at full capacity—to a thousand-plus people, some of them seated outside, some of them on the stage—Baba spoke about the true meaning of the iconic phrase that he, and later Gurumayi, would use at the start of every satsang: “With great respect and love, I welcome you all with all my heart.” Baba explained that, when he said these words, he was speaking not just to the individual forms of the people he saw before him, but to the Blue Dot, the nila-bindu, the light of Consciousness that exists in each person. He was speaking to the divinity in them.
How might you consider calibrating your own internal compass so that it becomes easier for you to find this same divinity in yourself? How will you keep making time to breathe in the spirit of spring, to hear its song on the air and let it guide you home?
I’ve always attached special meaning to the phrase with which Baba and Gurumayi begin Siddha Yoga satsangs. What particularly stood out for me is that they welcome us first with respect and then with love, and that’s what I always try to do when I relate to others. I believe, in my experience, that without respect, there can be no love. When I begin any action with this teaching in my heart, my inner divinity expresses itself as a feeling of serenity, peace, and love.
Naples, Italy
Throughout much of my life, I have held myself to certain standards of behavior. This has often led to my struggling with self-judgment and criticism when I feel I am not meeting those standards.
Recently, when I participated in a Pilgrimage to the Heart Retreat, I had an experience of inner darshan with Gurumayi in which I received her guidance to be more loving, especially to myself.
Through practicing and meditating on this guidance, I have found that I have naturally begun to let go of, to “unlearn,” the stressful expectations that I had imposed on myself for so long. As these continue to fade away, I am able to revel in the natural vibrations of joy in my body and my being. I am well embarked on the process to “relearn” how to just be with myself and enjoy my Self.
California, United States
I have finally found something truly useful to do with my smartphone. Inspired by Eesha’s contemplations on Baba’s words, I have begun setting an hourly timer that “stops me in my tracks,” whatever I am doing.
I am a great worker, but I have a tendency to overdo things. My commitment to honoring this hourly reminder to “calibrate” my state of mind supports me to “breathe in” the fresh fragrance of spring in each present moment. This practice has revolutionized my way of working and is adding to my enjoyment of being alive within this wonderful creation—my human body.
Washington, United States
The “internal compass” of pigeons, which takes them back to their home in a precise way, grabbed my attention in a very positive way.
My “internal compass” is the repetition of the mantra Om Namah Shivaya. It leads me home to the Self in the cave of my heart, every time!
St. Laurent, Canada
This spring, Eesha’s installment “Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn” reminded me of the behavior of the holly tree in my garden. After the blossoming of a myriad of tiny white flowers, I saw that some of the leaves were turning yellow, and soon afterward, small, brilliant leaves began to unfurl at the ends of the branches. I understood that the tree had to separate from some of its leaves and welcome new ones to keep its balance and continue growing.
And so it is with my mind. Over the years, as my life changes, inspiring thoughts arise and useless thoughts disappear. Through my spiritual practices, I implement the first line of Gurumayi’s Message for 2026 and “reset my mind” in an ongoing process of “learning, unlearning, and relearning.”
To stay on the path of sadhana, I use my breath as a “compass.” Thanks to my breathing that I harmonize with the mantra, I rejuvenate my mind with prana-shakti and generate beneficial thoughts. This results in the emergence of new habits more adapted to my current situation and the abandonment of old ones that would be harmful to me. I also try to moderate my activities and look at people with the fresh eye of the heart, without letting any resentment germinate.
Rodez, France
The concept of “home” has a particular intensity for me at this time. There is a strong likelihood I will have to part with the home my family has lived in for seven decades. It is also the place where I have had my private music-teaching practice for forty-five years. This has been home, community, neighborhood, my place of work, where I have tended the garden and cared for my aging mother. I ask myself, “If this will no longer be my home, then where and what will be?”
The only answer that comes is “My heart will be my home and sanctuary from now on.” My quest is to imbibe this fully so that both my internal and external conversations about home become positive and fruitful on all levels.
My response to Eesha’s last question is: by trusting that if I can keep putting one foot in front of the other, the path to home and heart will continue to open in front of me.
West Vancouver, Canada
The title “Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn” and the phrase Eesha uses later in her installment, “do, undo, and redo,” remind me of my work as a mathematics teacher, guiding young students daily as they face challenges and develop problem-solving skills.
The analogy of birds navigating back home touches me deeply. It helps me realize that finding the Self within is a process of repeating “do, undo, and redo” again and again, as I have done for twenty-nine years.
I used to be someone who saw virtues in others, forgave easily, and experienced divinity in others—but not in myself. Now I understand the need to firmly seek the divine within me. After meditation today, I felt a deep compassion for my body. And having changed my lifestyle some time ago to include a better nutrition and exercise plan, I feel renewed energy.
I resolve to continue this inner journey of “learning, unlearning, and relearning” in my Siddha Yoga sadhana, implementing it with awareness and discipline. In this way, I’ll be “calibrating my own inner compass” toward recognizing divinity within myself and making time “to breathe in the spirit of spring.”
Pune, India
As I was reading Eesha’s beautiful “Meditation on Swami Muktananda’s Words,” I was reminded of the Japanese word kaizen,which means “continuous improvement.”
Before meeting Gurumayi and receiving shaktipat-diksha, my inner state was comprised of agitation, anger, and a short temper—like many volcanoes erupting together. After receiving Gurumayi’s grace, guidance, and teachings—together with the self-effort I have applied to my Siddha Yoga practices for forty-two years—my life has turned from a rollercoaster ride to a boat floating smoothly on turbulent waters.
Whatever may be the external situation, my inner state remains calm, filled with equipoise, and blissful. Through chanting, mantra japa, and reading Baba’s and Gurumayi’s books and contemplating their words, I “learn, unlearn, and relearn.” In this way, I “calibrate my own internal compass” toward finding divinity within myself.
For me, feeling Shri Gurumayi’s presence in my heart is experiencing divinity within. I am grateful to be constantly guided by Gurumayi in my worldly life and in my sadhana.
Lucknow, India
I love the contemplative questions in Eesha’s installment. I am learning that I may discover divinity within by trusting that the sacred inner power already knows how to guide me.
Chanting sincerely, breathing consciously, pausing to remember the Guru’s presence, allowing sacred music to soften my heart, and listening inwardly help me “calibrate” my own internal compass so that I may recognize divinity, both within me and all around me.
Sydney, Australia
Some days ago, at the supermarket, I saw a mother valiantly trying to manage two small children and a mountain of groceries. The scene touched me and reminded me of myself years ago as a young mother of four.
Reflecting on Eesha’s words, I realized that I still have this tendency toward “harriedness”—an impulse to try to hold every detail together. I also saw how often I still tend to focus outward—searching, arranging, anticipating—instead of staying “home” within myself and trusting the inner compass that guides me back to my true Self.
Sometimes returning “home” begins very simply: touching my moonstone wrist mala; breathing in and out, So’ham; and remembering what is already within.
I am deeply grateful to the Siddha Yoga path for giving me the opportunity of “learning, unlearning, and relearning”—and of returning to my true Self, again and again.
Bariloche, Argentina
In reading Eesha’s latest installment, I focused on Gurumayi’s story about what Baba said he meant in his greeting, “With great respect and love, I welcome you all with all my heart.” Baba said he was welcoming the nila-bindu that exists within each person. I imagined that Baba was seeing a field of blue dots (nila-bindu). This picture is now firm in my mind’s eye and will certainly recalibrate me whenever I am with or thinking about groups of people or even just one person. How long will I remain angry about something a person has said or done if I see that Blue Dot within them? I learned anger, I can unlearn it, and I can relearn being gracious or compassionate. We all have the precious Blue Dot within!
California, United States
Today I sought help from a tree to recalibrate my inner compass.
I breathed in the fresh morning air in the forest and looked upon a beautiful, strong tree with great respect, as if the tree were a human being, with its own personality and its own life. The longer I spent in the company of this tree, the calmer I became. I felt myself shifting from doing and wanting to simply being.
The profound humility and mastery I experienced in that tree touched me deeply. I focused on my heart and let it breathe freely. And then this tree led me to my true “home,” which is pure being. I simply stood there, and in standing and being—in non-wanting—I discovered the simplicity of my being.
Konolfingen, Switzerland
Just as fish swim in water and birds fly home in the air, I feel my “home” is in the Self. I am grateful for the reminder of the nila-bindu in Baba’s vision. I feel he is telling me of my own nature, since he experiences it and knows it from experience. That’s how I know I am That.
Listening to Eesha describe Gurumayi’s teaching about sadhana being “a continual process of learning, unlearning, and relearning,” I am grateful that I can constantly refresh my position, renew my understanding, revisit my Self-discovery, recontemplate all knowledge. I can feel the Guru’s compass pointing inward very deep, very high, in every direction—pointing in and out at the same time. I experience that it’s a perfect time and a perfect place to be in a human form!
Waterville, Canada
Reading Eesha’s words about sadhana being a “process of learning, unlearning, and relearning” struck the right chord in me. I have been learning how to play the refinements for a Siddha Yoga text chant on the harmonium. Eesha’s explanation reinforced this visceral process of “relearning” for me. Seeing through the lens of this wonderful three-step process gives me a better understanding of the music refinements.
