Gurumayi has directed Siddha Yogis and new seekers, since 2016, to dedicate the month of September to the practice of assimilation. Over the years, Gurumayi has given a great emphasis to the practice of assimilation. She has taught that, through assimilation, we are able to hold the shakti within ourselves and experience the fruits of our practices. In light of this, Gurumayi requested that her Message for 2026 be featured on the Siddha Yoga path website, one line at a time, throughout the month of September for the ease of our reflection and to support our immersion in the power of the Message.
When I was speaking to Gurumayi about how I will be sending this “Invitation into the Month of September,” Gurumayi looked at me and said, “Do you want to hear a story?”
I said, “I definitely want to hear a story!” Gurumayi told me the story, and this is what I have retained in my memory:
During his third World Tour, one of the places Baba Muktananda visited to hold satsangs, darshan, and Shaktipat Intensives was Santa Monica, California. Gurumayi was Baba’s translator for this teachings visit. During this time, Baba and the tour staff stayed at an inn that faced the Pacific Ocean.
One early morning, well before dawn, as Gurumayi stepped outside and looked at the western horizon, she became transfixed in awe at what she was seeing. There in the distance was a humongous, golden disk, shining brilliantly and illuminating the water below.
It was unbelievable. Gurumayi had never seen anything like it. She thought, “I have this experience in meditation, so I must be in meditation!” She couldn’t imagine that such a vision could be real in the waking state.
After what seemed like an eternity, Gurumayi finally walked down to the garden where she encountered some other sevites. She asked them to come and see what she had beheld and confirm that it wasn’t arising from her state of euphoria. When Gurumayi noticed everyone’s delight and excitement as they too caught sight of the golden orb on the horizon, she realized that it was—veritably—the moon!
This was Gurumayi’s very first experience of seeing the full moon over the Pacific Ocean. And Gurumayi distinctly remembers someone exclaiming, “Whoa! It looks like the harvest moon!”
Gurumayi also shared that this vision has been etched in her consciousness ever since.
When Gurumayi said that the full moon she saw was like the harvest moon, I had an “Aha!” moment. I realized that the annual practice of assimilation on the Siddha Yoga path takes place during the harvest month of September. So I became eager to look up the significance of the word harvest.
The modern English word harvest derives from its precursor, the Old English word haerfest, meaning “autumn.” To uncover the etymology of certain modern words, historical linguists search for clues about ancient civilizations and their languages. From their research, we learn that the original root of harvest is believed to be kerp, meaning “pluck” or “gather.” Over four millennia, as the languages of the world underwent extensive changes, the sounds of kerp evolved, with the k sound shifting into an h sound, and the p sound into an f sound. By approximately the eleventh century AD, the word haerfest was in use. Over time, the meaning of haerfest—and eventually, harvest—came to encompass not just the time when crops are gathered, but also the crops themselves and the act of gathering those crops.
When I was listening to Gurumayi’s experience of the full moon, I found myself going to a place of ease. I felt I had become immersed in that vision. I had a certain realization about the connection between assimilation and harvesting, and I wanted to check with Gurumayi whether I had understood her correctly. I asked, “Is this story portraying that there are times when a seeker needs to allow the experience to come to them?”
Gurumayi said, “Yes. People get very involved in ‘efforting’ and they miss the experience.”
I responded, “So the experience is always available, and seekers need to allow it to happen?”
Gurumayi said, “Yes. And then, when such an experience does take place, it’s like magic. These celestial bodies of light—they give you a very tangible experience of what magic is.”
Now let’s return to how this month of September is going to play out for all of us. It is certainly the right month for us, as seekers, to reap a bountiful harvest from the efforts we have put forth in our Siddha Yoga sadhana throughout this year. Gurumayi imparted her Message in Sweet Surprise on January 1, and since that satsang we have continued to reflect on her Message and perform the Siddha Yoga practices.
And so, in the month of September, what I understand Gurumayi to be saying is, “Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your sadhana.” By guiding us in this way, Gurumayi is directing us to appreciate all we’ve done so far. Let us take time in this month of September to revisit Gurumayi’s Message for 2026 with the understanding that we are experiencing the fruit of the Message—we are seeing its felicitous beauty, tasting its delightful flavor, inhaling its beguiling fragrance.
This month, as we practice assimilation, let us do something kind to ourselves, let us be gentle with ourselves. How will we do that? I want to share a practice that I have: when my mind gnaws at me with thoughts such as “I could have done this,” “I could have done more of this,” “I should have done that,” “I should have done more of that,” I hear Gurumayi’s voice in my head saying, “Rohini, that’s not necessary. Just let it go.”
What I understand about this month of September is that we are no longer planting the seeds or tilling the land during the practice of assimilation. We are harvesting!
As I was writing this invitation into the month of September on the Siddha Yoga path, a visualization arose for me that I want to share with all of you. When revisiting each line of Gurumayi’s Message for 2026, you can visualize looking at a field that’s abundant with your favorite bounty—be it corn, wheat, rice, tulips, lavender, sunflowers, a superbloom of wildflowers, or an abundant fruit orchard. The sky’s the limit! Allow yourself to experience the expansiveness of that vista. Enjoy the deep release that takes place in your breath. Allow your heart to experience gratitude for all the sadhana you have been doing throughout this year. Watch how your whole being finds fulfillment as it immerses itself in the wonder of the fruit of your sadhana.
While we are assimilating Gurumayi’s Message for 2026, we will also have the opportunity to receive Gurumayi’s darshan through a galleryon the Siddha Yoga path website. Each week there will be a new array of scenes from Shree Muktananda Ashram, from between January and August 2026. This gallery is titled, “In the Company of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda.”
This invitation is for you to take full advantage of this month of September. And how? By harvesting the fruits of your sadhana and visiting the Siddha Yoga path website daily.
September has been a magical, mystical month for me. I have experienced an abundant harvest of sweetness and of surrendering what was never easy to let go of. I have also been witnessing strength and patience that I’ve previously not been able to maintain consistently. And, if any waves of uncertainty arise, I am trusting my breath to dissolve negativities into light. I feel that I belong in this vast ocean of Consciousness. I am home. I have learned to accept what was once scary to me.
Virginia, United States
I am so grateful to Gurumayi for addressing “efforting,” which I have been doing for quite a while, even though I realized it was not productive. I feel relieved that Gurumayi recognized my dilemma, and now I can finally let go of my worry and give myself the time and space to allow grace to unfold.
While practicing the assimilation of Gurumayi’s Message for 2026, the second line, “Observe! Uphold your dharma,” has been helping me pause and give myself space to contemplate the best action in a situation, or to allow time for beautiful inner experiences. It has helped me to stop “efforting.”
I am grateful for receiving so much grace as I practice Gurumayi’s teachings on the Siddha Yoga path website.
Vermont, United States
After I read in the essay titled “August, a Propitious Time” that Gurumayi said the focus in August would be on “the practices of meditation and mantra japa,” I decided that I would particularly concentrate on the practice of mantra japa.
Then, in September, when we gathered in a Siddha Yoga Sadhana Circle, I shared that I had been practicing mantra japa with intentional effort and with more constancy. While sharing, I discovered that, without being conscious of it, I had been doing this practice with certain expectations. I realized how these hidden expectations had affected my experience of the practice.
That same day, in September’s invitation I read Gurumayi’s words: “People get very involved in ‘efforting’ and they miss the experience.” I realized that while practicing mantra japa in August, I had put so much “effort” into it that I hadn’t been open to the experience itself.
Paris, France
With appreciation for Rohini’s invitation, I visualized myself standing in a beautiful, vast meadow in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. The sensation of the grass beneath my feet was the focus of my experience; the tender grass was a lush, warm, living carpet beneath my feet, which were enthralled with the sensation. My feet seemed to be breathing in the luscious grass, and the grass and earth beneath seemed to be breathing into the soles of my feet—as well as into my very soul. The sensations felt so encompassing.
I had the thought that the weight of my body might be injuring the grass, so I took a step forward. Where I’d been standing, the grass gently, slowly resumed its upright shape—so no harm done. This reminded me of Gurumayi’s inner direction to Rohini when her mind begins to “gnaw”: ”That’s not necessary. Just let it go.”
I will be revisiting this meadow, where breath and souls and tender grass join to reap a harvest, however it may wish to reveal itself.
Texas, United States
When I read “Invitation into the Month of September,” it reminded me of how I felt as a six-year-old girl when I first started school. I would do my homework before eating dinner to win the approval of my parents. As their fourth child, I always felt like a burden.
Today, reading Rohini’s “Invitation,” I felt an immense tenderness as I remembered that little girl and realized that the incredible effort I used to make has been transformed—thanks to Gurumayi and my thirty-seven years of sadhana.
I love following the Guru’s teachings and cherish this wonderful opportunity to connect with the Siddha Yoga path website, discovering every day that I can learn, assimilate, and—with surrender and gratitude—“reap the harvest.” As I allow that harvest to unfold, I am experiencing infinite grace.
San Giorgio a Cremano, Italy
While taking a walk after reading this invitation, I decided to focus on surrendering as I looked around at the natural plant growth. As I did this, I experienced that a kind of melting and blending of each form was taking place, a sense of movement or aliveness. I realized that it was my focus on surrendering that helped to soften my gaze and thus alter my experience of the life around me.
New York, United States
I am grateful that Rohini shared her recollection of Gurumayi’s words so beautifully and generously. When I read it, I felt pure love arising and seeping out from my heart. I felt I can allow my heart to do this. There is nothing I need to do. I can enjoy this experience.
Melbourne, Australia
If I were to gather together all the concerns and longings of my heart and place them on the altar of prayer, they would have been wholly and benevolently fulfilled by this Invitation. As I read Gurumayi’s words and Rohini’s understandings, a deep experience of acceptance of my own worthiness arose, of finally being and doing enough. This recognition has immersed me in gratitude for the continuous, magical connection I have with Gurumayi and for the unbroken flow of boundless love in this world and in my life.
California, United States
What a blessing to receive this Invitation during my birthday month! “Letting go” or surrendering has been the most difficult challenge for me. I feel Gurumayi’s gentle encouragement to jump through this hurdle to get to the other side as I allow myself to feel ease in my sadhana.
I’m ready and willing, with a heart full of gratitude.
Georgia, United States
What a wonderful, divine, and unique connection I experienced in reading Rohini’s letter. She mentions that September is a time for assimilation, likening it to a harvest.
My life over the past seven months has been one of the most challenging periods I can recall. Yet, because I always have Gurumayi ji’s grace and the Siddha Yoga practices with me, I have not given up. I feel my life is undergoing a “reset.”
I have been making every effort to get back on track, but during the final days of August, I felt inspired to stop striving so hard and to simply let things unfold as they are meant to.
In recent nights, I have dreamt of fruit-laden trees and gardens filled with fragrant flowers; I even saw myself eating the fruit. I also decided to continue studying Gurumayi’s Message, line by line, and I shared with fellow Siddha Yogis how much joy I find in this practice.
Today, after I read this “Invitation into the Month of September” and received Gurumayi ji’s guidance, my heart is filled with the “harvest” of joy and gratitude.
Bhilwara, India
Currently, I’m a few weeks away from moving to another country. This is a plan that took more than a year to prepare and organize. There are still some things that are not crystal clear. As I was reading this invitation, the guidance about letting the experience arrive rather than “efforting” toward it led me to feel that it’s okay to let go and allow things to happen.
As I read the part where Rohini describes that during assimilation, we are “no longer planting the seeds…we are harvesting,” I felt so much freedom and support. I don’t have to keep making the effort to make things happen at this stage. This feels powerful and so liberating!
I am grateful to Gurumayi for sharing this with Rohini—and, through her, with us.
Zapopan, Mexico
Recently, I had the opportunity to read a poem at the celebration of life for a dear friend. I was very eager to convey the message of the poem to the people present, yet when I reached the microphone, my voice began to waver. Midway through the poem, I faltered and lost my place. I finished the reading, but I felt I had let my dear deceased friend down and began berating myself.
Then I read Rohini Menon’s “Invitation into the Month of September.” The words “Just let it go” caused me to tear up. “Of course,” I thought, “I am giving way too much importance to my ‘performance’ and not enough recognition to the people at the reception who thanked me.”
“Just let it go” will be my go-to phrase whenever I start belittling myself over a mistake I made. I am grateful to learn a better way to approach these situations.
California, United States
I really relate to Rohini’s description of the thoughts she sometimes has, such as “I should have done more…”
Rohini’s understanding of Gurumayi’s guidance to “sit back and enjoy the fruits of your sadhana” inspires me to be with Gurumayi’s Message and open my mind and heart to what is there. This will be a wonderful journey this month.
Minnesota, United States
Learning that there are times when “efforting” is not necessary and to allow the experience to come opens my heart to receive. I am so grateful for this gift of Gurumayi’s teaching.
