Swami Muktananda’s Divya Diksha

Baba’s Divya Diksha Day is my favorite day. I first visited Gurudev Siddha Peeth on this day in 1997. Each year, I often serve as a visiting sevite at Gurudev Siddha Peeth around this time, but this year I was not able to do so.

I longed to be there so, in my heart, I traveled to Gurudev Siddha Peeth. I awoke early and followed the Ashram Daily Schedule in my home in Pune. I sang the Morning Arati, imagining myself in the Bade Baba Temple. Then I meditated, visualizing myself in Baba’s Samadhi Shrine. As I meditated, I saw Bade Baba with a huge cobra. I experienced a little fear, but I remembered that Bade Baba was with me, and fearlessness arose.

Thank you, Gurumayi, Baba, and Bade Baba, for your grace and abundance in my life.
 

Pune, India

I usually silently read Baba’s account of his initiation every year on August 15. This year, instead of reading it myself, I listened to Swami Akhandananda’s reading on the website. I was amazed to find that there was a quality in listening that I’d not experienced by reading.

As I listened to Swami ji, I felt myself becoming quieter, more serene and focused. The effect was soothing and meditative.
 

New York, USA

Montreal, Canada

This excerpt describing Baba's initiation is a great blessing for me whenever I can read or listen to it.
 
I received Baba's grace through one of his photos, and the impact on me was unbelievable at that time. I felt one with him, and also with everything around me. I felt I understood everything as one perfect creation. Thank you so much for offering us this priceless account that connects me again with my shaktipat experience 34 years ago.
 

Les Trois Ilets, Martinique

As I read Swami ji's delightful exposition, I was especially moved by Baba's experience: "I had an intuition of the One in the many, and I lost the ordinary mind that differentiates between the inner and the outer world..." 
 
Each day as I meditate, chant, and contemplate my experiences and the Siddha Yoga teachings, glimpses of this experience arise. I understand the greatness of divya diksha, divine initiation.
 

New Jersey, USA

For decades, I have held the account of Baba’s divya diksha in my heart as a most precious treasure.  Each time I read it, I am filled with love for Baba.  

When I read this account, I feel transported in time and space. I remember Baba vividly, and his presence fills my heart.
 

Ohio, USA

This morning upon waking I was drawn outdoors. A breeze wafted gently, and the air was dense with the refreshing scent of a steady, generous rain. Baba’s words spontaneously arose in me:”…the most auspicious of all auspicious days.” Gratitude welled up from deep inside, and I went to my puja to offer dakshina and incense.
 
As I drove to school with my daughter, she read her favorite paragraph from Play of Consciousness. I could feel Baba’s shakti and grace, his leonine strength, his unwavering delight, and his vast love. I could see my daughter’s face shining radiantly with Baba’s love.
 
Today again, as if for the first time, I’m in awe reading Baba’s account of receiving shaktipat diksha from Bhagavan Nityananda. Each moment of Baba’s account is so full that I need to pause and contemplate to apprehend just a fraction of its profound meaning and its significance for my sadhana.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, Baba, and Bade Baba for the priceless gift of the Siddha Yoga path.
 

Geelong West, Australia

As I read this passage, I have a vivid image of this sacred scene. The beautiful old photographs evoke the atmosphere of the time on the small spot of earth where this wondrous event happened.
 
Today I offered a special puja, and I was overflowing with gratitude to Bhagavan Nityananda for Baba's divya diksha, because this made possible my own shaktipat diksha from Baba. I felt such warmth in my heart towards Baba for granting me the incomparable blessing of shaktipat. The initiation that Baba bestowed on me felt like the beginning of a new life, a spiritual awakening from darkness.
 
I pranam again and again before our Gurus with the greatest love and thankfulness.
 

Kilsby, United Kingdom

It is always joyful to read this excerpt from Play of Consciousness. As I read, I remember and experience Baba appearing to me in my first Siddha Yoga meditation session.
 
Through the years Baba's teachings have been my solace and my support. When I read Baba’s words, I feel uplifted and blessed. His teachings fill me with a strength and confidence that enhance my every action.
 
Always and ever I am grateful and blessed to pranam at the feet of the Guru.
 

Modiin, Israel

Very early this morning I was awakened from a half slumber by what sounded like a loud knock. I knew no one was at my door, and that the sound was significant — a call to action of some kind. I remembered the date, and the word freedom immediately sprang to mind. I felt a sense of profound gratitude to Gurumayi, Baba, and Bade Baba. I would not be who I am or where I am but for their divine grace.
 
When I read Baba’s account of his divya diksha, his words evoked a powerful inner experience, and I felt so much joy.
 

Beccles, United Kingdom

I love reading Baba's account of how he received Bade Baba's sandals, and about his bhav of total humility and discipleship. As I read, I remembered a practice I have developed which inspires similar feelings in me.
 
With deep reverence, I offer a manasa puja, a mental worship, to Baba. I imagine that I am entering Baba's Samadhi Shrine. Then, after walking around the Samadhi Shrine repeating Baba's name, I see myself sitting for meditation. By offering this manasa puja, I experience a lot of stillness in my heart and deep joy.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi. Thank you, Baba. Thank you Bade Baba. Thank you for awakening in me this loving expression of deep devotion for you. It is because of your grace that I have become aware and alive with these wonderful feelings.
 

Pune, India

What an amazing text, what amazing grace!
 
Over the years, I’ve read this text many times, but every time feels like the first time. My heart becomes moist and full of gratitude to Baba for revealing to us this “most auspicious of all auspicious days,” with so much generosity. 
 
My gratitude expands even further when I think how magnificent was Bade Baba’s gift to Baba—the gift that Baba then shared with so many. And then tears come to my eyes when I realize that it is the destiny of all of us Siddha Yoga students to receive the Guru’s grace.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for expanding the supreme gift of the Siddha Yoga path! Thank you, Baba! Thank you, Bade Baba! 
 

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

This morning I woke to a beautiful day, celebrating Baba's divya diksha. After meditating, I went outside to sit on a swing in my front yard to recite Shri Guru Gita in honor of this day. During the recitation, a brilliant-red cardinal landed at the bird feeder nearby and stayed for a long time. I felt Baba’s presence and experienced the truth of Baba's words: "The Guru is inside, the Guru is outside."

Now, as I prepare to offer home seva, I am listening to Baba singing on the CD Hymns to Shiva.

I am grateful for that day when Bhagavan bestowed shaktipat initiation on Baba. The grace that Baba received on that day has poured into my life and the lives of so many others. I am immersed in the Guru's presence and grace. We are blessed! 
 

North Carolina, USA

Every time I read this account of Baba's initiation, I am filled with awe and wonder. I feel shakti dancing within me, with pure joy. I reflect on that gesture of compassion with which Bhagavan Nityananda made initiation possible for the entire Siddha Yoga sangham. What a blessed day this is for all of us! How fortunate we are!
 

New Jersey, USA

I am very fortunate to have had this wonderful experience of reading about Baba ji’s divya diksha. Each single word is, for me, like a mantra.

The pictures accompanying the excerpt support me to feel discipline, discipleship, and love in even more depth.
 

Indore, India