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As I chanted Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam with Gurumayi on this holy Gurupurnima day, the fragrance of the Guru's sandals permeated my being with the sweetest fragrance of gratitude, humility, and love. It rose in sweet tears of remembrance and gratitude as I realized such love can never be contained in the heart like a dam. It must flow through the heart like an instrument in service, making its way—like a sacred river—back to its source, the ocean.
Bellbrae, Australia
Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam has been present at the beginning of my day for over forty years. My mother used to have Shri Guru Gita playing on a loop in her car, and we recited it with our chanting books on the weekend at the local Siddha Yoga meditation center.
Whenever I feel uprooted, uneasy, in a hurry, nervous, or just looking to connect to my devotion, this is my “go-to.” I have it memorized and sing it in my car on the way to work.
I am grateful for the way that singing Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam along with Gurumayi is opening up my celebration of Gurupurnima this year.
Illinois, United States
Singing these verses brought back a flood of beautiful memories of reciting
Shri Guru Gita in Muktananda Mandir and the Shakti Mandap at Shree Muktananda Ashram, many moons ago.
Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam has always stirred something sweet and grateful in my heart. I am so very grateful for the posting of this profound and blessed gift on the Siddha Yoga path website during this auspicious time of Gurupurnima celebrations.
New York, United States
After I listened to Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam, I remembered that I used to sing this while on the way to my workplace in Pune on my bicycle! We had very hard times then and in my mind, I held some fear of the unknown. I didn’t know Shri Guru Gita by heart but as I rode to work, I could chant Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam without referring to the book!
It has helped me tremendously in my journey of life. As I listen to it on the website, the voice of Gurumayi is so soothing and calming that it gives me all the peace of mind and all the strength I need to move forward.
Doha, Qatar
I offer my heartfelt gratitude for having the five verses of
Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam on the Siddha Yoga path website
. The timing for this is absolutely perfect, as it strongly resonates for me in this particular moment.
Every single time I have prepared to chant these verses before reciting
Shri Guru Gita, it has always been very special for me. I feel a strong connection with the Guru inside of me. The Guru's
padukas speak to me, calling me to venerate them and to treasure them infinitely.
Virginia, United States
This hymn,
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam, has profound significance for me because it illumines a meditation vision I had days after learning about the Siddha Yoga path. In the vision, Baba was standing on a white beach at dawn, facing the horizon, and I was wearing white. I ran to Baba, and he became an enormous white swan. Baba beckoned for me to climb onto his back, and once I did, he began to fly across the ocean, which suddenly turned dark, turbulent, and threatening. I buried my face in Baba’s feathers, and both an eternity and no time at all seemed to elapse. When we reached the other shore, which emanated light, Baba returned to his usual form, and the ocean was no more. And then Baba, the shore, and I disappeared, and there was only light, which I knew to be my own Self.
A few weeks later, when I visited a Siddha Yoga ashram and sang the
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam for the first time, verse five filled me with gratitude and amazement.
California, United States
I was so delighted to find
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam on the website. This is one of my favorite prayers. Today, I made the intention to both study the virtue of
karmanyata further and to practice it. Listening to
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam is the perfect way to support my focus and to offer my gratitude as I begin this day.
Heartfelt pranams, Gurumayi, for this sweet gift.
New Delhi, India
This photo of the
padukas and the delicate flowers around them is very soothing for me. They seem so close, as if they are coming towards me. I feel they are filled with Guru’s grace, as vast as the sky and full of strength.
Today, after reading about the significance of the Guru‘s sandals, I offered red and white flowers and perfume to the
padukas on my
puja. Then I chanted and meditated with the awareness that my practice was sacred and could reveal within me what the
padukas symbolize.
These
padukas bring me back to the center of myself, to the simplicity of the heart, to the place where I feel my Guru knows my yearning, my efforts, and my love.
Gurumayi,
Merci!
Ramonville Saint Agne, France
I am very happy to begin the month of Gurupurnima reciting these beautiful verses from
Shri Guru Paduka Panchakam, honoring the Guru and the Guru’s sandals.
When I meditate, I do experience the truth of these words:
Salutations again and again to Shri Guru’s sandals,
which impart the knowledge of Brahman.
During meditation, when thoughts swirl around in my mind, I bring my awareness to the Guru’s sandals and mentally place my head on them. When I do this, thoughts lose their hold on me, and I’m drawn into the center of my being, into the silence of the Absolute.
Massachusetts, United States
When I recited
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam in front of the sandals on the
puja, I experienced it as so much more than I ever had before. After a while it felt as though I was no longer chanting, but rather I was being the chant. My thinking mind had become silent, but the words and melody were coming out of my mouth.
I noticed that the prayer had transformational quality. I became aware that I was in a very different state after the recitation than I was before —calmer, more peaceful, and more connected with my heart. I see that in offering devotion, there is so much receiving.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this experience.
Berlin, Germany
For many years I have enjoyed reciting the
Shri Guru Paduka Pancakam just prior to the
Shri Guru Gita. But today, as I saw this beautiful artwork, I was inspired to recite it on its own and perform worship to the Guru's sandals at my
puja. As I did so, my mind became clear and focused, and my heart opened and softened. Following the recitation I became aware of the Guru's tangible presence, and I noticed an expanded sense of unity and peace.
Berlin, Germany
The power of the Guru's sandals is a mystery for me. Yet reading these verses I feel a deep sense of contentment. I feel: “That is what I want, what I wish, what I need to be truly happy.”
Rome, Italy
This invocation has always moved me. Reciting it this morning, beautiful memories washed through me— of singing it with Gurumayi, and with the
sangham at the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center I used to live near. I felt tenderness, love, and devotion well up in my heart.
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this beautiful photo of the Guru's sacred sandals.
Florida, United States
Each time I read the story of Baba’s
shaktipat in
Play of Consciousness, I am moved by the love and reverence with which Baba honors his Guru’s sandals. He shows me that when I honor the Guru’s sandals, I am taking a pilgrimage to the holiest of all places within—the heart, where I find the realization of my own true nature: “I am That.”
Buenos Aires, Argentina
When Gurumayi bestowed
shaktipat diksha upon me, everything changed! So, when it comes to the deep mystery and immense value of the grace flowing from the Guru’s sandals, I’m all in!
I am forever grateful for the Guru’s grace, which has revealed truth, love, and contentment within my own being—a discovery far beyond the reach of my thinking mind and self-effort alone.
The Guru’s sandals have become, for me, the perfect symbol of the spiritual path and its goal: the recognition of divinity in everything.
I bow my head upon my Guru’s sandals, the grace-filled portal to the knowledge and experience of true freedom.
Massachusetts, United States