The Story of Gurupurnima
My story of Gurupurnima took place on July 16, 1976, when I participated in my first Shaktipat Intensive, titled “The Guru-Disciple Relationship.” This was preceded by several years of intense longing to know and experience God.
In a darshan leading up to that sublime weekend Intensive, I came before Baba and simply requested, “Baba, grant me shaktipat.” Baba acknowledged this with the sweep of his peacock feathers, and I stumbled away, intoxicated from the heavenly scent and no doubt suffused with the shakti!
A simple meeting, a simple request, a simple response catapulted my soul into the electrifying journey of Kundalini rising to meet the Lord, the Self.
I was spiritually reborn on that glorious Gurupurnima in fireworks of kriyas, visions, initiation, deep ecstatic peace, and a heart love I’d never known. Truly, the experience of God was given by my beloved Baba. My Guru, my path, my life. I am forever grateful!
Colorado, United States
I was on vacation on Gurupurnima, and I felt a strong desire to give myself completely to honoring Shri Guru during this celebration by offering my Siddha Yoga practices. I performed Guru-puja, meditated, recited Shri Guru Gita, and sang Sadguru ki Arati.
The place where I was staying was surrounded by enormous pine trees, waterfalls, streams, and lakes: everything I could wish for in nature was there, before my eyes. I immersed myself in that nature, which I felt was being so generous with me. I savored the scents and the silence, and I experienced so much gratitude.
Everything was perfect, but above all, I recognized that while connecting with nature, I was actually experiencing the place within me that keeps me closest to God, to my inner Self, to my Guru.
San Giorgio a Cremano, Italy
Inner Guru
Every day, I open my heart
to the presence of the Guru within me.
I listen to the divine vibration
and dissolve into a silent stillness,
which speaks to me of the essence that all beings share:
unconditional and spontaneous love.
I have discovered a great treasure:
the recognition of my Guru as the destiny my heart longs for,
allowing myself to be bathed in her compassion
and to follow my heart’s sincere wish
to serve her mission!
Valladolid, Spain
My life and my physical, mental, and emotional states were, to put it mildly, a disaster before I was twenty-three years old. That’s when I was profoundly blessed by learning about the Siddha Yoga path and by receiving shaktipat.
My transformation didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen in a year or two either. It was, and is, a constant process of clarification and liberation, always penetrating into deeper layers of my being. Every little effort I make to do the practices, to contemplate, and to implement the teachings brings great fruit—always. Some fruits I recognize immediately; others I see only years later.
Not only on Gurupurnima but every day I am grateful to Gurumayi for helping me so much with my state of being and the condition of my life.
Konolfingen, Switzerland
The month of Gurupurnima holds a special place in my year. During this month especially, I take the time to consider my great good fortune in discovering the Siddha Yoga path. “How did it happen,” I ask myself, “that thirty-seven years ago I stumbled onto the greatest gift anyone could receive?”
There was no obvious reason for this to happen. I wasn’t looking for God or a Guru. Maybe it was just curiosity? Regardless, that first Siddha Yoga satsang was it for me. Afterward, I continued to turn up for satsang, and then suddenly the Siddha Yoga path had become established in my life.
I walk this path with a secret smile on my face. I am very grateful to Gurumayi for being there for me.
Hampton Hill, United Kingdom
As I contemplate the significance of Gurupurnima, I remember the state of my mind and my understanding before I met Baba in 1976. My longing for a powerful spiritual connection had been so strong ever since I was a teenager. I met Baba when I was thirty-five years old. I could not believe my good fortune to have received the confirmation of the existence of God in my own experience. This gave me an ultimate meaning for my life.
The compassion of the Guru’s grace in giving me this direct knowledge of the Truth is incomprehensible. There is truly no way to repay this compassion. The best acts of gratitude that I can make to my Guru are to follow the Siddha Yoga teachings to the best of my ability and to offer dakshina with a full heart.
New York, United States
Reading this story reminded me that fifty years ago on the full-moon night of July—the night of Gurupurnima—I sat in the window of my mother’s Brooklyn apartment staring at the full moon for hours. As a young teenager, I had not yet met Baba nor begun my journey on the Siddha Yoga path. I was filled with tenderness and a deep longing that I could not identify.
The next morning my father telephoned. He was heading to California for a month-long retreat with Baba. When he heard the tinge of sadness in my voice, he suddenly asked, “Do you want to come with me?” “YES!” I cried. Within hours, he had arranged for a ride for us to travel cross-country to be with Baba.
Fifty years ago, my Guru heard my deepest longing and brought me to him. Shubh Gurupurnima!
Massachusetts, United States
Each year, as I have advanced in my sadhana, I have begun to deepen and embrace my understanding of the Siddha Yoga celebrations and their meaning.
Come July, I align with the auspiciousness of Gurupurnima. My heart expands with tremendous love. My gratitude overflows freely. I feel so fortunate that my destiny has opened the doors to the Siddha Yoga path for me.
Nairobi, Kenya
Pune, India
As I was contemplating this, I recalled how in the month of Ashadha 1988, I received the gift of shaktipat and, to quote the title of one of Baba Muktananda’s books, “I have become alive.” This second life belongs to God through the grace of Shri Guru. I wish to remember this immense gift at every moment and to nourish the feeling of gratitude in my heart.
Issy les Moulineaux, France
Two days before Gurupurnima, I spent a couple of nights with my sister, who is experiencing dementia. Doing so gave her husband time away to work on their retirement home in another city.
My sister and I once had the honor of being in Shree Muktananda Ashram and meeting the Guru, so our time together always feels like an extended satsang. However, this particular visit was filled with a particularly fresh, sweet, yet undefined presence. After leaving my sister, I became aware that this special feeling was due to my visit taking place so close to Gurupurnima. So I called my sister, and she immediately and joyfully agreed that our time together had been suffused with Gurumayi’s love and all-encompassing grace.
Michigan, United States
Connecticut, United States
I reflected that, in the same way, the light of the Guru reveals the presence of God in my life. I am able to see God’s presence in my life when my mind is enlightened by the teachings and the grace of the Guru.
I thought about how Gurupurnima occurs on the full-moon night when the entire moon is fully revealed by the sun. This reinforced for me why Veda Vyasa chose this occasion. It is the perfect time to celebrate the Guru, who experiences God permanently and guides me toward this sublime summit.
Rodez, France
What better way to commence the monthlong satsang in honor of Gurupurnima than by reading about the tradition from which this most auspicious celebration comes!
One of the things that I find most moving about this story is that the holiday of Gurupurnima emerged from the disciples’ love for their Guru and their wish to offer to the Guru—and the Guru’s incredibly generous response to that pure longing. Reading about this connects me to my love for my own Guru, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. And it inspires me to think about all that I wish to offer to her (for example, by giving dakshina or, more broadly, by making good on all that she has taught me and given to me)—and to take concrete actions to actualize that wish.
New York, United States
In my evening meditation, I noticed how all my senses had turned inward, and then I was immersed in a peaceful, deep silence. As if from nowhere, a feeling of bliss bubbled up inside me. It was as if I myself were a spring from which I could drink and nourish myself on all levels. An indescribable feeling of freedom and independence filled me!
And then I realized that Gurumayi had shown me the way to my own divine Self through meditation, and that I owe my awakened life to Shri Guru.
Unterlangenegg, Switzerland
London, United Kingdom
Hampton Hill, United Kingdom
Every time I read this story, I feel gratitude toward Veda Vyasa and his disciples. I thank them for beginning such a beautiful tradition of honoring Shri Guru. And I am grateful for the grace of my beloved Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Baba Muktananda, and Bhagavan Nityananda.
Over the years, I have seen myself becoming a better person because of the Siddha Yoga practices and the grace, love, and blessings of Shri Guru.
Pune, India
The celebration of Gurupurnima reminds me that, by the grace and guidance of a Sadguru, I find the strength to persevere in sadhana and experience my full divine potential. Through the sadhana of discipleship and the cultivation of purity and humility, I can evolve beyond limitations. And as I contemplate the blessings and teachings I have received, I am so grateful to my Guru and the Siddha Yoga lineage.
Mar del Plata, Argentina
As I read once again this timeless story, I feel that I am part of an ancient tradition that is so alive and relevant today. I’m grateful for a month dedicated to remembering and honoring the Guru. I look forward to thirty-one days of contemplation of the unfathomable gift of shaktipat-diksha.
New Hampshire, United States