Recently, I chanted
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in honor of Baba Muktananda’s
mahasamadhi. The following morning, as I was making breakfast, I suddenly felt a profound quietude and stillness engulfing my awareness. I experienced that everyday sounds—such as that of a knife scraping butter across my morning bagel, water rinsing my teacup, or birds chirping outside the kitchen—became the sound of the mantra. Soon, everything seemed to become the sound of the mantra.
Then, I began to feel that all of these sounds, which had merged into the single sound of the mantra, were arising from within me and were a part of my own being. A great feeling of fullness and bliss arose within me.
I continued making breakfast with this awareness, and, with a smile spreading inwardly, I thanked Baba and Gurumayi for this divine experience of unity awareness.
New Jersey, United States
I have been remembering Baba today—feeling and seeing his presence in daisies, in the leaves of the lemon tree, in the sound of bells ringing, in the love of a family gathering, in my mother’s playful and affectionate cat. Yet it was not till I sat down this evening to chant Baba’s name with Gurumayi’s powerful and loving voice, in this easeful
raga that evokes so much longing, that I sank deeper into my heart. As I chanted, I felt very content. I felt love surging within. I am very grateful to Baba for his wonderful life.
Warrnambool, Australia
Last evening in the local Siddha Yoga meditation center, we participated in the Celebration Satsang in Honor of Baba’s Mahasamadhi. We chanted Baba’s name with Shri Gurumayi for nearly forty minutes. It was such an incredible chanting session! Peace, happiness, and an immaculate joy filled our hearts. During the meditation, images of my Gurus chanting splashed through my mind’s eye for a while.
The euphoria and the joy prevailed for hours, reminding me of how fortunate I am to be a disciple of my Guru.
Cuttack, India
This chant always brings me back to Baba’s
mahasamadhi and the one-month chanting
saptah in Gurudev Siddha Peeth more than forty years ago. I remember sitting in the hall on the marble floor among thousands of devotees from all over the world. What a wonderful family Baba has formed around him!
Le Boulou, France
Today when I opened the Siddha Yoga path website, I saw the photo of Guru Chowk in Gurudev Siddha Peeth. I closed my eyes, became silent, and felt my body vibrating. I remembered chanting
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya, and went into a deep meditation. I love Guru Chowk and it feels to me like my heart. I remembered the times that I stayed at Gurudev Siddha Peeth for a long
seva visit, and every afternoon I would sit in Guru Chowk.
Then I read all the shares about Siddha Yogis’ experiences of Baba’s
mahasamadhi, and looked at the photos and quotations in “Baba Muktananda’s Darshan and Wisdom.”
So today my day started with Baba. What is next, I don’t know but my day will be beautiful because it all started with Baba.
Texas, United States
This chant sung in this
raga sounds to me like procession music for freedom itself.
New York, United States
I listen to this
namasankirtana while sitting quietly. As I do so, I often feel Baba’s presence in my heart. My heart seems to expand, and I experience that everything is contained within me. There is a sense of great peace, and I feel I am everywhere with Baba.
Christchurch, New Zealand
This
namasankirtana is wonderful! Hearing this chant and seeing the image of Gurudev Siddha Peeth, I remember participating in
punyatithi celebrations held there; we would chant this
namasankirtana with Gurumayi during
saptahs. These lovely times are stored in my heart as wonderful memories that, when recalled, spread love through my being. Baba’s name fills me with divine love.
Indore, India
Oh, how I love this chant! Somehow, it brings me a remembrance of and a feeling of returning to home.
When I chant this
namasankirtana, I feel the incredible bond that I have with my Guru. I experience so much love and joy overflowing in my heart.
North Carolina, United States
This
namasankirtana reminds me of the days-long chanting we had at the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Santa Monica in 1982 at the time of Baba’s
mahasamadhi. Since I lived close by, I came almost every day and stayed as long as I could.
One day, I had the most amazing experience during meditation: I had a vision of a flying carpet, bearing Baba, coming towards me; he jumped off that carpet right into my heart, telling me he would always be there for me. And, he has been all these years.
What a lovely experience, and how lovely to continue to celebrate his life.
California, United States
I have always loved this
raga! In every situation, challenging or joyful, when I hum it, I find my equanimity and feel more love for my Guru and myself.
Indore, India
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya, sung in the Jhinjhoti raga, is a beautiful Siddha Yoga chant. I have chanted this chant for decades and always experience the same peace and comfort; it calms my mind and makes me remember and experience the love of life. Hearing it in Gurumayi’s voice is invaluable for me.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I have overcome the most difficult situations in my life by chanting Baba’s name—Muktananda, “the bliss of liberation.”
Leon, Mexico
This is my favorite Siddha Yoga chant. Its rhythm is soothing like a lullaby, and when I chant it, I feel Baba’s and Gurumayi’s presence so strongly.
Today as I am grieving a loss, the chant fills my heart and soothes my brow and I feel the steadfastness of entering the highest Self, where I meet my beloved, who has passed.
I am forever grateful for this path, which brings me into the highest connection with our oneness.
Kingscliff, Australia
Many years ago, when I first heard
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in the
Jhinjhoti raga, I found it very sweet and immediately bought the audio cassette. At home, chanting along, I heard Gurumayi’s voice say: “If your heart is dry, chant!” And then, after a few minutes, I heard her say: “Are you tired? Chant!” I asked myself, how does Gurumayi know? Is she really talking to me? Since then, whenever I hear this
raga, I feel joy and I am full of vitality.
Naples, Italy
Gurumayi’s beautiful, golden voice fills me with pure compassion and consolation. I can feel it entering and permeating my feelings.
I find myself praying to follow this divine sound.
Hindelang, Germany
As I listened to
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in the
Jhinjhoti raga, waves of bliss washed over me. I felt my soul soar in jubilation and gratitude for the countless wondrous gifts Baba has given me on this sacred path.
New York, United States
I love chanting this namasankirtana in the Jhinjhoti raga with Gurumayi.
The first time I heard this chant was when I walked into Gurudev Siddha Peeth for the first time in the fall of 1981. We had just traveled on a charter flight with Baba, and had arrived by bus very late at night. The entire front of the Ashram was decorated in beautiful flashing neon lights, and every pathway was lit up with white lights. A most ethereal and joyful sound spread throughout the Ashram by the devotees gathered in Guru Chowk, chanting Om Namo Bhagavate Nityanandaya in the Jhinjhoti raga as they eagerly awaited Baba’s return.
I had entered a supremely divine realm. It’s a sight and sound forever imprinted in my memory, and it’s evoked every time I hear this chant with Gurumayi.
California, United States
This evening my whole family and I chanted all of Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in the Jhinjhoti raga to celebrate Baba ji’s Mahasamadhi. As we begin the chant, the atmosphere in our home began to change to an energy like that which we’d feel if we were in Gurudev Siddha Peeth. In each round of the chant I could feel myself present in the courtyard next to Baba’s Samadhi Shrine. As the chant got faster, my son began to dance; my wife was chanting in ecstasy and joy. At the end of the music we all forgot that we were actually at home because of the blessings and power of Baba we were feeling at that time.
During the chant many types of fragrance came to me, which also symbolized for me that Baba ji was present in our hearts.
Udhana, India
As I listen to this special
namasankirtana, I immediately remember when I began walking the Siddha Yoga path thirty-three years ago. It is as if I enter a beautiful space of shelter and love in my heart. I feel Gurumayi’s love as she chants, and I also feel her love in my heart as I chant.
Mexico City, Mexico
How sweet it was to read Siddha Yogis’ experiences of Baba and then listen to
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in the
Jhinjhoti raga with Gurumayi in the lead!
Early on, when I started following the Siddha Yoga path, we used to chant this wonderful
namasankirtana in the local Siddha Yoga meditation center during
satsang, and afterwards, driving back home, I would continue to chant it the whole way. The melody and words are so sweet, joyful, and exuberant with love—then and now.
Hyderabad, India
Hearing this chant reminds me of a meditation I had very soon after I started to follow the Siddha Yoga path. In it, I saw myself sitting in an armchair in a library. Suddenly the door opened and in came a monk dressed simply in an orange robe. He reached up and pointed to the wall of books opposite me. Only gradually did it dawn on me—this was the gesture of a teacher pointing to the blackboard. I recognized it, having been a teacher myself.
At the next
satsang I attended, I saw a photograph of Baba and realized that the monk I’d seen was Baba. I believe he came to tell me he would be my teacher. And without a doubt that’s what he has been.
Baba’s wisdom has guided me for many years. Very often, when I notice this chant playing through my mind or I look at his photograph, I feel he is talking to me and encouraging me. He is such a blessing in my life!
Havant, United Kingdom
I love the chant
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya, especially in this
raga. I feel a lot of warmth and happiness. Whenever I listen to this chant, a sensation of peace arises in me. I love this chant extremely.
a nine-year old from Thane, India
Every time I hear this particular
raga, it fills my being with the same blissful vibrations I experience in Baba’s Samadhi Shrine. I love it very much because as soon as I listen to it, my spirit soars.
Thane West, India
Within seconds of hearing Gurumayi’s voice and chanting along, I felt Baba’s and Gurumayi’s presence within me. This experience is a joyful reminder that many things may change, but the grace of Shri Guru never changes.
New York, United States
Just hearing Gurumayi chanting
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya pierces my heart! I feel the eternal bond I have with my beloved Guru. It’s as if I’m magically transported back to Shree Muktananda Ashram, to Muktananda Mandir and the Shakti Mandap, and also to Gurudev Siddha Peeth. I am so grateful for the life-transforming teachings, for
shaktipat, and for Guru’s grace, not only in my life, but in the lives of everyone in my family.
North Carolina, United States
This
namasankirtana takes me straight back to Gurudev Siddha Peeth. It’s a warm, still night. I walk into Baba’s courtyard during the
saptah, as
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya is being chanted. There is soft light in the courtyard and the scent of flowers. There is sweetness in the air. We are held in Baba’s heart.
Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand
Chanting or just hearing
Om Namo Bhagavate Muktanandaya in the
Jhinjhoti raga is one of the most precious gifts from Gurumayi. I love to hear her voice and respond to her chanting. Even though I never met Baba in person, I feel that I truly experience his presence with this chant. When I close my eyes during the chant, I can visualize Baba in what is now Gurudev Siddha Peeth—with his elephant, walking through the rose garden, and talking with his dogs.
In 1987, when I first got to know the Siddha Yoga path, Baba came into my meditation and told me to travel to Gurudev Siddha Peeth to meet Gurumayi. Even though Baba had taken
mahasamadhi five years before that, the command felt very much alive, and I was brave enough to do what he said.
Now I have the rare and precious gift of having Gurumayi, a fully realized Guru, who is with me in every moment. How blessed I am!
Thun, Switzerland
When I started to hear and chant this
namasankirtana, the presence and image of Baba came to my mind, and I remembered how much joy and freedom he experienced during his life, in his search for the Truth. I felt so surrounded by the Guru’s presence!
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Singing Baba's name is like sharing laughter with Baba. And this particular
raga is my favorite because it takes me to the space where I feel only Guru-disciple love—the love between Baba and Gurumayi, the love between Gurumayi and me.
Thane West, India
You are here
You are here in the space between my breaths
You are here in the stillness of the starbeam that shines to me
You are here in my voice with the blessed cadence of the chant
You are here in the red leaf that drifts and floats to my cheek
You are here in the warming golden embers of the fire
You are here in the shimmering sparkling water
You are here in my heart
Campbells Creek, Australia