Meditation with the Surya-gayatri Mantra

Last night my wife and I meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, together with other Siddha Yogis.

After meditation we shared with each other that the experience was profound, powerful, and ecstatic. I could feel the strength and energy of Surya entering me in the form of light and fell into a very deep meditation after listening to just a few rounds of the chant.

This morning as I write this, I can still hear the sound of high bells ringing within.

Mahalo, Gurumayi, for this precious gem of the Surya-gayatri mantra.

a Siddha Yogi from Hawaii, USA

This morning when I meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I was able to feel and understand the experience of an "inside smile." This experience came naturally. It was, for me, the gift of satsang.
 

 a Siddha Yogi from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

I listen to this mantra every day, and often recite it or repeat it silently. Through this practice, I have become aware that the earth is a living, breathing being, and I’m inspired to honor her, tread more lovingly upon her, and take time to honor the sacredness of all life.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for illumining knowledge inside me. You are my sun.
 

a Siddha Yogi from California, USA

Listening to the Surya-gayatri mantra every day energizes me. As I listen to it and recite it myself, I feel that I am taking a shower in golden light and I experience the power of the mantra within. My focus naturally shifts toward the breath, and I try to immerse myself in the pauses between breaths. In doing all this, I experience peace and love.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Kalyan, India

I have been listening to, chanting along with, and meditating with this mantra once or twice a day since it appeared on the Siddha Yoga path website.  As I do this, my mind stops and I experience a palpable, scintillating energy spiraling around me—and then settling around me like a blanket of shakti. My mind becomes still for a moment that seems to go on and on.  
 
I have enormous gratitude for this experience, and for my own commitment to continue this practice daily.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for awakening me with this sublime mantra!
 

a Siddha Yogi from New York, USA

As I continue to meditate each day with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I feel myself being drawn into a space of peace and great joy, of knowledge and light. I notice my life changing around me as I'm becoming more patient, more connected to my heart, and, as a result, more connected to the energy of love within every human being.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this wonderful practice that you have enlivened with your love!

a Siddha Yogi from Vancouver, Canada

Since I have been meditating with the Surya-gayatri mantra, my meditation practice has shifted completely. The sounds—and beautiful melody—of this mantra lead me to a deep and luminous place within, full of nectar. This practice feels effortless. It is what I was longing for—to meditate with the music of my soul.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for blessing us with the Surya-gayatri mantra and making it available on the Siddha Yoga path website for our daily practice.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Rome, Italy

I am so grateful to have the Surya-gayatri mantra posted here on the Siddha Yoga path website to listen to every day!
 
It's not always easy for me to remember melodies or Sanskrit syllables. But after weeks of listening, reading, and reciting the words, yesterday at the beach I was able to effortlessly and joyfully sing them—over and over again—to the gloriously rising sun!
 
Throughout the day, the sun and the Surya-gayatri mantra bless me.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi!
 

a Siddha Yogi from California, USA

I have been meditating with this mantra once or twice a day since Gurumayi introduced us to it in A Sweet Surprise Satsang. I have been having very deep meditations. I meditated with the mantra at sunset the other day, and it was very powerful. Sometimes, my mind becomes completely still and it feels like taking a sacred bath. 
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this experience of the Truth.
 

a Siddha Yogi from New York, USA

When I first chanted and meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I saw within a procession of moving lights—joyful, graceful, powerful – coordinated in an unending cyclical dance.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Massachusetts, USA

For some years, I have been drawn to Makara Sankranti as the time to celebrate moving towards the light. I was so happy to be meditating with the Surya-gayatri mantra in the Universal Hall at this auspicious time. 
 
As the sounds of the mantra permeated my being, I felt that the persistent, unfailing power of the sun to rise and spread its light and warmth was indeed within me. I also felt the power of the Guru’s grace as it carried me to the light of the Self. 
 
Later that day, I noticed my state was quite different. I felt that the inner sleep of winter had left me, and my whole being was filled with lightness, enthusiasm, and warmth. I have made it my morning practice since then to meditate with the Surya-gayatri mantra. The sun is surely rising within!
 

a Siddha Yogi from West Molesey, Montserrat

As I prepared to meditate tonight, I felt drawn to the Surya-gayatri mantra. Meditating while listening to the mantra, I felt clear-headed, awake, ancient—as though I was on a passage to a deeper holiness of being.
 
I offer pranam to Shri Gurumayi tonight for this gift, this step on my path.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Kentucky, USA

When I meditated during the Live Audio Stream with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I felt so much energy around me and within me. I sensed that the energy was removing blockages and working inside me, opening me further to Gurumayi’s grace.
 
Thank you so much, Gurumayi, for giving me this beautiful experience.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Gandhinagar, India

As I meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I saw within some of the images depicted in the Message Artwork: a circle of light with a dot in the center, a downward facing triangle and an upward facing triangle. Then the golden sun rose in the space between my eyebrows, and the entire field of my awareness was suffused with golden light.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Sydney, Australia

As I listened to and meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, I sensed Gurumayi’s presence. I felt as though she had come into my consciousness and ignited the full luminosity of the great, central sun within my being.
 
The radiance was breathtakingly magnificent and all-encompassing, and I was left with the feeling that all is well with me, that all is well with the world.
 
Thank you again and again, Gurumayi, for this wonderful satsang moment and for giving me the inner experience of Surya Devata.
 

a Siddha Yogi from New York, USA

Snow is falling in front of my window.
Like shining grace, snowflakes slowly descend over the earth from the sky,
falling and rising again,
spinning around in magic dance,
touching the earth tenderly, covering her gently with a soft, shining shawl.
Light. Silence. Peace. Gratitude.
Like shining grace, the gentle sounds of the Surya-gayatri mantra
descend over my being from the heavens,
falling and rising inside me again and again,
spinning around in magic dance,
tenderly touching each cell of my being, immersing me in gentle, shimmering light.
Light. Silence. Peace. Gratitude.
 
Thank you so much, Gurumayi.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Russia

My experience of meditating with the Surya-gayatri mantra was sublime! It brought me into a deep state of meditation that I had almost lost touch with recently due to an extended health challenge.
 
During the meditation, I saw Gurumayi within. She was blazing with light, like the radiant sun. That blazing light filled me—thirsty for the radiant shakti—with its radiance. The Blue Pearl appeared in the space between my eyebrows and remained there.
 
Later, when I read the translation of the Surya-gayatri mantra, I realized that it describes the experience I had in meditation. Amazing!
 
How great are the Guru and the Siddha Yoga path! Thank you, Gurumayi, for this profound meditation, this great prasad.
 

a Siddha Yogi from New York, USA

The sweet, scintillating sounds of the Surya-gayatri mantra reconnected me to the sacred essence of life. Humbled, I was carried into the Heart. The rolling cadences of the mantra reminded me, again and again, of the power within and the grace of the Siddha Guru, who reveals this power. I feel I have awakened to a new level of openness.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for this blessing.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Chatswood, Australia

This exquisite rendering of the Surya-gayatri mantra brought heaven back to my heart after six challenging weeks of natural disasters severely affecting my home town.  I've been playing it in my house nonstop for the last two days, and I feel centered and focused again. I sleep with it and enter the most peaceful rest. This meditation with the Surya-gayatri mantra was the best gift I could have received, and I am deeply grateful that this refuge arrived at this moment in my life.
 
Feeling replenished and at peace, I thank you, Gurumayi.
 

a Siddha Yogi from California, USA

Usually when I meditate, I am more aware of the thoughts in the foreground, and only vaguely aware of the stillness behind them. Yet, when I was listening to the Surya-gayatri mantra for the first time, I noticed the stillness in the foreground of my awareness. While thoughts in my mind remained, they were now in the background. During meditation my attention continued to be very much focused on the stillness.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Chennai, India

Although I do not live close to a Siddha Yoga Meditation Center, I have the good fortune of having close neighbors who are practicing Siddha Yogis. After a light dinner of sun-colored food (kichari and sweet potatoes), we listened together to the live stream from Shree Muktananda Ashram. Hearing the host’s voice and the ensemble was so powerful!
 
I truly felt that we were part of the Universal Hall, and that Gurumayi has offered us a firm foundation for the New Year.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for making this recording of the Surya-gayatri mantra available throughout this year of 2018!
 

a Siddha Yogi from Virginia, USA

As I meditated with the Surya-gayatri mantra, the beautiful sounds carried me into an experience beyond sound. My body became the sun, and I saw our planet and other celestial objects. Opening my eyes was like coming back from a great journey into space! An inner outer space! 
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for making it possible for me to meditate with and repeat the Surya-gayatri mantra every day for the rest of the year.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Montreal, Canada

When the host welcomed participants on each continent at the start of the live stream in honor of Surya Devata, I felt unspeakable gratitude. The graciousness and inclusiveness resounded in my heart.
 
As the live stream continued, the bounty I was receiving brought tears to my eyes. I felt Gurumayi as the sun, shining and streaming light.
 
Contemplating my experience, I feel the word that best describes it is prasad, a blessed gift.
 

a Siddha Yogi from New York, USA

This morning, as I began to chant the Surya-gayatri mantra with the music ensemble, the sun began to shine on the picture of Gurumayi on my puja. It is a photo of Gurumayi waving to the sun.

For me, the sun was responding to Gurumayi's call, in synchronicity with the gayatri mantra. I had a feeling of deep connection with nature, with the Truth, and I felt I was experiencing satsang, as Gurumayi invites us to practice this year.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Versailles, France

Usually I prefer silent meditation, but today my meditation with the Surya-gayatri mantra was so powerful that it was beyond words.

The music was so captivating that I experienced a flow of bliss and was drawn within to a silent space. I was experiencing the Sun God before me. Sometimes, in my inner vision, he transformed into a column of light and sometimes a sphere of light.

After the meditation was over, the mantra continued to repeat itself within me for hours, and sometimes it rose up to my lips. What a true and wonderful experience!

Thank you, Gurumayi, for your Message for 2018 in A Sweet Surprise Satsang, and for giving us such a tangible means to practice the Message and realize our true Self.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Udaipur, India

I was really looking forward to meditating with the Surya-gayatri mantra, so I stayed up late to fully embrace it as it was live-streamed. When the chanting started, I felt all the tension and stress in my body subside, and I felt very easeful. Listening to the mantra washed away my worldly worries and was very soothing.

This experience brought back a memory of chanting this mantra with my parents and siblings in my youth in India. It is lovely that this chant has become, once again, very deep and alive for me.

Thank you, dear Gurumayi.
 

a Siddha Yogi from East Sussex, United Kingdom

My whole being feels love and gratitude for this sublime blessing from our beloved Gurumayi, for this sacred prayer, which illumines the Truth within. It felt so easeful for me to just sit, listen, and breathe, and my experience of meditation went much, much deeper.
 
I am looking forward to making this my evening practice so that I can go to sleep with a purified mind.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Massachusetts, USA

What a gift for all of us around the world to be connected in the Heart with the Surya-gayatri mantra! I stayed awake until 1:30 am to be part of this great event, and because my family was sleeping, I listened to the live-stream with a headset. During the meditation I felt so much peace, and this morning I feel a deeply satisfying warmth in my chest. I have been experiencing so much love and compassion towards everyone I meet today, as if I am a new person!
 
Thank you so much, Gurumayi, for opening my heart and enlivening it!
 

a Siddha Yogi from St. Bauzille de la Sylve, France

As I listened to the Surya-gayatri mantra, at first I was trying to figure out how best to meditate with it, wondering where I should focus.  All of a sudden, I saw a glorious, multi-faceted blue gem in my inner vision. As I watched it, I glided into a deep space within.
 
I am so grateful for Gurumayi's grace, which always guides me to the Truth within.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Connecticut, USA

I am so grateful for this gift! As I listened with closed eyes this morning, I experienced what felt like an elongated moment of pre-dawn. The sounds of Surya-gayatri mantra were calling through that darkness—asking the inner sun to rise.  Then, Surya Devata appeared within: deep orange, indescribably beautiful, and steady. Everything, including my mind, was suspended in love and awe.
 
That long moment of grace continues now.
 

a Siddha Yogi from California, USA

Listening to the Surya-gayatri mantra in the Vibhas raga for a sustained time was a very blessed, very beautiful, very felt experience. It touched my heart deeply. I was aware of my being invoking the grace of the magnificent Sun Lord, asking him to illumine my heart and mind with satya rasa, with right understanding, with Truth.
 
I am very grateful for this recording, on the auspicious occasion of Makara Sankranti!
 

a Siddha Yogi from Bangalore, India

During the meditation, I felt that I was traveling through one light-filled corridor to another; they seemed never-ending. On both sides were pillars of immense grandeur and beauty. On my right a golden light shone into each corridor; as far as the eye could see, the corridors were illumined by this brilliant, gentle, golden light. As I traveled through these corridors, I felt they were actually the yantra that Gurumayi blessed us with in her Message Artwork. I envisioned that yantra as a grand palace, honoring Shri Surya Devata. 
 
I recognized that this grandeur, this beauty, this golden light are as real as my day-to-day life. I also understood that I am the same as all this grandeur, beauty, and light! I was in awe, as this gave me a vision into my deeper nature. I became aware that I need to consciously accept this depth in me and lovingly go to the light in the middle of this divine grandeur—guided by Shri Guru's grace. 
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your immense compassion and love.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Richmond, Australia

The whole day had been grey, either cloudy or rainy. So I certainly was looking forward to going within and drawing the warmth, splendor, and effulgence of Lord Surya into my being by meditating to the Surya-gayatri mantra. But then—barely five minutes into the recitation, the clouds parted and the blue sky and the most gorgeous golden-yellow and ruby-red-brushed clouds emerged, as the sun shone, spreading its beauty across the firmament!
 
I felt so joyous and blessed that Lord Surya was so pleased and emphatically giving his blessing to all of us on this earth, as the musicians  recited the mantra in unison.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your grace, love, and compassion, and for guiding us through this sublime Surya-gayatri mantra.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Burnaby, Canada

Participating in this event in the Universal Hall with the global Siddha Yoga sangham has brought me great peace within. After the last Surya-gayatri mantra was recited, there was a moment where the sounds merged into silence. The vibrations of the syllables were so powerful that I experienced them throughout my entire body. I felt that moment was the culmination of my meditation and I was connecting with the deepest light of my inner Self.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Mexico City, Mexico

As I listened to the musicians reciting the Surya-gayatri mantra so beautifully and steadily, I experienced that the energy that sometimes separates my awareness from the world of nature, the spirits of animals, the wind, the sun, and the earth itself was dissolving. I felt enveloped in golden energy and my consciousness merged with the natural world in a river of love.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi,  for your grace and generosity in giving this mantra to us for the whole year.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Lismore Heights, Australia

Before this event, I was unfamiliar with the Surya-gayatri mantra; now, however, I feel that I understand its energy. During the live audio stream, I felt the pulsating energy of the mantra and the sun sparkle across my body like the Guru's grace.
 
I'm grateful for the warmth that Gurumayi's Message for 2018 will bring me throughout the year. This mantra will be a part of my journey to experience that warmth.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Minnesota, USA

I experienced great love and purification while listening to this powerful mantra. I felt this practice washing away past impressions and limiting ideas about life and relationships.
 
At the same time, I felt a new vision arise. I felt profound love for myself and all humankind. I experienced that we are all part of God.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for your guidance.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Florence, Italy

Wow, what a way to celebrate Makara Sankranti! As I was listening to the Surya-gayatri mantra, at first I focused on my breath.  Soon the vibrations of the mantra took me deep into my heart.
 
I closed my eyes, and saw the sun rising in my heart; I could feel its powerful energy. The light gradually increased and I could feel the warm heat of the sun deep in my heart. My breathing became still. I felt the mantra vibrating in my whole body. I heard my heart beat along with the vibrations of the mantra.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi ji, for giving me this divine experience of meditating with the Surya-gayatri mantra.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Ghoti, India

As I listened to the mantra and became absorbed in the words, melody, and cadence, I felt that honoring the sun is a way of honoring all of nature. I sensed that this chant is beneficial to the earth and to humanity. 

I experienced peace within and saw swirling golden light. I felt the sun of wisdom arising within me, permeating my being. 
 
I am so grateful for this practice and for the teachings and guidance of Gurumayi. I realize that I can experience satsang in every moment, if I pause and welcome God's glory into my heart.
 

a Siddha Yogi from California, USA

While reciting the Surya-gayatri mantra, I experienced a vibration in my whole body which led me to a state of inner calm and connectedness.
 
The raga we heard when this mantra was recited is so beautiful! It evoked for me the feeling that I am roaming with Bhagavan Nityananda along the Tansa River at sunrise.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Nasik, India

During meditation I experienced the sweet warmth of Surya Devata radiating within myself. This warmth awoke a strong longing to go deeper and experience the Truth that abides in the space of the Heart.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for the opportunity to have satsang in the Universal Hall. I am forever grateful for the constant flow of love that emanates from your teachings.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Dublin, Ireland

I was touched to realize that, through this live audio stream, Gurumayi had invited us all back into the Universal Hall so soon after the first webcast of A Sweet Surprise Satsang 2018. I received this invitation as a sign of Gurumayi’s great compassion and generosity—as if she were telling me, "Come! Come! Let's not waste a minute of this shining new year! Let's immerse ourselves in that glorious light within!"
 
As I slowly entered meditation, while the musicians continued their recitation of the Surya-gayatri mantra, I had the novel sensation that I was holding something solid in the space that my thumb and forefinger formed in chin mudra. It felt something like a walking stick or a shepherd's staff. With a grateful smile, I imagined that the Guru's grace was providing me with a tangible support as I set out on the path of this new year, just as this new kind of meditation will be a subtler support in helping me practice Gurumayi's Message throughout 2018.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Oregon, USA

During the live stream, as I meditated while listening to the Surya-gayatri mantra, I began to feel that my body, my mind, and my whole being were made of brilliant, golden light. And I could feel that radiance flowing out into the atmosphere around me.
 
As I think about Siddha Yogis around the world meditating in this way today and throughout the year, I feel tremendous hope for the Earth and all its inhabitants.
 
Thank you, Gurumayi, for giving us this powerful way to have satsang with our own inner sun and with each other.
 

a Siddha Yogi from Massachusetts, USA