These days of Pitṛ Pakṣa We’re taking a special journey together. Every day, we pause for a few minutes to look back at that long line of men and women through whom life has been passed down to us. Tonight, however, I’d like to do something more: At 8:00 p.m., we will practice the new Meditation for Ancestors together for the first time.

I have structured this meditation very carefully. It will not simply be a time to think vaguely about our departed loved ones, but a true journey through Seven Levels of Our Family Tree.

We will begin with ourselves, first and foremost by acknowledging the body and mind we have been given in this incarnation, while at the same time remembering that, according to the philosophy of yoga, We are not the body. We are spiritual beings who, for a certain period of time, are experiencing life through a specific family, a specific genetic makeup, and a specific history.

From here, we'll start heading back up.

First, our generation: brothers, sisters, cousins, and everyone else in our immediate family. Next, our parents and their brothers and sisters. Then our four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen ancestors from the previous generation, then thirty-two, and finally sixty-four direct ancestors.

As we go further back in time, the names begin to fade away. Perhaps we know our grandparents well. Maybe we have a few photographs of our great-grandparents. But if we go back just a little further, all that remains are empty spaces.

And yet those people really existed.

They had lives, relationships, fears, and hopes. They made mistakes and overcame difficulties. Some caused pain; others brought blessings. Most likely, both.

And without each and every one of them We wouldn't be here.

During meditation, when we encounter people who are still alive, we will direct gratitude and kind thoughts toward them. For those who have left their physical bodies, however, we will use Svadhā, the formula traditionally associated with offerings to the Pitṛs:

Svadhā · Svadhā · Svadhā

At the end of each generation, we will also recite a Mahā Mantra, offering the benefits of our spiritual practice to everyone along that line.

We don't have to know everyone's names. We don't have to remember every face perfectly. And above all, we mustn't convince ourselves that everything that happened in our family was right.

Honoring our ancestors does not mean idealizing them.

We can acknowledge that someone has hurt us. We can acknowledge that difficult situations have recurred over time. We can also consciously choose that something should no longer continue through us.

At the same time, we can recognize the good things we have received: a talent, a skill, the strength to start over, a special sensitivity, faith, protection, or simply that very long biological chain through which we have received this body.

That is why meditation will not merely be a process of “liberation.” It will also be a great exercise in gratitude and awareness.

In the end, we will symbolically look at the entire family tree: us, two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four ancestors, and all the collateral branches of their families.

A huge tree that converges, for a moment, right here.

Inside Our Lives.

Tonight at 8:00 p.m.

Tonight, at 8:00 p.m., I'd like to do this meditation together for the first time.

If you'd like, simply set up a quiet space. You can light a lamp or a candle, or place some flowers or a photo of your family in front of you. But it's not essential. The most important thing is to set aside this time for ourselves.

During Pitṛ Pakṣa, I also recommend repeating the meditation every day—or as often as possible—until the Sarva Pitṛ Amāvasyā.

The meditation will, of course, remain available even after the live stream, so you can use it whenever you feel the need to consciously return to your roots.

👉 Tonight at 8:00 p.m. – Meditation for the Ancestors · 7 Generations, Svadhā, and Mahā Mantra

See you tonight.

Svadhā · Svadhā · Svadhā