The Greatest Gift for a Father

Chris Bauer, a volunteer from iii shares:

My father has played quite a significant role in my life, as fathers do. His name is Charles Bauer. He loves reading science fiction novels and listening to all sorts of music, Pink Floyd and Yes being his favorite groups from his youth. He has always been dedicated worker, doing everything he could to take care of and raise the family. I still remember the days in my early childhood when he would work all day at the architect firm from early morning until evening, come home to eat dinner with us, and then go to Marsh to work the late night shift. I never heard him complain once.

One thing I always appreciated about him was his simplicity in dealing with life situations. Things that everyone else would get upset or mad over, he would keep cool and calm. There were many times when I was blowing my top off with teenage angst and rage, yelling at him in anger, and slamming doors in the house. He always dealt with me calmly, logically, sensibly and always managed to get me to come around.

Once I started practicing Isha Yoga, I always felt that if he could give it a chance he would absolutely love it, because Sadhguru is the ultimate expression of being able to keep your cool in any situation and speaks more logically and sensibly than anyone I have ever met. But I never thought my dad would actually come around to taking the program. Working hard to raise his family was the life he chose and he was immersed in that. However, when his son (that’s me) went off one summer to live in an ashram for a little while and ended up moving in permanently, he started to take a deeper interest in what this yoga and meditation was all about.

His interest finally came to the point where both he and my mother enrolled for the Inner Engineering program with Sadhguru in Atlanta just last year. That’s one thing which I never thought I would see him actually doing. But lo and behold, he now practices Hata Yoga and the Shambhavi Mahamudra kriya. My sister also just recently took the program as well. So now my entire biological family is practicing Isha Yoga on a daily basis, which is an indescribable blessing that I’m still trying to wrap my head around.

Watching him go through the program, along with my mother, created such a huge sensation of gratitude within me because the thing is, they have done so much for me in life. They have raised me from infancy and have gone through all the hardships of being a parent to offer me a chance at this phenomenal life. In terms of what I have to offer them in return, the greatest gift that I could ever offer them is this Isha Yoga and meditation. It’s the most genuine, life-enhancing and transforming process I have ever discovered, which far surpasses all the other things that I had tried in life. Something that can make the experience of life so indescribably blissful and beautiful — I can’t think of anything else in the world I would wish for them to have. I still remember the day they got initiated into Shambhavi with Sadhguru. My dad was smiling ear to ear and my mother eyes were filled with tears of joy. It was one of the most wonderful days of my life.

We always had a decent relationship, but now there is so much more free-flow, depth and joy to it. Things that used to feel somewhat pent up or suppressed just find expression so easily now between us. It’s hard to put into words, but the connectivity and openness with one another is much greater than it used to be before Isha. I have noticed him laughing and smiling much more freely. It really makes me happy, the way he is enjoying his life more and more every time I talk to him or see him. It’s not any one thing that I can put my finger on. There is a certain warmth and glow to him now that continues to grow. Like I said, it really is the best gift I could ever give to my father. 

Want to offer this life-transforming possibility to your father for Father's Day? Gift registration for the upcoming Inner Engineering with Sadhguru is available here.