Darshan is described traditionally as a blessing that is received from being in the presence of a holy person, saint, or guru. An individual such as Amma (referred to as the “hugging saint”) gives darshan through her loving embraces to millions of people all over the world. A number of years ago, I was honored to have this powerful sacred experience with her. Yet, perhaps there are many ways to give and receive darshan in the world, not necessarily reserved solely for meeting saints or gurus. What if we all carry that loving presence within us? A soul energy we pass to others whenever we open our hearts fully.

As the Earth goes through its current radical transformation and rebirth, humanity too is experiencing a shift. A shift that aligns us more completely with our inner being. Therein lies our connection to all that is holy or divine, something we attributed in the past only to spiritual masters. We are moving into an age of conscious spirit. One in which everyday darshan can become part of all our lives. Darshan from the mail carrier, the grocery store clerk, the bus driver. Darshan to a stranger passing in the street. Darshan from/to those nearest and dearest to us. The possibilities are endless if we live with an open heart.

The question is: how do we get there? How do we open our hearts that wide? Well, maybe we’re already there, and we just haven’t realized it yet. Perhaps our hearts are full to overflowing right now. Maybe all that’s needed is a flick of the switch of awareness to put us in darshan mode. The secret is that that switch can be turned on at any moment—and stay that way. Looking in the eyes of a loved one, watching a beautiful sunset or listening to birdsong at dawn, sitting quietly with an animal companion, helping your neighbor shovel snow, reading the moving words of a poet such as Mary Oliver—all these can deepen the love in your heart and awaken the infinite blessings of darshan.

Also, darshan doesn’t have to be available only sometimes, from someone or something outside you. It can be part of your daily life if you expand your consciousness to perceive it within your soul and then breathe it outward. In that very act, the giving becomes the receiving, and the distinction between the two dissolves. You are living darshan right along with everyone and everything around you.

Actually, the basis of all life on Earth is darshan. The sun blesses us with darshan all day long, as do the moon and stars at night. Mother Earth herself vibrates darshan in every plant, tree, and flower. The blood in your body pulsates darshan, and your fingers invoke darshan through touch. Darshan is invisible but ever-present. From birth to death and beyond, we are accompanied by its sweet energy. Now, as our hearts open wider to the world around us and we live with soul awareness, we are able to recognize it in every single moment of our lives.