Understanding the importance of the guru The scriptures mention Kali (pronounced as in sully) as the demon terrorising human beings on earth in the present Great Age named after him (Kaliyug), in the recurring cycle of life on earth. He is depicted as an uncouth creature holding his tongue in the right hand and his penis in the left, grimacing and engaged in vulgar antics as the bringer of divisiveness, strife and suffering. When he comes to pay his respects to Shiva before setting off for the earth, Shiva asks him the reason for his strange behaviour. Kali replies that Brahma, while sending him off on his new mission, has reminded him that everything will turn out fine so long as he keeps a firm hold on his tongue and his penis! Shiva, after a hearty laugh, warns him not to harm the devout and pious folk, especially those who are devoted to the Sadguru! The guru is one who brings the light of Self-awareness to the disciple by cutting through his self-delusive ignorance, setting the aspirant on the spiritual path free of lifetimes of accumulated karma. There is the well-known adage, ‘Guru kripa hi kevalam’, which underscores a crucial aspect of Self-realisation… every progress, every fortunate event on the path of spiritual evolution is the result of the Guru’s grace alone. Whatever the means of bestowing grace, whether through mantra, through penance, through a look, a word, or through formal shaktipat diksha, the guru transfers his own luminescent energy to the deserving disciple, to bring forth enlightenment out of the darkness of separative delusion. The guru-shishya lineage persists through cycles of transmigration, and in each life the guru appears on his own when the disciple has reached the stage of further spiritual unfoldment. The Indian spiritual universe is full of seemingly irresoluble paradoxes, the creative and insightful resolution of which results in exponential growth. While underscoring the importance of absolute surrender to the guru, the scriptures also repeatedly warn about developing utmost discrimination in finding the true guru, or the Sadguru. Many signs are mentioned in assuring oneself of having found the Sadguru, in terms of whether the gurus practice what they preach; whether obedience to the guru’s precepts brings spiritual unfoldment for the disciple, with the attendant experience of oneness with the cosmic reality; and whether association with the guru brings for the disciple the attainment of equanimity and freedom from attachment to material sense objects and worldly desires. Corresponding duties and responsibilities on part of the disciple are also underscored. It is the mother, and then the father, who are considered as the earliest gurus in the life of the aspirant, followed by the formal school teachers. Many families or entire clans follow a particular Kulaguru, a holy man who may preside over the well-being of the entire group, and subsequently it is his lineage that continues this association down the years. At other times, degrees of illumination are accessed through synchronous events, such as unknowingly opening a book at a particular passage, to find a message that brings a quantum leap in consciousness. Or it can be a natural event, such as witnessing a sunset or a rainbow that easily elevates consciousness to the next level in discipleship. The archetypal guru Dattatreya, considered the highest inspiration behind every guru, admitted to having twenty-four Gurus. Most of them are rather ordinary and insignificant, but the extraordinary insight of the guru reveals the inner transformative quality of each. That a majority of them occur in Nature, underscores the commonly observed ecological awareness of the wandering ascetic and renunciate. Then again, who can be exalted enough to be the guru of the highest divinity, other than the great goddess who manifests as nature or prakriti? The Living Guru The higher that one ascends on the path, more imperative it is to meet the living guru, who alone can help the disciple to overcome all the blocks and negativities, in order to transcend past life karma. This is important because the mind is a trickster that can mislead the disciple into a false sense of security or smugness about spiritual attainments, and only the living guru can cut through cherished delusions of the initiate, fine tuning the composite psyche to enable it to receive higher grace. Such work cannot be achieved through the worship of departed masters as guru, although at times, supplication to them in earnest to be directed to the living guru does culminate in finding the Sadguru. The subject of the eternal guru and the nature of his work at the physical, cellular level and also in the universe, on behalf of the disciple is on a mind boggling scale. We are yet to make scientific advances in terms of developing conceptual and linguistic tools in modern times that can enable us to understand the vastness of the Consciousness that influences our lives and our own consciousness through eternity. But it is understood that the initiate does not really begin to make significant progress on the spiritual path until the consciousness has merged with that of the guru. This again, is only a stage in spiritual evolution. And even for the most realised masters, in this life and beyond, surrender to a Sadguru continues to be the touchstone of their own ongoing evolution. This is as much true for the great rishis of yore, as for ordinary human beings on the path! Previous                                                              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  Next>> Archive