DE PUEBLA
3.5. LA IMPORTANCIA DE LOS RECETARIOS DE LOS CONVENTOS Y MONASTERIOS POBLANOS QUE DAN ORIGEN A LOS PLATILLOS
The Guru who deserves homage must possess these attributes. This is only another way of saying that God alone can be the guide, the path and the goal. Gurus available for aspirants are themselves deluded into foggy paths and faltering faith. The genuine Guru must have overcome Maya and the ego; he must be free from desire and need. When a person yearns for some benefit or profit and is engaged in sadhana with that view, he cannot be accepted as Guru.
The verse which speaks of Guru as Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara is quoted often. But, the One has not broken into three, one part in charge of creation, another who fosters and maintains and the third who dissolves and destroys. The Pranava mantra OM is symbol of the One; it is composed of three sounds A (as in far), U (as in push) and M (as in hum). Brahma is A, Vishnu is U and Shiva is M and all three are indivisibly united in OM.
The problem this verse poses is whether Guru is God or God is Guru. The answer is--God is Guru, the ever-present, ever compassionate, the Witness who resides in the heart. (SSS Vol.18)
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Who is fit to be a Guru?
“Without a preceptor, all learning is blind.2" To see your own eyes, you need a mirror; to see yourself in your native grandeur, you need a guru (preceptor). (SSS Vol.6, p. 22)
Who is fit to be a Guru and who is fit to be a shishya (disciple)? If we examine the Gita, we will know whether we are the ideal shishyas (disciples) or not. In the Bhagavath Gita, the shishya is Narotthama (the highest among men), the Guru is Purushothama (the Supreme Person); the shishya is a Mahatma (high-souled), the Guru is Paramatma (the Over-soul); the shishya is Aadarsha-murthi (an ideal person), the Guru is an Avatara-Aadarsha-murthi (incarnation of the Divine); the shishya is a Patradhara (an actor), the Guru is Sutradhara (the director of the play); the shishya is a Dhanurdhara (wielder of the bow), the Guru is Yogeshwara (the Lord of Yoga). It is this type of Guru-Shishya relationship which illustrates the ideal combination. (SSS Vol.17, p. 90)
The signs and qualities of a true Guru
The true Guru3 is one, who has no ego or selfishness, and who can raise the shishya to his own level. Donning the saffron robe,
2 (Divine Discourse on 29/7/1969 Gurupurnima day Prashanthi Nilayam)
3 An authentic Gurus, have the double qualification of gu and ru: gu. (Divine Discourse on 29/7/1969 Gurupurnima day Prashanthi Nilayam) Guru (spiritual preceptor), who knows the Truth by experience and whose daily activities, words and thoughts reflect this realisation. The Guru is called so because the letter GU signifies Gunaatheetha---one who has transcended the three gunas (qualities)---the Tamasic, the Rajasic and even the Satwic (ignorant passionate and virtuous); and the letter RU signifies one who is Roopa Varjitha (one who has grasped the formless aspect of God-head (SSS Vol.1 p.26) and [who have transcended Form and Flavour, those who
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mouthing a few mantras (sacred formulas) and expounding some texts are the signs of many Gurus these days. The signs of a true Guru are large-heartedness, absolute selflessness, purity in living, freedom from acquisitiveness, absence of envy, and equal mindedness in his conduct towards everyone. Freedom from envy is an essential quality in a Guru or shishya, because envy is the root cause of many evils4. The Guru's role is to lead the shishya on the Godward path. He must teach the true purpose for which each of his sense organs is to be used--his eyes, his tongue, and his limbs.
All the senses are to be used for discovering and experiencing the Divine. (SSS Vol.17, p. 90)The pupil (shishya) has to sit near the Guru (Acharya) or Preceptor, paying steady attention to what is
have merged in God, or the Atma Itself. It is only these who can help you to attain. (Divine Discourse on 29/7/1969 Gurupurnima day Prashanthi Nilayam) Of course, he could come to that stage only through the for guidance and from your own heart you will receive the Geetha that you need from the Charioteer who is there. You can easily get plenty of preceptors the moment you seek; for, it has now become a profession, full of competing practitioners, each one trying to collect as many disciples, as much money, and as wide a reputation as he can. There are some who have developed swollen heads, while others suffer from short sight or bitterness or itching palm. How can persons challenging each other for dry disputations be revered as Gurus? When they do not possess, along with the elation of scholarship, the ecstasy of Divine Experience, they are not entitled to that holy mission He who seeks a Guru can find him in every word spoken within his hearing, in every incident that happens around him.
(SSS Vol.9 p.76-77)
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being communicated to him. Then only can he learn the fund of knowledge and the skill of discrimination. (Vidya Vahini, p. 3)
The great one who has the Atmic truth imprinted on the heart is alone to be accepted as the Guru. The individual who can welcome this Truth and is eager to know it, he alone is to be accepted as the Pupil. The seed must have the life principle latent in it. The field must be ploughed and made fit for the sowing. The spiritual harvest will be plentiful if both these conditions are fulfilled. The listener has to possess a clear receptive intellect, or else the philosophical principles that form the basis of Jnana will not be comprehended.
The guru and the pupil both have to be of this stature. Others who have no such qualification or authority can only dabble and play about purposelessly in the spiritual field.
There are Gurus with far higher stature and far deeper capabilities than these learned and cultural masters. They are the Avatars, the Human Incarnations of God. They confer, by mere willing, the blessing of spiritual strength.
They command and by the very force of that command, the lowest of the low rises to the status of One who has attained the goal of spiritual sadhana (Siddhapurusha). Such persons are the Gurus of all gurus. They are the highest manifestations of God in the human form. . (Vidya Vahini)
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Guru-shishya relationship a cherished tradition of Bharatiya culture:
The sacred relationship between the guru (teacher) and the shishya (pupil) has been idealised in Bharat as in no other country. It has come down to us over the aeons as a cherished tradition. The words of the preceptor, at the time the pupils left the gurukulam (school in which shishyas live with their guru, serving him and learning from him) for their homes, were vibrant with meaning. “Worship your mother and father as God. Regard your teacher as God and receive your guest as God Himself”, (Matru Devo bhavah, Pitru Devo bhavah, Acharya Devo bhavah, Athithi Devo bhavah), the guru would say.
“Sathyam vada, Dharmam chara” (speak the truth and practise dharma). This is also one of the important aphorisms enunciated by the ancient gurus of India. It emphasises the importance of sathya and dharma. Sathya is the eternal, absolute and unchanging truth.
Dharma is often translated as righteousness, but it is much more than that. Dharma is a power-packed term epitomising an entire philosophy and a way of life. It is the summum bonum of Indian ethics. A shishya or disciple is one who has grasped the content of sathya and dharma by constant sadhana or spiritual practice.
Sathya and dharma sum up the code of conduct and scale of values explicated in the immortal scriptures of India. (SSB 1979, p. 170)
In the ancient hermitages (Gurukulams), after the pupil had finished his studies under the guru, the guru gave him such exalted advice as no pupil in any other country received from his master:
“Mathru Devo Bhava (May the mother be your God), Pithru Devo Bhava (May your father be your God) Aacharya Devo Bhava (May
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your preceptor be your God),” “Sathyam Vada (Speak the truth),”
“Dharmam chara (Act righteously),” “No Itharaani (Do not adopt other ways).” These were the commands. “Stop all acts that are unrighteous. Engage yourselves only in such activities as would promote your progress.” This was the advice. The Vedas and the Upanishads refer to these commands only when they lay down that we should utter Shaanthi, Shaanthi, Shaanthihi, praying for peace on earth.
The advice given to the pupils is, every bit of it, highly powerful.
By his devoted service to his mother and father, Dharmavyadha won eternal fame. Through consistent adherence to Truth, Rama and Harischandra made themselves immortal. By means of right conduct, mere men rose to the position of Mahapurushas. Buddha desisted from harm to living beings. He spoke of Ahimsa (non-violence) as “Paramo dharmah” (the highest morality). So, he was revered as a world teacher. (Vidya Vahini)
Faith in the Guru:
The Sastras say:
Have faith in the doctor, so that you may get cured of illness;
Have faith in the mantra (holy formula) with which the preceptor initiates you, for then alone can your sadhana be fruitful;
Have faith in the sacredness of the temple, for then alone is your pilgrimage profitable;
Have faith in the astrologer's predictions, for, without it, why bother yourselves with him and his abracadabra?
Have faith in the Guru, for then alone will your steps be steady and firm, on the path to self-realisation.
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Faith in the Guru should bring faith in the Atma (true Self), or else, the Guru is a handicap. (SSS Vol.7, p. 79)
The Guru has very often to tell you that you have forgotten your real name or that you have lost the most precious part of yourself and yet are unaware of the loss. The Guru is the physician for the illness which brings about the suffering of alternate birth and death.
He is an adept at the treatment needed for the cure. If you do not get such a Guru, pray to the Lord Himself to show you the way and He will surely come to your rescue. (SSS Vol.1, p. 27)
The guru is the person who discovers that you have fallen into a wrong road that leads to further and further darkness. For, he knows the fight road and he is full of love for all who strive to escape the travails of the night, without lamps to light their steps.
This is a day when the First of Gurus is remembered with gratitude.
He is called Narayana, because Narayana is the reality and if you do not get a Guru from outside yourself, if you pray, the Narayana inside you will Himself reveal the road and lead you on. It is always preferable to be prompted by that inner Guru, because most of those who claim to that status are themselves rolling in objective pleasure or are bound by greed, envy or malice. Guru also means 'heavy'; many have only the qualification of physical weight, not of spiritual height! (SSS Vol.5, p. 22)
When devotion shines full, the sky in the heart becomes a bowl of
beauty and life is transformed into a charming avenue of
Ananda (bliss). That beauty of heart, that Ananda in life can
be won through the mind, if the lessons of Guru Poornima day is
remembered and realised.
- Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai
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