Response to Jen

[Guest guest]

Dear Jen,

Thank you so much for your timely and extremely beautiful poem. I had just

completed writing the message below when your email popped into my box. A

friend, who is working on a book right now, is writing a chapter on spiritual

direction and she asked me to offer some thoughts on why people need a guru? In

the end, I think it is because it is a heart to heart connection like you so

passionately described in your poem. After al my wordiness, your beautiful poem

captured the true spirit of why....So, I want to share with you a section of

what I wrote to my friend since we seemed to be writing on the subject of our

beloved Guru at the same time. I would welcome others ideas on why we need a

guru as well.

 

JGD,

Daria

 

Here's the excerpt:

 

First, I would like to "muse" on your "Why the Need?" question. I'm not sure

I can fully answer it in one sitting, and I may have several other ideas as

I think about this in the next few days, but I will tell you what my

immediate thoughts are.

 

This is a question that other people frequently thrust in my face because I

have been so devoted to my guru for the last 16 years. So the question is

always

"Why do you need him? Why are you giving your power away to another person?"

>From the outside looking in, that seems like a legitimate question, and one

that I actually asked myself of other devotees when I first met Sri Swamiji.

Sri Swamiji himself even teaches that you don't need him, that you are your

own guru....so why bother?

 

A guru/devotee relationship is a strange thing. People come to Guru's for

all sorts of reasons. As you probably already know, many people

come to gurus not seeking spiritual growth, but because they believe the

guru can bestow jobs, wealth, health, right marriages, etc. on them. So

there are followers who come for increased material possessions. There's no

judgment in this--that is where they are in their lives, and miracles which

give them results can help increase faith and the desire for further

exploration of spiritual matters. Others come for healing--be it from a

serious illness, emotional problems, addictions, etc. There are always a

number of people who are seriously emotionally/physically ill around a guru.

Below is the name of a book that is excellent in researching who it is that

comes to gurus in this regard. I highly recommend it, and will tell you that

most of what I've read there is true in my experience, and in the

experiences of others I've observed. So if you can get a hold of it, by all

means read it. It's well worth it. This is the book:

Shamans, Mystics and Doctors : A Psychological Inquiry into India and its

Healing Traditions

 

Another reason people come is because they are seeking to gain power. They

want mantras, rituals, etc. that will give them greater spiritual power.

They see themselves as gurus and want to increase their influence.

 

Others inherit their guru. He/She has been the family spiritual leader and

they have been raised to follow this guru.

 

Others come because they are in a philosophical/religious crisis. And others

come because they have dreamt of the guru, or had a vision of him and find

him.

 

Still others come to the guru because he/she (the guru) has karma to finish

with these individuals. We never think about Gurus having karmic debt, but

Swamiji has discussed just this fact.

 

Others come because they want to destroy the guru, ruin his/her reputation,

steal power, etc. Others because they believe their guru is an incarnation of

the divine and they want to serve their God.

 

Still others are found by him. When you are ready, the teacher does come! I'm

sure there are myriads of other reasons people believe they need a guru.

 

 

Guru's and devotees have a special connection that spans all of their

incarnations. If you have that connection, it is like finding a soulmate when

you meet your guru. It's that

simple. It is a love affair of sorts. I don't mean that in sexual terms in

any way. But the heart to heart connection is intense, and it can be all

consuming at times.

 

Still, why a guru? Well, one important reason is because if you are truly

seeking to know the truth about yourself and to become enlightened, you have to

learn to surrender and to serve. Many

people who are on a so-called spiritual path are seeking power, but few have

the psychic/emotional/physical wherewithal to maintain it, use it wisely,

defend it, or even to really understand it. Most are not willing to put in

the long hours of hard work on oneself it takes to surrender your ego. Of

course the paradox is that the more you surrender, the more you

self-actualize and come into your own power. The guru will keep you

surrendering until you fully learn to serve--first him/her, then the

immediate community, etc. etc. etc.....when you have come to the realization

that to be a master is to be a slave to others then you might begin to do some

real work, but still you must always surrender to Guru. Am I making sense?

 

One last idea to add, is that your guru will always see greater

gifts in you than you see in yourself....and that alone is enough reason to

stay....