The Guru Shows the Path

[Guest guest]

Om Sai Ram

Below is an article by Shammi Paranjape: "The Guru Shows the Path" printed

in Saturday, December 6, 2003 in Indiatimes spirituality. Section: Guru

A guru shows the path of enlightenment to seekers. Gu denotes darkness

(ignorance) and ru denotes the removal of that darkness. The word guru has two

other meanings.

 

In the first one, gu signifies guna titha (one who has transcended the

three gunas) and ru signifies the formless aspect (one who has grasped That).

Gur means heavy or weighty, signifying the weight of the guru's wisdom, which

can benefit others.

 

The guru is both a formal teacher and a spiritual preceptor. He is a

storehouse of spiritual energy, which he can transmit to others. He helps the

aspirant to polish his inner self till it reflects the light of truth. In the

Shirdi Sai Satcharita a seeker asks Shirdi Baba: "Where to go?" Baba replies:

"High up". The seeker then asks: "How to go there?" Baba answers: "Take a

guide, he will take you straight and make you avoid the ditches and wild beasts

in the jungle". Even avatars like Rama and Krishna subjected themselves to the

tutelage of worthy gurus like Vashishta and Sandipani.

 

The guru-shishya parampara honours the teacher as God and promotes

reverence for vidya (knowledge). It inculcates humility in the student and

respect and gratitude in him for the dispenser of knowledge. Other noble

virtues like discipline, dedication, sense of duty, sacrifice and compassion

also evolve with the guru's help.

A true guru guides you on the spiritual path to salvation. He promotes

your furtherance on the Godward path. He is also the one who grants great

inspiration to good works. 'Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshwara,

Gurur Sakshat Parabrahma, Tasmaye Shri Guruvai Namaha'. In this sloka the guru

is compared with the trinity of Gods — Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara

— because a sincere guru has to take on all the three functions of the

trinity — creation (of good qualities), sustenance (of higher nature) and

destruction (of negative qualities).

 

The best guru dakshina is to adhere to the guru's words. Once, a guru sent

his pupil to collect dry 'useless' leaves from a forest as guru dakshina. The

disciple searched long and hard but was unsuccessful. Whenever he tried to

gather the dry leaves he would be stopped by forest folk collecting them for

fuel to heat water, humus for plants, for making patravalis (plates) or for

preparing herbal medicines. He went back disappointed, without the guru

dakshina. His guru said that the knowledge he had gained of how 'nothing was

useless', was his guru dakshina, and his purpose in sending the student to the

forest was to teach him that.

By the gurus' grace — guru krupa — everything auspicious is

obtained. However, the path is not easy. The disciple has to offer his ego at

the guru's feet and accept his inscrutable methods of instruction. The guru's

words may not be an explicit command (Sri Ramana Maharashi hardly uttered a

word to his shishyas) — it may simply involve a subtle fine-tuning to the

natural requirements of a purified conscience. As Sri Sathya Sai Baba says, the

ultimate goal of the guru-shishya relationship is to make the latter attain the

heights of self-awareness, whereby dependence on all external forms - even that

of the guru - is shed, and the Param Guru or the Self is gloriously revealed

within.

Guru Purnima is celebrated on a full moon night in honour of Ved Vyasa,

the Loka Guru. The full moon symbolises the cool clear light of the guru's

intellect which alone can dispel ignorance. Guru Ved Vyasa arranged and

classified the Vedas in their present order and made them available for the

benefit of mankind. Hence he is called Ved Vyasa. Source:

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/342939.cms