To Adriane about the presence of the Guru

[Guest guest]

Dear Adriane,

I found this beautiful story on the Shree Maa group site which I also belong to, and I thought it was a beautiful example of how Amma, our Satguru, creates alll the situations in our lives for the benefit of our spiritual growth. Because She is within us, and present at every moment, knowing every thought, every tear & fear, every experience, She can use everything in existance to bring us what we need. In this way, everything becomes our teacher. She is the supreme consciousness that pervades everything, and so She can be present with us through every moment. In this way, even the clouds and sky become our teacher. There is nothing that is not Her. So, as we grow, we can become aware that She is with us at every moment. We are constantly in the presence of our Guru, and She uses every moment to teach us, nuture us, support us, remind us, love us, teaches us how to swim.

When the great Sufi mystic, Hasan, was dying, somebody asked "Hasan, who

was your master?"

 

He said, "I had thousands of masters. If I just relate their names it

will take months, years and it is too late. But three masters I will

certainly tell you about.

 

One was a thief. Once I got lost in the desert, and when I reached a

village it was very late, everything was closed. But at last I found one

man who was trying to make a hole in t he wall of a house. I asked him

where I could stay and he said 'At this time of night it will be

difficult, but you can say with me - if you can stay with a thief'

 

And the man was so beautiful. I stayed for one month! And each night he

would say to me, 'Now I am going to my work. You rest, you pray.' When

he came back I would ask 'Could you get anything?' He would say, 'Not

tonight. But tomorrow I will try again, God willing.' He was never in a

state of hopelessness, he was always happy.

 

When I was meditating and meditating for years on end and nothing was

happening, many times the moment came when I was so desperate, so

hopeless, that I thought to stop all this nonsense. And suddenly I would

remember the thief who would say every night, 'God willing, tomorrow it

is going to happen.'

 

And my second master was a dog. I was going to the river, thirsty and a

dog came. He was also thirsty. He looked into the river, he saw another

dog there -- his own image -- and became afraid. He would bard and run

away, but his thirst was so much that he would come back. Finally,

despite his fear, he just jumped into the water, and the image

disappeared. And I knew that a message had come to me from God: one has

to jump in spite of all fears.

 

And the third master was a small child. I entered a town and a child was

carrying a lit candle. he was going to the mosque to put the candle

there.

 

'Just joking,' I asked the boy, 'Have you lit the candle yourself?' He

said, 'Yes sir.' And I asked, 'There was a moment when the candle was

unlit, then there was a moment when the candle was lit. Can you show me

the source from which the light came?'

 

And the boy laughed, blew out the candle, and said, 'Now you have seen

the light going. Where has it gone? You will tell me!'

 

My ego was shattered, my whole knowledge was shattered. And that moment

I felt my own stupidity. Since then I dropped all my knowledgeability.

 

It is true that I had no master. That does not mean that I was not a

disciple -- I accepted the whole existence as my master. My Disciplehood

was a greater involvement than yours is. I trusted the clouds, the

trees. I trusted existence as such. I had no master because I had

millions of masters I learned from every possible source. To be a

disciple is a must on the path. What does it mean to be a disciple? It

means to be able to learn. to be available to learn to be vulnerable to

existence. With a master you start learning to learn.

 

The master is a swimming pool where you can learn how to swim. Once you

have learned, all the oceans are yours."