WHO IS A TRUE MASTER and WHO IS A TRUE SEEKER?

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SAI RAM Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This humble self would like to share some of his understandings as to who is a true Guru and what qualities a true disciple should possess. Our Sastras ordain that a true seeker of the Self( Atma vastunah jigjasoh)

should learn to enquire and meditate after duly approaching a Guru, who is himself established in the experience of the Self (Brahma vidhuttamam) and who is a ocean of kindness(Dayasindhum). It is not that every man of Realisation can efficiently take up the work of directing others on the path towards the Goal. A Guru should not only be a man of Self-experience, but he should also ahve a large heart full of kindness and sympathy for all types of seekers. This is an indispensable requisite without which the Master will not be able to go down to the level of the disciples and sympathetically appreciate their difficulties in understanding the Sastras and in living up to the high discipline that is expected of them by the Srutis. Thus a learned seeker who is striving to gain liberation from Bondage and who has renounced all his desires for pleasures in the sense-objects, should duly approach a good master and must live attuned to the true significances of the words of the Master. The Master has to be one who is a sant ie., firmly established in the consciouness of Pure Existance (Sat). A Guru or Master must not only be a man of full Realisation and experience of Truth(Atma) but should also be a large-hearted ,sympathetic, kind person. Without these qualifications of the heart, he will not be able to come down from the level of his experience and mingle with the imperfect seekers who come to him and understand fully their difficulties on the path. One can be True Master only if one has the required magnanimity,intimate personal experience of the Divine and indepth and thourough knowledge of the scriptures. Without a thorough study of the scriptures the Master can not get the necessary language of expression and also the required intellectual arguments to resolve a student`s doubts into abiding convictions.

 

(to be continued)

With Loving SAI RAMs,

G.Balasubramanian

 

 

On 14 Apr 2007 01:55:57 -0700, Swamy Mahadevan <mahadevanvnswamy wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

What qualities a man should develop to evolve as a disciple and how?The quality of being a Guru as well as being a disciple is inherent in every individual. In childhood parents give the child the

elementary education of conduct, behavior and culture. As he grows up he goes to the school and college and learns from the teacher. In the normal course of life also one learns a lot from somebody or else. As far as it relates to be disciple of a spiritual or religious Guru, it has its own tradition. The first necessity to be a disciple is to have complete faith in the Guru that whatever the Guru is doing that is in his(the disciple's) own interest. Guru should also be the one who thinks of the welfare of the disciple only. The second thing is that as far as possible one should follow the words said by the Guru and the instructions given by Him. If the Guru says, be kind and feed the poor, then one should do it as much

as his capacity permits. If there are problems in the path told by the Guru then they should be conveyed to Him. The true Guru will tell the solution of those problems under the prevailing circumstances. No Guru would like that one should abandon everything else to become his disciple. Guru will indicate such a course that is suitable in the complex world.