Tomorrow is Guru Poornima, it is a Vedic Festival that is celebrated as per the Hindu moon sign calendar to express reverence towards the Guru who is guiding humanity towards the ultimate goal of Enlightenment.
For most people who are too centered on logic, they cannot fathom why a person requires a Guru in his life, let alone having with a living Guru. Only a being, who experiences the heart and the depth of cognitions, will be able to taste the sweetness of a magical life with a living Guru.
What is Guru?
The true meaning of Guru is “one who dispels darkness of ignorance”. “Gu” means “darkness of ignorance” and “Ru” means “one who removes”. Fundamentally, Guru is not a person it is a principle (Guru tattva). The one who has no Guru above him is the true Guru. Guri here refers to the Atmic principle present in every human being. The real Guru who can reveal the Atmic principle is a Jnaanamurthy (embodiment of wisdom); He is the very embodiment of Divine principles; and He is one who takes upon Himself a form to teach the same to the disciples; he is God Himself. Another meaning of the word Guru is “one who is beyond attributes and forms”. Gu stands for Gunaatheetha – one who transcends the three Gunas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas); Ru stands for Rupavarjitha – one who is formless. The One who is beyond all attributes and forms is none other than the Supreme Self (the Brahmam) who resides in the heart within each of us. Only God can be regarded as One who is beyond attributes and forms.
Guru is Brahma – the Creator of the universe. Guru is Vishnu who is all pervasive and is also the Doer in the universe. Guru is Maheshvara who commands and ordains everything in the universe in the right manner. Guru is not one who merely teaches. A real Guru is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, He is God Himself. There is only one Guru, that is God and there is no other Guru. We have to recognize Him as our only preceptor. He is the preceptor of preceptors. Realizing that God dwells within us, we must treat God as the universal Guru and the preceptor for mankind and contemplate on Him.
From Guru Gita when Lord Shiva revealed the Guru Gita to His consort, Devi, it says: The Absolute is not different from the Guru. This is the truth. This is the Truth. O Beautiful One. The Guru is not different from the conscious Self. This is true, this is true, there is no doubt. Therefore, a wise one should indeed make an effort to attain the Guru.
When one is caught by the form of the Guru which is used solely to relate with human beings, he or she will miss the Guru in the path of liberation. When one is able to go beyond the form into the formless, he or she will experience the essence of the Guru who is none other than the Self. There is a saying – when the disciple is ready, the Guru appears. The Guru is here to remind us of our forgotten true Self.
I’ve seen many people who treat Guru like a business relationship. When they offer the service, they expect or demand the Guru to grant them something. They simply reduce this sacred relationship into a bargain or begging. When this happens, it often ends up with more incompletions with the Guru because it is the wrong inner space to begin with due to layers of ignorance and arrogance. These people either run away from the Guru or they remain as a devotee of the Guru in his public life.
I’ve seen that only those whose inner space is as innocent and authentic as a child, they are also highly integrated to the Guru, this group gets into his private life and they live with him as a part of his family and team called teamily. Being a part of the Guru’s family is the greatest blessing as it means you not only align your life towards his mission with integrity to what he stands for, you also become his extension. Each one’s relationship with the Guru is unique because each being is unique. Since the Guru knows the entire journey of each soul where it is stuck, so there is no basis for comparison. When you experience the oneness with the Guru, you will be able to relate with everyone as him.
I have the greatest fortune of having the grace of a living Avatar, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji) as my Guru since 2006. I must say that my life is no longer logical but magical as each day is a new adventure and a divine play with the Source. I have learned so much from him about life, about Self, about completion, about relationships, about world, about leadership consciousness and above all about Sadashiva (Super Consciousness), yet I still can’t fathom him fully because he is the UNKNOWN. You feel this constant expansion as the Guru will not let you stay in a comfort zone, he ensures you keep stretching that you forget this small identity called ‘I’. The feeling I can describe is a juicy life soaked in sweetness of amrita (nectar) when you experience oneness with him.
In essence, it takes many births of good fortune to have a living Guru in one’s life. When you meet an enlightened Guru, catch him because he will not only heal the cracks in your inner space due to your unconscious past but he will also raise you to the highest possibility of the Ultimate. Namaste 😀