I had a teacher once

[Guest guest]

I had a teacher once. I called him Gurudeva.

 

We had both a formal and informal relationship.

 

The first few years, I used to really enjoy falling to his feet and

having him put his hand on my head and bless me.

 

It used to give me an enormous high.

 

As years went by, my teacher and I became more like friends.

 

My teacher is now 82.

 

I seldom see him but we remain in communication.

 

I still call him Gurudeva when I speak to him.

 

We had a couple of ups and downs because he is a human being and I am a human being.

 

Sometimes I listened to my teacher and sometimes I did not.

 

My teacher used to visit Sri Ramana in the 1930s.

 

He lost his mother when he was very young. Then he lost his sister.

 

Then he lost his girlfriend, that he was planning to marry.

 

So In 1942, at the age of 20, my teacher became a monk.

 

His father, having no one else in the house, gave away the family

business and joined him as a fellow monk.

 

They lived a life of silence, solitude, and meditation for many years.

 

Then his father passed away.

 

After his father's passing my teacher moved to Bombay.

 

Spent much of his time there in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

He was involved in many social programs.

 

He worked to prevent cruelty to animals and their slaughter.

 

Sometimes he was able to prevent slaughter of animals through social

pressure on certain holidays.

 

That always made him happy.

 

Twenty-nine years after becoming a monk, he married one of his students.

 

I used to walk my teacher and his wife to their apartment (late 1970s)

and ask him all kinds of questions.

 

Nothing was off topic.

 

Questions about Ramana, yoga, tantra, women, meditation, pranayama,

shakti, samadhi, gurus, sex, scandals.

 

My teacher taught me that regardless of any experiences any guru had,

they are all human beings and that he was a human being.

 

He taught me many things, without really trying to teach but by simply

being around, by talking, by answering questions, and by smiling and

by keeping silent.

 

My teacher often told me that Truth cannot be found in any guru or deity but only in the Self.

 

I already knew that and had known that since childhood.

 

My teacher, although he had been a Jain Monk for 29 years had a radical independence of orthodoxy.

 

In that way, we are very much alike. Maybe that is why destiny brought us together.

 

Once, while we were walking back to his apartment, my teacher told me

that the quickest way to Self-Realization was through the practice of

Ahimsa (nonviolence).

 

I told him that could not possibly be true as yogis would not spent so

much time practicing meditation for years and years.

 

My teacher told me many things.

 

Sometimes I listened to my teacher and sometimes I did not.

 

His words stay with me.

 

Love to all

Harsha

[Guest guest]

> together.

>

> Once, while we were walking back to his apartment, my teacher told

me that

> the quickest way to Self-Realization was through the practice of

Ahimsa

> (nonviolence).

 

Namaste H,

 

Yes creation is violent on the surface for it is different forms of

energy consuming other forms of the same energy. By coming non

violent one makes the decision to not participate in this dream as

it is. So one participates at a different level, for ultimately

Moksha and Brahman are non violent for they don't move at all. I

agree with your Gurudev, Ahimsa is the paramount and easiest

way....Hard to practise though hahha.........ONS...Tony.

[Guest guest]

Oh Harsha,

Thank you for sharing this with us. I bow and kiss your feet. My

relationship with my teacher is very much as you describe. I love him

very much. He is a human being, whom I am blessed to know.

 

He spent his youth as a school teacher, married and had a daughter.

This marriage broke up and he was devastated by that. He sought refuge

in the forest. He made a connection with the Dharma through Trungpa

Rinpoche's organization in Nova Scotia. He is well trained and has all

his "credentials", but those things are not what decided our spiritual

friendship. I listen carefully to what he says, most of the time. He

is kind and supportive, but this doesn't always feel "nice". His

humanity is often indistinguishable from his teaching, and is

indispensible for me. Remember Judy Rhodes? I remember well her prayer

that I would find my teacher. I have often felt that this prayer was

answered directly, and am grateful for it. These lists were my cradle

after a powerful, inexplicable experience of sacred energy about 4 years

ago. So many teachers here. Thanks for being.

 

Lynne

[Guest guest]

Thank you Lynne,

For those interested, you can go to following url and learn more about him.

If you click on the three links on the top, you can hear him speak

with his images from the 1970s when I spent some time with him.

http://www.jainmeditation.org/pages/background.html

Love to all

Harsha

Lynne [lhelwigcan (AT) netscape (DOT) net] Monday, April 26,

2004 1:03 PMSubject: Re:

I had a teacher once

Oh Harsha,Thank you for sharing this with us. I bow and kiss your

feet. My relationship with my teacher is very much as you describe.

I love him very much. He is a human being, whom I am blessed to know.

He spent his youth as a school teacher, married and had a daughter.

This marriage broke up and he was devastated by that. He sought

refuge in the forest. He made a connection with the Dharma through

Trungpa Rinpoche's organization in Nova Scotia. He is well trained

and has all his "credentials", but those things are not what decided

our spiritual friendship. I listen carefully to what he says, most

of the time. He is kind and supportive, but this doesn't always feel

"nice". His humanity is often indistinguishable from his teaching,

and is indispensible for me. Remember Judy Rhodes? I remember well

her prayer that I would find my teacher. I have often felt that this

prayer was answered directly, and am grateful for it. These lists

were my cradle after a powerful, inexplicable experience of sacred

energy about 4 years ago. So many teachers here. Thanks for

being.Lynne

[Guest guest]

thank you dear Harsha!

michael bindel

>"Harsha" <harsha (AT) cox (DOT) net>

>

><> > I had

a teacher once >Mon, 26 Apr 2004 09:43:07 -0400 > >I had a

teacher once. I called him Gurudeva. > >We had both a formal and

informal relationship. > >The first few years, I used to really enjoy

falling to his feet and having >him put his hand on my head and bless

me. > >It used to give me an enormous high. > >As years went by, my

teacher and I became more like friends. > >My teacher is now 82. > >I

seldom see him but we remain in communication. > >I still call him

Gurudeva when I speak to him. > >We had a couple of ups and downs

because he is a human being and I am a >human being. > >Sometimes I

listened to my teacher and sometimes I did not. > >My teacher used to

visit Sri Ramana in the 1930s. > >He lost his mother when he was very

young. Then he lost his sister. > >Then he lost his girlfriend, that

he was planning to marry. > >So In 1942, at the age of 20, my teacher

became a monk. > >His father, having no one else in the house, gave

away the family business >and joined him as a fellow monk. > >They

lived a life of silence, solitude, and meditation for many years. >

>Then his father passed away. > >After his father's passing my

teacher moved to Bombay. > >Spent much of his time there in the 1950s

and 1960s. > >He was involved in many social programs. > >He worked to

prevent cruelty to animals and their slaughter. > >Sometimes he was

able to prevent slaughter of animals through social >pressure on

certain holidays. > >That always made him happy. > >Twenty-nine years

after becoming a monk, he married one of his students. > >I used to

walk my teacher and his wife to their apartment (late 1970s) and >ask

him all kinds of questions. > >Nothing was off topic. > >Questions

about Ramana, yoga, tantra, women, meditation, pranayama, shakti,

>samadhi, gurus, sex, scandals. > >My teacher taught me that

regardless of any experiences any guru had, they >are all human

beings and that he was a human being. > >He taught me many things,

without really trying to teach but by simply being >around, by

talking, by answering questions, and by smiling and by keeping

>silent. > >My teacher often told me that Truth cannot be found in

any guru or deity but >only in the Self. > >I already knew that and

had known that since childhood. > >My teacher, although he had been a

Jain Monk for 29 years had a radical >independence of orthodoxy. > >In

that way, we are very much alike. Maybe that is why destiny brought us

>together. > >Once, while we were walking back to his apartment, my

teacher told me that >the quickest way to Self-Realization was

through the practice of Ahimsa >(nonviolence). > >I told him that

could not possibly be true as yogis would not spent so much >time

practicing meditation for years and years. > >My teacher told me many

things. > >Sometimes I listened to my teacher and sometimes I did not.

> >His words stay with me. > >Love to all >Harsha > _____ > MSN 8

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