Jai Gurudev!!!

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends:

This was sent to me from the Chinmaya Mission

list for the Temple I attend. I know that there

is not much in the way of words for me to express

the gratitude and deep love I feel for my Sat Guru.

So tonight I will attend the services in honor

of all Gurus. All I can offer, willingly and

with much love, is the surrender of myself

to my Self :-) Jai Gurudev!!!

Love,

Joyce

>From Swami Siddhananda of the Kedar Lord Shiva Temple:

Namaste friends,

"Even if you were to make the entire earth into paper, all the forest

trees into pens and all the seven seas into ink, it is impossible to

write the greatness of the Guru!" - Sant Kabir

thought-experiment:

consider every single person you have learnt from in your life, in

some way or another, whether it be material, spiritual, lifestyle or

academic knowledge that has been gained...

this list is too long to fathom, right?

We owe our lives to all those that have been our Guru...

(literal meaning: "remover of ignorance" - Gu=darkness & Ru=dispeller.

what a beautiful meaning!);

these stem right from our parents and elders, our contemporaries, to

our secular teachers and great artists & scientists, and above all,

our true spiritual teachers... we may not have necessarily met with

each of these teachers physically, but have been inspired through

their books, talks, works of art & music, teachings, legacy...

I hope we all have a chance to spend a brief moment and pay homage to

all our Gurus on the auspicious day of "Guru Purnima", this Fri 2nd

July... there are some deeper quotes & useful links below to

aid..."Hari Om Shri Gurubhyo Namah" - Salutations to all Spiritual

Teachers of the entire World...the true student has the ability to

openly and humbly learn the best from ALL directions & sources..

may we be such true ones...

love, M

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Guru Purnima:

Guru Purnima heralds the beginning of the 'Chatur-Maas' (rainy season)

and "Purnima" is the 15th day (full moon) of the month Ashadha. Swami

Swaroopananda writes, "There is no day as auspicious as Guru Purnima

for a seeker of Truth. There is no other way to the Truth other than

Devotion to the Guru. The scriptures are final in their conclusions.

May the blessings of the entire Guru Parampara (lineage of Spiritual

Teachers) shower upon us...."

Hindu Scripture:

"Na guror adhikam tattvam, na guror adhikam tapah;

Tattva-jnaanaat param naasti, tasmai Shree Gurave namah.""Salutations

to that Teacher! There is no principle higher than the Teacher; There

is no greater austerity than service to the Teacher; greater than true

wisdom, there exists not anything..." - Guru Stotram

Article:

A very good piece on Guru by Pujya Muniji - http://www.parmarth.com/updates/june2001/message.htm

A fellow seeker's viewpoint:

some further nice thoughts on Guru: http://dalsabzi.tripod.com/Song_of_life/guru.htm

Quotes:

"The preaching of sermons may be true as a poetical figure, but no one

can preach a single grain of truth until they have it in themselves...

This eye-opener of religion is the true spiritual teacher...

There is nothing higher and holier than the knowledge which comes to

the soul transmitted by a spiritual teacher. Serve all such teachers

like a child, open your heart to their influence, and see in them God

manifested...

When the teacher is the spiritual ancestor and the disciple is the

spiritual descendant, then there alone do gigantic spiritual souls

grow...

Such teachers are few in number, no doubt, in this world, but the

world is never altogether without them. They are the fair flowers of

human life, and keep the world going; it is the strength that is

manifested from these hearts of life that keeps the bonds of society

intact..."

- Swami Vivekananda

"So long as you seek Self-realisation, the Guru is necessary. Guru is

the Self. Take Guru to be the real Self, and yourself to be the

individual self. The disappearance of this sense of duality is the

removal of ignorance. So long as duality persists in you, the Guru is

necessary. Because you identify yourself with the body, you think the

Guru too is the body. You are not the body, nor is the Guru. You are

the Self and so is the Guru. This knowledge is gained by what you

call Self-realisation.

You mistake the body for the Guru. But the Guru himself does not make

that mistake. He is the formless Self. That is within you. He appears

outwardly only to guide you..."

- Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

"Let no person think, 'Of what use to me is a teacher? By means of my

own intelligence I will obtain the Knowledge of the Soul.' Truly up

to this moment, no person has attained the Truth except with the help

of a great Guru and a study of the works on spiritual science. None

can trust their intelligence alone to take them to the Supreme Goal.

You can buy a number of philosophical books, but the books themselves

will not help you to realise the Self.

Unlike the things of the objective world, spiritual truths cannot be

perceived by one's senses or even by the mere intellect. Therefore,

only those disciples who possess the necessary qualifications and

who, having learnt the Truth from noble preceptors, constantly

meditate upon it, realise the Truth"

- Swami Tapovan Maharaj

"Guru is one. There are not many Gurus. Satguru is the impersonal

Reality or God assuming forms for guiding humanity towards the goal.

It may be in various forms in various parts of the world. You must

not say, 'this Guru is different from that Guru.' All Gurus are

manifestations of one Truth. They are not different." - Swami Ramdas

"India has always been the guru of the world. This generation has

been called upon to lead and guide the world. The time has come, not

in killing, not in destroying, not in warfare, but in learning and

understanding how to face the problems of the outer world. It is

absolutely necessary to study the scriptures and learn to practice

the teachings in our everyday lives..." - Swami Chinmayananda

"The Guru is the lamp of enlightenment, which removes the darkness of

ignorance, just as the Sunrise dispels the darkness of the night." -

Sri Rameshbhai Oza (Pujya Bhaishri)