Time with a Guru

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Om spiritual travellers

 

There is a continual debate on the necessity of having a Guru. All

the scriptures, all the Satgurus and all of those who have a Guru

know that a Guru is necessary for spiritual enlightenment.

 

While a Guru is necessary for spiritual enlightenment, that

enlightenment could take place quickly or it could require a long

time spread over several lifetimes. It all depends on the state of

the sadhak when the Guru is encountered.

 

Swami Sivananda met his Guru only for a few a hours.

 

Swami Vishnu Devananda told the following story: Once upon a

time, there was a Swami who had a healing mission. With his

disciples, the Swami would visit a village and the people with

medical problems would be brought to the Swami. The Swami

would use his Prana along with the prana of the person to cure

the person's problem.

 

One day the Swami came to a village and began his usual

healing of the sick people. Soon a couple came forward with

their small infant who was gravely ill. They laid the infant in front

of the Swami. But the Swami merely looked at the infant and did

nothing. The disciples had to ask the couple to take away the

baby. The Swami continued to heal the sick. Later that day, the

baby died. The disciples wondered why the Swami did not heal

the baby but did want to appear to be questioning their Guru and

so asked nothing.

 

The next week, the Swami and his disciples were in a different

village and the process of healing the sick began. In the

afternoon, another couple presented another gravely ill baby.

Again the Swami merely looked at the baby and did not nothing

to heal the baby. The parents had to remove the baby. The

disciples learned that the baby died later that day.

 

This time one of the disciples could no longer contain himself.

He approached his Guru and said, " Guruji, forgive me but I do

not understand what has happened today. Could you tell me why

you did not help that young baby today and the other baby in the

village last week? I am so confused because your mission is

healing the sick."

 

The Guru looked at his disciple, "Do not be afraid to ask

questions. That baby today and the baby last week were actually

very old souls. They were almost fully Self-realized but had a

small bit of karma accruing to them and needed just a little help

to realize fully their Divine Nature. What passed between us is

not for you to know. But I gave them all that they needed. They

became Fully-Realized and as such had no need for a physical

body. They, therefore, dropped their physical bodies and entered

permanent Nirvikalpa Samadhi."

 

The disciple was relieved and apologized for doubting his Guru.

 

In explaining the situation to his disciple, the Guru reinforced for

the disciple the lesson of the kleshas. He highlighted especially

that abhinivesha, attachment to life, is perhaps the most

challenging of the five obstacles to spiritual enlightenment. The

Guru's explanation tells us to look beyond the surface

appearances.

 

The Guru also highlighted the fact that long apprenticeship to a

Guru is not necessary for all people, that one's interaction with a

Guru is governed not by time but by the disciple's state of

spiritual purification and his/hers karmic load.

 

 

Jaya Guru

 

Omprem