Do we need a Guru?

[Guest guest]

Recently I submitted the following note on Guru to our Temple news letter

Aradhana.

SIGNIFICANCE OF A GURU

(By Koti Sreekrishna)

 

Guru (spiritual teacher or Acharya) has a supreme place in our tradition. The

word Guru is made of two parts: Gu means darkness or ignorance and ru means

dispeller or remover. Thus Guru literally means remover of ignorance. Gurus

can be male or female, old or young, and come in all shapes, sizes, castes

and

colors. The Guru-disciple(Shishya) relationship is perhaps the most sacred

relationship in the Hindu tradition. Right from the Vedas (Acharya Devo Bhava-

Teacher is like God) to the colloquial way the youngsters address their

friends across India (Khya Guru, Yenu Guru, Yenna Vaadhyare, etc.) imply how

deeply the word Guru has percolated into our culture. A special day "Guru

Poornima" is dedicated during July-August months ( for this year, the Guru

Poornima festival falls on August 10) to pay respect to Guru. We may argue

that in the ancient times there was no press or phone or radio or television

and the only means of communication was through word of mouth and thus the

Guru-shishya tradition started. why has it sustained right to this day ? The

reason for this is that the role of Guru is more than just communication of

information. The ten-fold qualities of a Guru are as follows:

 

1. Guru is true, simple, and direct.

2. Guru does not steal our money, instead steals only our ignorance and

anxiety.

3. Guru can lead us to a spiritual path without severe asceticism.

4. Guru brings peace of a cave and the experience of solitude right to our

houses.

5. Guru lets us see the Himalayas and Kailash in meditation.

6. Guru does not give us wrong advice to renounce our property and wealth of

this world, instead makes us renounce our ego.

7. Guru breaths in a divine factor and help us to transform our mundane life

into a sacred existence.

8. Guru bestows a new life in which we can face all sorrows cheerfully.

9. Guru makes us attain perfection in this very world.

10. With the grace of a Guru we will be able to see this world as heaven and

not

as a place of sorrow and suffering.

 

Do we absolutely need to have a Guru? I suppose, it is possible to reach the

goal in our spiritual journey without the aid of a Guru. However, it is lot

easier with the grace of a Guru. As the Katha Upanishad states " To many it

is not given to hear the God within. Many, though hear of it, do no understand

it. Wonderful is he who speaks of it. Intelligent is he who learns of it.

Blessed is he who, taught by a Guru is able to understand it". Thus, we may

look upon the Gurus as road maps to our spiritual journey. A Guru will wake

us

up and may even walk with us side by side, but no Guru will carry us on his

shoulder and deliver us to final destination. That we have to do our selves,

as

declared in the Bhagavadgita by Jagadguru (teacher of the universe) Krishna

thus: "One should lift one self by ones own self...."

 

Try to learn this Guru Mantra from Guru Gita:

 

Gurur Brahma gurur Vishnuh, gurur devo Maheshvarah

Gurussakshat param Brahma, tasmai shri guravae namah

 

The Guru is Brahma; the Guru is Vishnu; the Guru is the great God Shiva.

The Guru alone is the supreme Brahman, the absolute.

To Him, the great Guru, I offer my salutations.

 

K. Sreekrishna/