s Guru the Brahman?

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Is Guru the Brahman?

 

The answer is contained in the Guru Stothram (A poem in praise of

Guru). It starts with the following two verses describing the nature of

Gurut :

 

Gurur Bhahmaa Gurur Vishnuh Gurur Devo Mahesvarah;

Gurur saakshaath parabrahma Tasmai Shree Gurave Namah.

 

The Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is Mahesvara (the

creator, the preserver and the destroyer). The Guru is the Universal

Spirit, therefore pay homage to the Guru.

 

A careful investigation of the Vedic Tradition will confirm that Guru is

the Brahman. We see the Brahman through the world and Guru through the

Nature. If we observe and scrutinize the Nature, we can see how the

knowledge is spread within and across the species. The parents of the

nature teaches the children of nature to adopt to the environment from

the beginning. Animals, birds, and all other living beings of the nature

follow this Nature’s cycle of creation, preservation and destruction.

At the time of birth, the helpless children of Nature were nourished,

hugged and sustained by the unselfish sacrifices of their parents,

relatives and friends. The learning process started at the moment of

conception of life and it never ends! The Vedic revelation that this

cycle has no beginning or ending is quite correct if we pay attention to

the nature.

 

Every entity in nature learnt everything from scratch with the help of

the surroundings living and non-living beings. Life became feasible only

with the gift of God and with the assistance from other lives. The seed

of a plant contained all the necessary knowledge concealed within and

its germination and growth became feasible with that knowledge and help

from other natural entities. Strangely, we seldom acknowledge the gift

of the nature coming through its agents. We don't seem to remember the

learning process, and we assume that we are genius, without recognizing

teachers. We are quick to claim with pride that everything that we

posses is our own without realizing the property owner. The knowledge

is always a community resource and we have only right to spread and not

to store. The seers and sages have understood this fundamental law of

nature and have taken all necessary steps to spread across the country

and across the ocean. Why should we be always the first one to take and

the last one to give? Aren’t we breaking the law of nature? .

 

This is the most opportune time for us to think and act and avoid

falling into the pitfalls of committing adharma (against the nature).

The first learning lesson is to understand who is the Guru and how does

the teaching takes place in nature. Guru is the accumulated knowledge

of the nature who transfers the knowledge skillfully without anybody

noticing. Guru is the natural cure for ignorance and the inner voice

which screams at you when you try to commit adharma. Those who follow

the guidance of the inner voice don’t break the laws of Nature and

acquire the knowledge to spread and benefit the fellow citizens of

nature. The Vedic Tradition of Gurukulam Parampara is to cultivate the

habit of passing the knowledge from one generation to the next

generation.

 

Those who disobey the inner voice commits adharma and they become

detrimental to Nature and their fellow citizens. The subtle message is

that Guru is omnipresent, omnipotent and eternal. When we maintain

Divinity in our heart, we can see the Guru who will be our guiding

force and will propel the mind toward the ultimate reality. Our

intuition comes always with the subtle guidance from the invisible Guru

who is ever present. Accumulated knowledge for selfish ends is evil,

and the mind is filled with evil desires and divinity vacates the

heart. When evil occupies the heart, the mind entertains evil thoughts

and the body acts to fulfil those desire. The result is beautifully

summarized in Gita Verse 62 and 63 in Chapter 2.

 

Verses 62 & 63:

dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate

sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho 'bhijayate

 

When a man thinks of the objects, attachment for them arises. From

attachment desire is born. From desire anger arises.

 

krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah

smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati

>From anger comes delusion. From delusion loss of memory. From loss of

memory the destruction of discrimination. From destruction of

discrimination, he perishes.

 

The Vedic Tradition says that the knowledge of Brahma Vidya has to

follow the same law of the nature. It has to flow from the source that

knows to the source that doesn't know. Vedas (knowledge) has no

beginning or ending and it has been flowing from generation to

generation. Nature is nothing but knowledge and it has no beginning or

ending. The knowledge, the knower of the knowledge and invisible

teacher (Guru) can’t be separated. The Vedic Gurukulam Tradition

symbolically reminds the citizens the importance of knowledge and why it

shouldn’t stay static. The chain of transaction of Vedas (knowledge)

has never been broken and will never break and this chain is eternal.

Guru is the media of transaction and every particle of the nature is

responsible for our knowledge and most of the time we perceive the

knowledge and not the teacher!

 

Note: Please understand that this thought process may contain potential

errors and thanks in advance for listening and forgiving my errors.