The Role of 'Guru' in Sadhana ? - Practice in Advaita ?

[Guest guest]

Dearest Advaitins !

 

well, before this month's fascinating Topic comes to an end ... but

honestly, can 'sadhana' ever end - it is Continouus and eternal ! in

fact, it spills over into next life as well ... as Krishna says in

srimad Bhagwat Gita , no sadhana is in vain ... what is begun in this

lifetime may reach fruition in next lifetime ! ( sunder-ji- pl help

me out- i forget that verse from gita)

 

my questions to this august audience ...

 

1) do you believe in a Guru to lead you on your spritual path?

 

2) if you have one, how is he guiding you on the path?

 

3) should you throw your hands in Despair because you have not still

met the Guru of your dreams ?

 

4) are you ready for a Guru?

 

and so on and so forth!!

 

Bhagwan Ramana says ....

 

Question: How is one to decide upon a proper Guru? What is the

swarupa (nature or real form) of a Guru?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: He is the proper Guru to whom your

mind is attuned. If you ask, "How to decide who is the Guru

and what is his swarupa?", he should be endowed with

tranquillity, patience, forgiveness and other virtues; he should

be capable of attracting others even with his eyes just as a

magnet attracts iron; he should have a feeling of equality

towards all. He who has these virtues is the true Guru, but one wants

to know the swarupa of the Guru, one must know one's own swarupa

first. How can one know the real nature of the Guru if one does not

know one's own real nature first? If you want to perceive the real

nature or form

of the Guru you must first learn to look upon the whole universe as

Guru rupam (the form of the Guru). One must see the Guru in all

living beings. It is the same with God. You must look upon all

objects as God's rupa (form). How can he who does not know his own

Self perceive the real form of God or the real form of the Guru? How

can he determine them? Therefore, first of all know your own real

form and nature.

 

Million dollar question - how to know your own swarupa ?

 

Though Bhakti, Karma, Raja or Jnana ?

 

Even our parama jnani Bhagwan Sri sri Ramana maharishi says in

Upadesha Saram

 

1) This is certain:

Worship, praise and meditation,

Being work of body, speech and mind,

Are steps for orderly ascent.

 

2) Ether, fire, air, water, earth,

Sun, moon and living beings

Worship of these,

Regarded all as forms of His,

Is perfect worship of the Lord.

 

3) Better than hymns of praise

Is repetition of the Name;

Better low-voiced than loud,

But best of all

Is meditation in the mind.

 

4) Better than spells of meditation

Is one continious current,

Steady as a stream,

Or downward flow of oil.

 

8.

Better than viewing Him as Other,

Indeed the noblest attitude of all,

Is to hold Him as the 'I' within,

The very 'I'.

 

to read the entire text

http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/music/ upadesa.htm - 12k - Cached -

 

 

 

so, Balaji - are you reading !!! it is all about 'steps' even

Maharishi advocates steps ...

 

Worship,MEDITATION , JAPA , Breath control and finally Jnana yoga !

 

balaji, do you want to worship God as a picture or worship picture as

a God? It is the mano-bhava that counts! and this is the reason why

Gandhiji called the 'untouchables' -Hari-jans - children of Hari!!

 

Yes !! dear hearts ! VAASUDEVAM SARVAM ITHI!!!

 

AUM om GURUBYO NAMAHA!

 

ps - if you do not have an external guru,m, do not despair! MEDITATE

ON SRI dAKSHINAMURTHY, GURU OF ALL GURUS! OR ON AMBAal- who is verily

Guru murtihi !

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16"

<adi_shakthi16> wrote:

> Dearest Advaitins !

 

Namaste,

 

I think when one reaches a certain level of sadhana a personal

embodied guru is not necessary. At this stage everything becomes the

guru or your own inner self.

 

I read many of the writings of many saints and I like Ramana

Maharshi the best, with Nisargadatta Maharaj a close second. I'm

somewhat surprised how people worship Ramana though, considering his

teachings 'Who am I'?

 

I followed an embodied guru for a while but he turned out to be a

fraud. I won't mention his name but he was the subject of a recent

BBC World programme in 200+countries. However even that experience

was not wholly bad, for I came across Ramana and many others, I

probably wouldn't have thought of, plus I did learn the art of

sadhana. So one can learn from everything. The biggest thing to

learn is not to have fear and go within, do not surrender your mind

to external beings. One can have devotion to

Muktas.........ONS...Tony