On This Day Dedicated To THe Guru !

[Guest guest]

Namaskar to all Satsanghis!

 

Thursday is associated with the planet Jupiter and is referred to as

Guru-Vaaram. Thursdays are dedicated to the worship of one's

Guru . i can hear someone in the audience whispering in my ear '

Gosh! i do not have a Guru ! what shall i do ? " 'Do not despair, my

friend ! When the sisya is ready , the Guru appears. Till then ,

worship Sri Dakshinamurthy as your guru. "

 

Dakshinamurthy is so called because he is the only Hindu deity

that sits facing the southern(dakshin) direction. Dakshinamurty

is so called because of his compassion (Dakshinya) towards the

creatures of his creation. The root word in the name Dakshinamurthy

is 'da' - one who 'gives' -ONE WHO GIVES 'KNOWLEDGE' AND DESTROYS

IGNORANCE - that is also the meaning of the word - Gu-ru - one

destroys ignorance. Lord Dakshinamurthy is an incarnation of Lord

Shiva and the other Great GURU Lord Dattatreya is an incarnation of

Sri Vishnu and note that Lord Dattatreya's name also contains the

root word 'da' meaning 'to give' ! ( Remember the three Ds from the

upanishads - 'daya, 'dana' , 'dama' - A sadguru is equipped with all

these three faculties - compassion / giving and sharing and control

of the senses j'jananedriyas and karmedriyas' )

 

Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi, has interpreted the name

as "Dakshina murty", meaning one who is capable but

without form. ( daksha means capability)

 

WHAT IS SO UNIQUE about Lord Dakshinamurthy ? He teaches

through 'Silence' - 'mauna' - through his all pervasive consciousness

and may be this is the reason why Sri Ramana bhagvan is also known as

an incarnation of Lord Dakshinamurthy as he was known for preaching

through a magic phrase 'Summa iru' ( be still) a- a phrase that was

used often by Thaumanavar's guru called 'Mauna Guru' whom Sri Ramana

was very fond of quoting ... Sri Ramana always said 'satsang'

means 'atma-sang' - 'abidance in the self' and for those who are

unable to accomplish this on their own, Sri Ramana recommended the

company of 'realized' souls !

 

Whenver Sri Ramana talks about being 'silent ' - he does not

mean 'silencing the tongue' - He means 'silencing the thoughts

arising in the mind ' - that is what 'summa iru' means ! however, for

most of us , to silence the mind , one needs to silence the 'tongue'

also ! Smile :-)

 

"Sri Dakshinamurty displays a `Chinmudra' with one of his hands. This

is a yogic gesture in which the thumb and the index finger of the

hand are joined. The index finger touches the middl of the thumb in a

semicircular fashion. The other three fingers which represent body,

mind and intellect stand aloof. Index fnger represents ego (Ahamkara)

and thumb repres ents Atma (self). The space between the thumb and

index finger stands for `Suny `, `Chid Akasa' or `Maya'. `Jnanamudra'

or `Chinmudra' denotes that the person who renounces attachment to

body, mind and intellect and merges his individual ego with `Atma'

which is God itself achieves supreme wisdom. `Chinmudra' also

symbolises the union of `Jeeva' (Individual Self) and `Para Brahma"

(The supreme self). Thumb represents the word `Tat'. Index finger

represent `Twam'. Joining of thumb and index finger stands for the

word `Asi'. Thus `Chinmudra' is a symbolic representation of the `Ma

avakya' `Tatwamasi' (Thou art that). With such symbolic Yogic gesture

Sri Dakshinamurty presents the nature of truth to his di ciples in

absolute silence.

 

(http://www.mihira.com/mihjun99/A HYMN TO SRI GURU DAKSHINAMURTY.htm)

 

This is beautifully illustrated by JAGADGURU ADI SHANKARA

BHAGVADAPADA in the seventh verse of Dakshinamurthy astakam :

 

baalyaadishhvapi jaagradaadishhu tathaa sarvaasvavasthaasvapi

vyaavR^ittaasvanuvartamaanamahamityantaH sphurantaM sadaa .

svaatmaanaM prakaTiikaroti bhajataaM yo *mudrayaa bhadrayaa*

tasmai shriigurumuurtaye nama idaM shriidakshiNaamuurtaye .. 7..

 

He, whose existence is changeless throughout the various

states of the body (like old, young etc) and the mind (waking,

dreaming etc),and who reveals the greatest knowledge of Atman by

GYaana-mudra (the joining of the thumb and the forefinger of a raised

right hand-Chin Mudra) - to that Dakshinamurti, who is embodied in

the auspicious Guru, I offer my profound salutations.

 

Only a great saint poet like Adi Shankara bhagvadapada can describe

such profound truths with one eye catching phrase ' mudraya

bhadrayaa '! This is because Devi HERSELF SPEAKS THROUGH OUR

ACHARYA !

 

which brings us to a few more divine names of Sri Lalita

Mahatripurasundari in the thousand names of sri Lalitambike :

 

Sri Gurumurtih (603)

 

— Of the Form of Guru.

— Leads devotee to Highest state of Liberation.

 

 

Sri Guru-mandala-rupini(713)

 

— The Unbroken Line of Divine Messengers.

— The Succession of Gurus that is She Herself.

 

725) Sri Daksinamurti-rupini

 

— The Form of Sri Daksinamurti, The Cosmic Guru.

— The Treasure-House of All Knowledge.

 

 

so, to those of you who still do not have found a sadguru, you

can 'concentrate' on Devi as guru or Lord Dakshinamurthy as Guru OR

lord Dattatreya as 'guru' and one of the meanings of 'guru 'is

also 'concentration !

 

Btw, to those of you who are wondering if Sri Ramana Maharishi ever

had a guru , the answer is 'yes' - none other than

ord 'Arunachaleshwerar' ! ( thanks Sunderji for this info! )

 

 

 

Sri Dattatreya lists 24 gurus in the Srimad bhagvatam from a 'bee' to

a phython ... The point is we can all learn from one

another in this great cyber satsangh, we are all pilgrims in this

great inner pilgrimage !

 

Sri Gurobyo namaha!

Jaya Jaya Shankara !

Hara Hara Shankara !

Aum Namo Sri LALITA MAHATRIPURASUNDARI !