Fw: David Godman - Guru

[Guest guest]

-

Viorica Weissman

RamanaMaharshi

Cc:

Tuesday, August 14, 2001 1:19 AM

David Godman - Guru

 

 

 

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GURU

David Godman - from Be As You Are

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God and Guru are in truth not different.

Just as the prey that has fallen into the jaws

of a tiger cannot escape, so those who have come

under the glance of the Guru's grace will surely

be saved and will never be forsaken; yet one

should follow without fail the path shown by the Guru.

 

From Bhagavan's [sri Ramana's] point of view there are

no disciples but from the point of view of the disciple

the grace of the Guru is like the ocean.

If the disciple comes with a cup he will only get a cupful.

It is no use complaining of the niggardliness of the ocean;

the bigger the vessel the more he will be able to carry.

It is entirely up to him.

 

The term Guru is often loosely used to describe anyone

who gives out spiritual advice, but in Sri Ramana's

vocabulary the word has a much more restricted definition.

For him, a true Guru is someone who has realised the Self

and who is able to use his power to assist others towards

the goal of Self-realisation.

 

Sri Ramana often said that God, Guru and the Self

are identical; the Guru is God in human form and,

simultaneously, he is also the Self in the Heart

of each devotee. Because he is both inside and outside,

his powers work in two different ways.

The outer Guru gives instructions and by his power enables

the devotee to keep his attention on the Self;

the inner Guru pulls the devotee's mind back to its source,

absorbs it in the Self and finally destroys it.

 

It is a basic tenet of Sri Ramana's teaching that a Guru

is necessary for almost everyone who is striving towards

a permanent awareness of the Self. The catalytic role of

the Guru in spiritual development is therefore crucial;

except in rare instances, ignorance of the Self is so deeply

rooted that individual seekers are unable to escape from

it by their own efforts.

 

Although Sri Ramana taught that a Guru is indispensable

for those seeking Self-realisation, he also pointed out

that the Guru has no power to bring about realisation in

those who are not energetically seeking it.

If the individual seeker makes a serious attempt to discover

the Self, then the grace and power of the Guru will

automatically start to flow. If no such attempt is made,

the Guru is helpless.