Authenticity of Gurus - 4

[Guest guest]

Continued

 

 

If we look at our history you will find that our great Gurus came

from all traditions.

 

If you prepare a list of Gurus like

 

Bagavan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Swami Vivekananda

Disciples of Ramakrishna

Bagavan Ramana Maharshi

Mata Anandamayi

Paramahansa Yogananda

Swami Nityananda

Swami Muktananda

Swami Sivananda

Swami Chinmayananda

Bagavan Shirdi Sai Baba

Bagavan Sathya Saibaba

Mata Amritanandamayi

Shree MAA

Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Swami Rama

Maa Rama Devi

Maharshi Mahesh Yogi

Papa Ramdas

 

 

You will find that everyone had his/her own path. As Bagavan

Ramakrishna said there

are as many paths as there are men. I had prepared the list of only

those Gurus whose teachings and path I know something about. There

are hundreds whom I am not fortunate enough to know.

 

 

I am sure some of you would have seen the web site referred by one of

our friends here. (Let Us Reason ).

I am giving below a paragraph from one of their pages.

" They learn spirituality by experience. Marilyn Ferguson states it

this way,"The radical Center of spiritual experience seems to be

knowing without doctrine ... the teacher does not impart knowledge

but technique. This is the 'transmission of knowledge by direct

experience.' Doctrine on the other hand, is second-hand knowledge, a

danger .... 'Do not get entangled in any teaching." (The Aquarian

Conspiracy, Marilyn Ferguson, Pages 371, 377.)"

 

They are right. The Guru teaches from his personal knowledge. So most

of them taught the path they had experienced.

 

My friend Silentsoul had asked about the general qualifications of a

guru. I do not think you can have one. There is an ocean of

difference between a Vedantic guru and an Agora guru. Between a

Spiritual guru of the Advaita marga and a Vama marga Tantric Guru.

Instead of spending time in finding out about Conmen (calling them

fake Gurus is an insult to Gurus) we can learn about all these gurus

and their teachings. Most of the information is available on the net.

Many of them also have ashrams all over the world. If you like the

teachings of a Guru and would like to join their community you can

visit their ashrams. If you want a Tantric or Nath/Siddha guru you

have to really search hard as these kind of Gurus are not easy to

find. You hear more about Con men masquerading as Gurus because Con

men make better copy for newspapers and magazines than real Gurus.

 

If you are a spiritual or religious explorer/adventurer you can

explore different margas, exoteric and non exoteric. All explorers do

not discover the source of the Nile. Similarly spiritual explorers

may never find the ultimate. Like in exploration the path can be

dangerous also. But there is always a thrill in exploration.

 

We are blessed that Hinduism has produced so many great gurus. One of

our friends had written that tolerance is the basis of Hinduism. It

is not tolerance. It is acceptance of all paths. The messages about

Bagavan Ramakrishna, which one of our friends posted (for us to hit

back) reveal that many of us are yet to accept this concept of

acceptance. Some of you may not consider some of the people on my

list as Gurus. The principle is to be inclusive and not exclusive.

Find out what is good in all men and if you find some good teachings

try to absorb them. Lookout for Conmen and you will find one in every

corner. It is a question of attitude and conditioning.

 

By then are we qualified to judge these great men? It is like a

toddler in the Nursery class passing judgment on the Head teacher of

the school. I would say it is worse. The difference in level is so

high like a deep hole in the ground and the peak of the mountain. As

I said earlier the only people who can give you an opinion are the

disciples. Ask different disciples (beginners and advanced) and the

dissenters (there are always some) and then may be you can decide.

Even this I am not so sure. But do not put yourself in a straight

jacket by going by any definition.

 

I have the personal experience of knowing spiritually evolved persons

whose Gurus have been accused/convicted of rape/murder. How come? The

explanation could be that these people have absorbed only the good

things from those Gurus. Or these people knew the Gurus at a time

when they were good. I do not know.

 

I will give the example of two Gurus.

1. A SriVidya Guru who has been practicing SriVidya for more than 50

years. She is a housewife with husband and children. She has attained

Siddhi of many mantras. She has given Mantra Upadesa to countless

number of people. She has not made any money out of this. She does

not seek fame or wealth. When you sit in front of her you feel her

Thejas.

2. A learned Tantric gives Mantra Upadesa to people who consult him

for their problems.

He listens to the problem of a person, finds out which Mantra and

Yagna will alleviate their problem. He initiates the person into the

Mantra and also conducts the Yagna with the active participation of

the person concerned. Only good Mantras.The Yagnas are all big ones

and conducted adhering meticulously to the procedures laid down in

the Tantric texts. The yagnas are a delight to watch. But the

solution is very expensive. He also seeks fame. He has Thejas.

 

Now tell me are these two not Gurus? No violation of any laid down

norms. People are benefited. The first person gives only Mantra

initiation and then it is upto you. The second one leads you further.

If you can afford the second Guru you go to him.

My experience of seeking out Holy people of all kinds allover India

has been very good. I have met mostly unknown Gurus who are

approachable. I firmly believe that the tradition of the Gurus is

flourishing in India.

 

Before I close, my messages are for the ordinary member who thinks of

God and spirituality once in a while in the midst of fighting the

battle of survival in the material world. We are worried about our

jobs, bosses, and family etc. etc. In between we also go through the

e-mails from the group. My observations may make sense to some. For

some it may be sheer non-sense. Some of them may be laughing at my

ignorance. You always have the choice of deleting.

 

Sankar