Guru as Facilitator Shows the Path

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The Times of India

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2003

EDITORIAL

 

SPEAKING TREE

 

Guru as Facilitator Shows the Path

 

SHAMMI PARANJAPE

 

[ THURSDAY, AUGUST 07, 2003 12:01:42 AM ]

 

A guru shows the path of enlightenment to seekers. Gu denotes

darkness (ignorance) and ru denotes the removal of that darkness.

The word guru has two other meanings.

 

In the first one, gu signifies guna titha (one who has transcended

the three gunas) and ru signifies the formless aspect (one who has

grasped That). Gur means heavy or weighty, signifying the weight of

the guru's wisdom, which can benefit others.

 

The guru is both a formal teacher and a spiritual preceptor. He is a

storehouse of spiritual energy, which he can transmit to others. He

helps the aspirant to polish his inner self till it reflects the

light of truth. In the Shirdi Sai Satcharita a seeker asks Shirdi

Baba: "Where to go?" Baba replies: "High up". The seeker then

asks: "How to go there?" Baba ans-wers: "Take a guide, he will take

you straight and make you avoid the ditches and wild beasts in the

jungle". Even avatars like Rama and Krishna subjected themselves to

the tutelage of worthy gurus like Vashishta and Sandipani.

 

The guru-shishya param-para honours the teacher as God and promotes

reverence for vidya (knowledge). It inculcates humility in the

student and respect and gratitude in him for the dispenser of

knowledge. Other noble virtues like discipline, dedication, sense of

duty, sacrifice and compassion also evolve with the guru's help.

 

A true guru guides you on the spiritual path to salvation. He

promotes your furtherance on the Godward path. He is also the one

who grants great inspiration to good works. 'Gurur Brahma, Gurur

Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshwara, Gurur Sakshat Parabrahma, Tasmaye

Shri Guruvai Namaha'. In this sloka the guru is compared with the

trinity of Gods — Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara — because a sincere

guru has to take on all the three functions of the trinity —

creation (of good qualities), sustenance (of higher nature) and

destruction (of negative qualities).

 

The best guru dakshina is to adhere to the guru's words. Once, a

guru sent his pupil to collect dry 'useless' leaves from a forest as

guru dakshina. The disciple searched long and hard but was

unsuccessful. Whenever he tried to gather the dry leaves he would be

stopped by forest folk collecting them for fuel to heat water, humus

for plants, for making patravalis (plates) or for preparing herbal

medicines. He went back disappointed, without the guru dakshina. His

guru said that the knowledge he had gained of how 'nothing was

useless', was his guru dakshina, and his purpose in sending the

student to the forest was to teach him that.

 

By the gurus' grace — guru krupa — everything auspicious is

obtained. However, the path is not easy. The disciple has to offer

his ego at the guru's feet and accept his inscru-table methods of

instruction. The guru's words may not be an explicit command (Sri

Ramana Maharashi hardly uttered a word to his shishyas) — it may

simply involve a subtle fine-tuning to the natural requirements of a

purified conscience. As Sri Sathya Sai Baba says, the ultimate goal

of the guru-shishya relationship is to make the latter attain the

heights of self-awareness, whereby dependence on all external forms —

even that of the guru — is shed, and the Param Guru or the Self is

gloriously revealed within.

 

Guru Purnima is celebra-ted on a full moon night in honour of Ved

Vyasa, the Loka Guru. The full moon symbolises the cool clear light

of the guru's intellect which alone can dispel ignorance. Guru Ved

Vyasa arranged and classified the Vedas in their present order and

made them available for the benefit of mankind. Hence he is called

Ved Vyasa.

__________

 

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