Recognising the Right Spiritual Master

[Guest guest]

Light and Love

 

"Recognising the Right Spiritual Master" the article by Vijay Vancheswar in

Indiatimes Spirituality. The Speaking Tree, 14 December 2004.

The true Master transmits good vibes and creates the right current of

thoughts and actions in his vicinity.

 

Theodore Levitt, the proponent of the concept of the product life cycle

theory in marketing management likens the introduction, growth, maturity,

decline and decay of products in the market to the evolutionary stages in human

life: birth, growth, middle age, old age and death.

 

Just as marketing efforts and improved product features prolong the life of

products, human life, too, could get an extra lease through medical

intervention and lifestyle changes. However, life has a definite time span.

One's lifespan is indeterminate: it could be short, moderate or long.

 

The success of a product's performance in the market place is based on its

intrinsic strengths in terms of the value it delivers. Similarly, the success

or otherwise of our mortal lives is reflected through our intent and deeds.

Just as successful products are based on good performance as experienced by

consumers, we generate impressions and perceptions based on what and how we

express ourselves and how we respond to different situations and circumstances.

 

 

Management theory stresses the importance of leaders who practise what they

say by 'walking the talk'. So also in the field of dharma or spiritual

practice, it is important to actually demonstrate words through deeds. A

spiritual teacher who talks of the virtues of simplicity, truthfulness,

equipoise and moral values, loses credibility if he lives a life of affluence,

is vain or adopts questionable moral values.

 

A parent who teaches his child the virtues of good conduct and upright

behaviour would find it difficult to convince the child if he himself practises

the very opposite in real life. Ultimately this creates confusion in the child;

so it is important to seek the guidance of the right guru, who not only

preaches well but also lives by example.

 

How does one identify the right guru? Ramana Maharshi has answered this

question: "Seek the guru, in whose presence you feel peaceful and the mind

turns calm". He highlighted the fact that a great and true Master speaks less

than he transmits for what he transmits goes beyond words. It is a power that

transcends words, as the very presence of a realised and genuine Master exudes

peace to his seekers.

 

The true guru's deeds resonate with the import of what he teaches his

students because he practises what he preaches. Hence he is a credible role

model.

 

British journalist Paul Brunton, who was deeply interested in Indian

spirituality, has chronicled his experiences in A Search in Secret India . He

vividly recounts how Ramana Maharshi kept him spellbound in his presence. The

Maharshi clarified to Brunton that as long as the world exists, so too would

the seeming vagaries and inequities of life persist. No living sage would ever

be able to fully mitigate the world of its suffering. The mind creates the

world and its perplexities and the way out of this is to direct one's thought

inwards to the Supreme Power that sustains and propels everything.

 

Shirdi Sai Baba, a Sufi mystic, practised what he preached, eschewing all

the trappings of the material world. His deeds and words continue to inspire

and guide a growing number of people. The true Master transmits good vibes and

creates the right current of thoughts and actions in his vicinity. He transmits

spiritual energy, which in fact silently works beneficially for the good of

humanity.

 

Equally importantly, his deeds are transparent, unselfish, unbiased and in

tune with his message. His actions convey the conviction of his messages

through which Truth triumphs and envelops life-spans and life cycles.

 

Source:

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/957975.cms

 

Namaste - Reet