Guest guest Posted June 4, 2006 Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 There is often talk of false gurus and true gurus, etc., and how to differentiate. All of this is important to understand. From a practical stand point one should use one's intelligence to make good judgments about gurus. However, our human intelligence has limits. So we should not be too hard on ourselves for making mistakes. Mistakes are part of the fertilizer of life and create the foundation where the seeds of wisdom can take root and flower. My experience is that on the spiritual path, one's own purity of intention is the best protection. Sometimes, one can have a "bad" guru (bad in the eyes of the world) but still one moves forward due to one's own sincerity. I have met students of bad gurus who had their hearts broken and even felt betrayed by the guru. But they did OK in the long run. Their own innocence and purity gave them resilience. They cried and grieved and then accepted and moved on, perhaps to another guru. There were others for whom the "bad" guru was a "good" guru and they viewed the whole ordeal as a test that the guru had put them through by behaving badly in a way that cannot be understood by normal people. Others became cynical and hostile to all gurus. There are so many variations on this. Sri Ramana was once asked about the fate of the disciple (and the guru) whose guru turns out not to be realized. Sri Ramana simply said something like, "each according to their own merit". It is essentially one's own purity of consciousness that determines one's trajectory and not what the world thinks. One can be a student of a bad guru and still do well. Ultimately, a person who is pure and sincere realizes that the real Jnana Guru is one's own Heart. In this silence, one's arms are bigger than the cosmos and there is only the embrace of love. Love to all Harsha -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 4, 2006 Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 , Harsha wrote: > > There is often talk of false gurus and true gurus, etc., and how to > differentiate. All of this is important to understand. From a practical > stand point one should use one's intelligence to make good judgments > about gurus. However, our human intelligence has limits. So we should > not be too hard on ourselves for making mistakes. Mistakes are part of > the fertilizer of life and create the foundation where the seeds of > wisdom can take root and flower. > > My experience is that on the spiritual path, one's own purity of > intention is the best protection. Sometimes, one can have a "bad" guru > (bad in the eyes of the world) but still one moves forward due to one's > own sincerity. I have met students of bad gurus who had their hearts > broken and even felt betrayed by the guru. But they did OK in the long > run. Their own innocence and purity gave them resilience. They cried and > grieved and then accepted and moved on, perhaps to another guru. There > were others for whom the "bad" guru was a "good" guru and they viewed > the whole ordeal as a test that the guru had put them through by > behaving badly in a way that cannot be understood by normal people. > Others became cynical and hostile to all gurus. There are so many > variations on this. > > Sri Ramana was once asked about the fate of the disciple (and the guru) > whose guru turns out not to be realized. Sri Ramana simply said > something like, "each according to their own merit". It is essentially > one's own purity of consciousness that determines one's trajectory and > not what the world thinks. One can be a student of a bad guru and still > do well. > > Ultimately, a person who is pure and sincere realizes that the real > Jnana Guru is one's own Heart. In this silence, one's arms are bigger > than the cosmos and there is only the embrace of love. > > Love to all > Harsha Namaste Harsha et al, yaanti devavrataa devaanpitR^Inyaanti pitR^ivrataaH . bhuutaani yaanti bhuutejyaa yaanti madyaajino.api maam.h .. 9\-25.. Krishna indicates that anything worshipped as separate from the Supreme Reality will result in attaining the corresponding result. ....ONS..Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 4, 2006 Report Share Posted June 4, 2006 , "Tony OClery" <aoclery wrote: > > , Harsha <harsha@> wrote: > > > > There is often talk of false gurus and true gurus, etc., and how > to > > differentiate. All of this is important to understand. From a > practical > > stand point one should use one's intelligence to make good > judgments > > about gurus. However, our human intelligence has limits. So we > should > > not be too hard on ourselves for making mistakes. Mistakes are > part of > > the fertilizer of life and create the foundation where the seeds > of > > wisdom can take root and flower. > > > > My experience is that on the spiritual path, one's own purity of > > intention is the best protection. Sometimes, one can have a "bad" > guru > > (bad in the eyes of the world) but still one moves forward due to > one's > > own sincerity. I have met students of bad gurus who had their > hearts > > broken and even felt betrayed by the guru. But they did OK in the > long > > run. Their own innocence and purity gave them resilience. They > cried and > > grieved and then accepted and moved on, perhaps to another guru. > There > > were others for whom the "bad" guru was a "good" guru and they > viewed > > the whole ordeal as a test that the guru had put them through by > > behaving badly in a way that cannot be understood by normal > people. > > Others became cynical and hostile to all gurus. There are so many > > variations on this. > > > > Sri Ramana was once asked about the fate of the disciple (and the > guru) > > whose guru turns out not to be realized. Sri Ramana simply said > > something like, "each according to their own merit". It is > essentially > > one's own purity of consciousness that determines one's trajectory > and > > not what the world thinks. One can be a student of a bad guru and > still > > do well. > > > > Ultimately, a person who is pure and sincere realizes that the > real > > Jnana Guru is one's own Heart. In this silence, one's arms are > bigger > > than the cosmos and there is only the embrace of love. > > > > Love to all > > Harsha > > Namaste Harsha et al, > > yaanti devavrataa devaanpitR^Inyaanti pitR^ivrataaH . > bhuutaani yaanti bhuutejyaa yaanti madyaajino.api maam.h .. 9\-25.. > > Krishna indicates that anything worshipped as separate from the > Supreme > Reality will result in attaining the corresponding result. > > ...ONS..Tony. > Harsha, Tony, Beautifully said! Any sense of separation in the world is merely a projection of our own separation from The Eternal Witness that we truly are. ~*~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Harshaji, In one of the talks of late Sri.Chandrasekhar saraswati,pontiff of kanchi kamakoti about gurus.He has said its better to see whether we are really sat-sishya rather than looking at whether the guru is sat guru.That is more helpful in ones quest.(may be i would have changed the words)Also he would quote the story of padmapada,the disciple of sankara bahgawatpada.Thats a beautiful story of a true sishya.Thats what your post reminds me. better will be the quest to be a true sishya rather than keeping on evaluating on gurus,may be of a different tradition also.(there is one story of dattatreya who actually has gurus like prostitutes,animals etc..) Sri Ramana was once asked about the fate of the disciple (and the guru) whose guru turns out not to be realized. Sri Ramana simply said something like, "each according to their own merit". It is essentially one's own purity of consciousness that determines one's trajectory and not what the world thinks. One can be a student of a bad guru and still do well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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