Guest guest Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Namaste, Guru Purnima is falling on 11th July this year. All over the world, people who adore Guru and Saints as per Indian traditions, will celebrate this function. People will worship their Guru or Saints with garlands, flowers and puja material and will offer some money as Daxina. They will feel pleasure and pride that they have done their duty towards their Guru. In some functions, lectures of the learned people will be arranged and people will listen to the studied, lucid and fluent words about Guru. The same words like "Gu" means darkness and "Ru" means light, etc. will be repeated by most of the speakers. Here, in this post I would like to state my thoughts on the following three points, that pertain to Guru. 1. Some philosophers say that Guru is not required for "Atmajnan". One celebrated philosopher of India has gone to the extent saying that " Guru in fact is a hurdle in the way of disciple to acquire knowledge". Shastras have specifically told that one should not attempt to gain the knowledge without guidance of Guru. In this respect the seekers do need the guidance that is beneficial for them. 2. Most of the people worship the Samadhistha (dead) Guru or Saint. They do not make difference in God and Guru, rather they have converted the dead Gurus in to idol Gods. While worshiping they use same material and methods in shrines as they use in temples. Some people studying Vedanta expect favour of knowledge from the dead Guru and others expect some material gains.. The question is whether a seeker can get "Atmajnan" from dead Guru ? Here Shastra say that Guru has to be "Wagmi" (a speaking person). This statement of Shastra rules out the possibility of gain of knowledge from the dead Guru. 3. The third point is about the scriptures. Some people presume their scriptures, Shastra books or books written by saints (or about saints) whom they call Guru (one sided) are sufficient to give them experience of "Atmajnan". Most of the people believe that reading of "Pothi" (life and teachings of the samadhistha saint) is sufficient Sadhana to achieve God and jnan.. A few are almost masters of Vedas and Shastras. They can answer any question on Upnishadas by referring hundred books and can describe "Atmavastu". They can convince people on any Shastra point. Impressed by the life and thoughts, they accept any dead saint as their Guru. The point here is whether the scriptures are alternative to live Guru ? In this respect, before I give my one sentence opinion, I would like to refer to a paragraph from a book written by my Guru Hon. Saint Khapti Maharaj. He was Jeevan Mukta Guru from Amravati District in Maharashtra and lived for 113 years. (Please visit website for his details http://www.sugway.com ). In his book named "Adhyatma Sanjeevani" published from Mumbai in 1920 he wrote, "-efforts to understand God by reading scriptures and books are in vain. Even if somebody understands a few principles of Vedanta, the experience of those principle is necessary. The bookish knowledge can't give experience of God. The people instead of surrender to Mahatma, saint, Jnani or Guru obstinately try to gain knowledge of God by reading books. They are sure to get frustrated, because they understand one day that they have gained nothing. Their knowledge remains with them for telling, writing or arguments with others or to nurture their own ego. They also run a risk that they get disappointed and loose their patience resulting into total ignorance, or they loose their faith for ever. They loose their interest to make true effort to achieve God. The Phala (fruit) of the Brahmajnan is said to be Brahmanand. What is the use of reading volumes of Shastras if one can't achieve the eternal happiness ? Instead of becoming himself Jnani if he is fulfilling his desire to tell Jnan to others, he is paving his way to hell, no doubt about it. One must therefore, surrender to a knowledgeable Guru. There is no alternative. One must stay in company of Guru and observe him. Watch him closely, listen to his orders, serve him with whatever he likes and ask him questions to get the doubts cleared. Even if he does not get the answers from Guru, it is sure that the knowledge about his doubts is automatically gained in due course of time in company of Guru. Guru need not explain everything clearly. In such cases the disciple should not make any misunderstanding about Guru, since Guru has to impart knowledge differently to different disciples based on Aadhikar and so many other things." The following is my opinion on the above three points which is subject to corrections by masters in this group. 1. We gain from Guru something that is within the Vedas, but impossible to be understood by us with our own logic/studies. Hence, Guru is must if one has decided to obtain Sakshatkar in this life. 2. Anugraha to a disciple (favor by rituals or by consent of Guru) is necessary to gain the actual experience of the knowledge. It does not matter if Guru enters Samadhi after Anugraha. The great persons born with "Poorva" (knowledge of earler birth) have not to make much effort for "Atmajnan" in this birth, still they name somebody as their Guru to avoid "Jnanabhiman". (ego of the knowledge). (For example Hon. Sankaracharya or Hon. Gulabrao Maharaj - He became blind at the age of 9 months. He used to be in Samadhi since his age of 4. Though blind, he wrote 232 books on different Shastra subjects). The Sadahkas who are not born with Poorva, should surrender to live Guru.. 3. Reading of Pothi of Samadhisth saint or reading of scripltues could definitely bring about some unusual experiences. But are unable to vanish the anxieties and worries completely from the life of the seekers. Ultimately, the only use of Shastra and Brahma Jnan is the complete eradication of the sorrows of human being and the gain of bliss. There is no other use. I request that experts be throwing more light on these points about Guru. Swami Aniljee Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 >Anil <selfanil > > > Ultimately, the only use of Shastra and Brahma Jnan is the complete >eradication of the sorrows of human being and the gain of bliss. There is >no other use. > > > Swami Aniljee Shree Swami Aniljee -PraNAms. you have spoken the truth. Not more could be added. Only point I would like to add is a proper guru is the one who directs his disciples to the spiritual authority than to himself. Hari OM! Sadananda _______________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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