correction re: GuruDev, GuruDevi, GuruMata, Jai Mata Ki (a question re: Terms)

[Guest guest]

i'm sorry but i was re-reading my message and realize i said something

wrong.

 

i said :

 

he told me that I should not refer to " devi " as gurudev cuz she is not

guru but mother, so from this statement I might get the impression that

Jai GuruDevi would be a reference to Goddess.

 

but what he said actually was that i should no refer to Devi as GuruDevi

(my typo mistake I guess)

 

thanks,

 

cathie

 

Cathie wrote:

 

Hi All,

 

I've been on this group before, mostly as a lurker, and was away

for a while, but now I am back and I have a question.

 

I'm going to India in less than two weeks now, to spend some time

in an ashram learning yoga and breath methods, and hopefully also at

some point go get to travel at least a little bit around India.

 

I noticed a lot of people are saying " Jai GuruDev " and a friend

in India explained to me that " Jai GuruDev " means " Victory to the Guru

who is like God to us. " Immediately i thought to myself, being devoted

to Goddess, then I will say " Jai GuruDevi " which will mean " Victory to

the Guru who is like Goddess to us " and i'ts ok if it is a male guru

because, even a male Guru is another face of Goddess another emobodiment

of Devi another expression of the Divine Mother " and to me that guru

also seems to be a perfect embodiment of the Divine Feminine (which to

me in no way negates the fact of him being a man and I don't wish to

create any kind of slur, such as an attitude one finds in some cultures

and including in america in some people in the way they insult a man and

say he is " like a woman " and that should be an insult? no. I meant,

Jai GuruDevi with much adoration because I love Goddess.

 

My friend told me Jai GuruDevi is not a term that is used in

India and that Jai Gurudev is a gender neutral term, but then he

revealed himself by saying He is the Light. So I talked to another

friend in India about it who told me, that GuruDev IS a reference to a

male guru and to a female guru one would refer to her as GuruMata. so

there seems to be some confusion here. Does the " Dev " and the " Mata "

refere to the Deity (as in a guru who is like the God or the Divine

Mother to me) or does it refer to the guru's own gender as in " a guru

who is a male " or " a guru who is a female " ? My second friend also told

me to say " Jai Mata Ki " if I want to show my love for Devi, and that

this was a most appropriate expression; and he told me that I should not

refer to " devi " as gurudev cuz she is not guru but mother, so from this

statement I might get the impression that Jai GuruDevi would be a

reference to Goddess.

 

Personally, Goddess is my Highest guiding force inmy own

spiritual belief and practice. To me Goddess is the ultimate spiritual

realization so it would be appropriate to say Jai GuruDevi as in Victory

to the Guru who is like Goddess to me.

 

Can somebody explain the intricacies of this issue to me? I will only

bow to Devi/Goddess, and no matter what others are saying, beliving or

feeling, I will be thinking to Myself, that the Guru is like Goddess to

me. What do these terms mean and how should they be used?

 

Thanks in Advance for your Insights,

 

Cathie