Avatar & Guru

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--- On Thu, 7/3/08, P.N.Kannan <pnkannan_cm wrote:

Is a 'GURU' also an 'AVATAR'? Avatars like Krishna / Rama took recourse

to a Guru i.e Sandeepany / Vasishta?

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As I understand everyone is avatar only. The avatar that one normally talks

about is that the totality taking birth in a locality, propelled by samaShTi

vaasanaas - that is when the situation demands the need of Iswara in a

particular form, on the demand basis, since Iswara has no vaasanaas of His own

to take birth.

 

Guru is the one who removes the darkness of the ignorance for a disciple.

Ignorance is in the mind. Hence the disciple has to discover his guru and not

the other way around, that is guru discovering his disciple. When the disciple

realizes that it is because of his grace that I could understand the truth, he

discovers his guru also. He realizes that he was blessed by the Iswara in the

form of guru to help him in understanding the truth. For a disciple, guru is:

guru brahma guru vishnu guru devo maheswaraH| guru saakshaat para brahma tasmai

shree gurave namaH| - Hence he recognizes that his guru is avataar only. That

faith will take the disciple beyond the thresholds of samsaara.

 

Hence the answer is guru is only from the point of disciple and from the

disciple point he is, of course, an avatar.

 

An incident that happened when Swami Chinmayanandaji was giving lectures in

Bangalore sometime in 60's. There was heavy pour of rain when the lectures were

over. The audience were going helter shelter, as they were leaving the hall and

trying to find the proper vehicles to go back home in the flooded streets. The

driver of swamiji car wanted to save his time and his inconvenience, and was

taking a short cut in the midst of public traffic. When swamiji realized that

the driver was causing more inconvenience to the public, who are trying to save

themselves from drenching, Swamiji was saddened by the action of the driver. In

the heavy rain, he opened the door and apologized to everyone for the

inconvenience that he indirectly caused to the public that is crossing. He told

the driver that they are avatars of the Lord, and have come to listen to the

talks and we are now inconveniencing the Lord himself when he has taken all the

pains to come all the way for

the talks. Now who is the avatar; the teacher or the disciples? The disciple

recognizes that his teacher is an avatar. The teacher recognizes that everybody

is an avatar!

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda