Guest guest Posted February 23, 2005 Report Share Posted February 23, 2005 Excerpt from chapter: On gurus, siddhis, sannyasa book : Hunting the 'I' author : Lucy Cornelssen ……………… It is the mind, that creates questions and goes in search of answers. ……. There is a widespread hunting for the guru. And a lot of so-called gurus make quite a good business out of the distorted ideas about the guru and his function that are prevalent everywhere. Who then is a guru? "The sastras say that one must serve a guru for twelve years for getting Self-Realisation. What does the guru do? Does he hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self always realized? What does the common belief mean then? The man is always the Self and yet he does not know it. He confounds with the non-self, viz., the body etc. Such confusion is due to ignorance. If ignorance be wiped out the confusion will cease to exist and the true knowledge will be unfolded. By remaining in contact with realized sages the man will gradually lose the ignorance until its removal is complete. The eternal Self is thus revealed. "The disciple surrenders himself to the master. That means there is no vestige of individuality retained by the disciple. If the surrender is complete, all sense of individuality is lost, and there is thus no cause for misery. The eternal being is only happiness. That is revealed. "Without understanding it aright, people think that the guru teaches the disciple something like "Tatwamasi" and that the disciple realizes ''I am Brahman'". In their ignorance they conceive of Brahman as something more huge and powerful than anything else. With a limited "I" the man is so stuck up and wild. What will be the case if the same "I" grows up enormous? He will be enormously ignorant and foolish. This false 'I' must perish. Its annihilation is the fruit of gurusewa, the service to the guru. Realisation is eternal and it is not newly brought about by the guru. He helps in the removal of ignorance. That is all." (Talks, 350) The real guru is one who has realised the Self. But how can we recognise him? He does not talk about himself: he behaves exactly as everybody else; and if he does not, there is reason to be cautious. There is only one quality by which he is revealed in his silence as well as in his talk. If you are ready for him, he will meet you without any searching for him on your part. And only then can you be sure that he is the guru for you. Meanwhile, you are not without guidance from without. The inner guidance sends signals, as it were, ceaselessly... a certain sentence in a book, a smile of an infant, the beauty of a floweror a sunset all of them can become the means for a sudden understanding, one of the minor enlightenments which adorn the path of the sincere seeker after Truth. All of them could become his or her Guru. The famous ancient saint Dattatreya said of himself that he had 24 Gurus, including inanimate objects. Even the first quest after the meaning of life is already prompted by the inner, the real Guru. There is a beautiful experience of Moses, preserved in the tradition of Islam. When he complained, "O Lord, where shall I seek to find thee?" he heard the answer, "Thou wouldst not seek Me if thou wouldst not already have found Me!" Who is it that is in search for the guru? The longing is certainly prompted by the Self, as is indicated also in the answer to Moses' prayer. But it is the 'personal I' that goes out 'hunting the guru'. It is not punishment when he has to suffer the disappointment of catching the wrong one, but an experience which will teach him the proper way...to trust and wait. …………………… Read only the mail you want - Mail SpamGuard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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