The words of a Self-Realized Guru

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,Harsha wrote:>The words of a Self-Realized Guru like Sri Ramana illuminate our mindand when it is ripe helps it to abide in the Self which is pureconsciousness.David Godman: I remember a conversation I had with Maharaj on myfirst visit. I can't remember how we got round to the subject, but weended up talking about the power of the Guru and the various channelsit manifested through. I had been deeply impressed and deeply movedby I am That, and I told him so.DG: For several months I have been reading I am That. Through thosewords I felt a very strong connection with you and the teachings. Canone have a connection with a Guru simply by reading his words, or isit necessary to come in person to see him?Maharaj: The words will do their work wherever you hear or read them.You can come here and listen to them in person, or you can read themin a book. If the teacher is enlightened, there will be a power inthem.DG: In my particular case I read the words of a Guru who was stillalive, and those words compelled me to come here and see you. Perhapsyour words had such a strong effect because you are still alive andteaching. I made contact with a living teacher, a living presence.What about a hypothetical case of someone picking up I am That infifty years' time, and in a country several thousand miles away. Thatperson will never have a chance to see you. Will those words stillhave the power to transform and awaken?Maharaj: Time and space exist in your mind, not in the Self. There isno limit to the power of the Self. The power of the Self is alwayspresent, always working, always the same. What varies is thereadiness and willingness of people to turn their attention to it. Ifsomeone picks up this book ten thousand miles away in a thousandyears' time, those words will do their work if the reader is in theright state to listen to and assimilate the words. He didn't actually say that one could get enlightened by readingthe words of a dead Guru, but he was quite clear that the words of anenlightened being, even in book form, were charged with a power thatfuture generations could tune into. I think I asked this particularquestion because of my relationship with Ramana Maharshi. I wasthe 'hypothetical' person in the question who had discovered thewords of great but deceased Guru. I suppose I really wanted to knowwhether Ramana Maharshi could be the Guru for someone like me who hadbeen born years after he passed away. Maharaj didn't really answerthat question for me, but he did convince me that a considerable partof the power and the authority of Guru could be found in his recordedteachings.