THE GURU & GURU PURNIMA

[Guest guest]

OM NAMAH SIVAYA

 

this is something i read recently and wanted to pass along for anyone

interested. i hope all Enjoy Guru Purnima. TASMAI SRI GURUVE NAMAH!

 

THE GURU

 

Guru is such a lotus that His fragrance makes the inner lotus [chakra]

unfold,

 

Guru is such a divine light that His grace makes the unconscious world

conscious,

 

Guru is melody by whose presence all fear, sadness, and inherent

demonic powers subside.

 

Guru is a divine wall of love which is always protecting the disciple,

 

Guru is such a search that attaining him all the hopes are converted

into contentment,

 

Guru is a lamp that makes even the lights shine, he is the light that

washes away darkness forever,

 

He is such an inspiration that by His presence the disciple goes into

the depth of oceanic divine ecstasy.

 

Guru is an energy one with Brahman. That which enlightens the

extinguished lamp is called Guru.

 

Guru is the abode of compassion. He dedicates his whole being for the

benefit of humanity. He sacrifices his own worldly pleasures so that

he can give all good things to others. Momentary happiness can be

gained by worldly things, but to get rid of unhappiness totally, we

need the help of a Guru. He is blessed who has been showered with the

wealth of Atmajyaana [the self knowledge] and is always

prospering..always prospering!!!!

 

Attaining this wealth, the disciple surrenders [bows] before the Guru.

Then the disciple has nothing else to attain, nothing to search for.

 

If Guru is Samadhi, then the disciple is the Sadhana. By Sadhana the

Guru converts his disciple into a Guru, so there remains no difference

between the Guru and disciple; they become one principle of unity.

 

The masters of Himalayan Tradition, like Swami Rama and Swami Veda, do

not mention themselves as Gurus. They say they are humble servants

serving humanity with love.

 

Guru is not one who merely receives the reverence of everybody, but is

one who has the attitude of reverence towards all animate and

inanimate things.

 

Guru removes our ego. The ego can be removed by proximity to the Guru.

When ego is nullified, then the grace of Almighty is attained.

 

To get a PhD, we have to accept a qualified person as our guide and

study under him obediently following the instructions given. That's

why the PhD that we receive from a Guru is not a thesis, but wisdom

which overflows with motherly compassion. So the Guru Disciple

relationship is like a mother-child relationship.

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF GURU PURNIMA

Guru Purnima is the day in which we pay our reverence to the Guru -

 

it is a day filled with devotion, with love, with piety.

 

On this day, Indians across the world pay their deepest reverence to

both their personal guru, as well as to Sri Maharishi Vyasji. Vyasji

is heralded as the editor of the four vedas, and the author of the 18

puranas, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Having brought such an

immeasurable treasure chest of wisdom to the world, Vyasji is

worshipped as the Guru of Gurus. It is he who has brought forth this

ocean of divine light to dispel the darkness of humanity. Therefore,

on this day we also pay our deepest respects to Sri Vyasji.

 

Guru Purnima is celebrated on the full moon day of Ashadha and the

four month period of Chaturmas (the holy time of year in which the

monsoons come and the saints refrain from movement). After the long,

hot, dry months of summer in which innumerable people, animals and

crops have perished, the rains come, quenching our thirst and bringing

us life. And, in India, when the rains come it is not a mere drizzle

which lasts for 10 minutes. Rather, the rains are downpours of

heavenly nectar, completely saturating the parched land.

 

Similarly, on this day, as we find ourselves dying of thirst for

knowledge, as we find our hearts and minds have become dry due to

ignorance, anger and darkness, the Guru comes, pouring forth upon our

lives the rain of wisdom, of love, of light and of life. Just as the

flowers which have wilted and yellowed in the never-ending heat of

summer, suddenly stand erect and succulent as soon as the rains come,

so we, who have become ignorant and " dead " to the divinity within us

are immediately born anew due to His grace in our lives.

 

Yet, just as the soil must allow the rain to penetrate its depths in

order to reap the benefits of this life-giving nectar, so we must

become porous vessels into which the divine nectar of the Guru can flow.

 

Guru Purnima is a day of renewing our faith, our shraddha, in He who

bestows the light upon our lives. It is a day of reopening our hearts,

our souls and our lives to His divine presence and letting it

penetrate and saturate every aspect of our being.

 

REMEMBER THE GREAT SAGE VYAS ON THIS DAY

 

http://www.astrologyforu.com/others/events/guru-poornima.php

 

This sacred Guru Poornima falls on July 29, 2007. The Full Moon day in

the month of Ashadamasam is considered to be extremely a sacred day of

Guru Poornima. On this day, when we honour Sage Vyasa, who gave

mankind the precious gem of Saguna worship and the hope and assurance

that Manava can become Madhava. The Guru is the teacher who removes

the fundamental ignorance that hides the knowledge of truth from us.

This day is fixed for reversing them.

 

Vyasya maharishi is described as an incarnation of Lord Narayana. He

set down in writing the Vedas that previously were known only in the

form of sound. He was the great grandson of Arundhati who codified

Vedas. As he was born on this day, it is celebrated as Guru Poornima

or Vyasa Poornima. He was the great teacher who gave many profound and

sacred truths to mankind. Hence, his birthday is celebrated as Guru

Poornima. The real significance of Guru Poornima does not consist in

worshiping the Guru with some offerings but in getting rid of the

darkness to brightness.

 

Sri Vyasa has done unforgettable service to humanity for all times by

editing the four Vedas, writing the eighteen Puranas. We can only

repay the deep debt of gratitude we owe him, by constant study of his

works and practice of his teachings imparted for the regeneration of

humanity in this iron age. In honour of this divine personage, all

spiritual aspirants and devotees perform Vyasa Puja on this day, and

disciples worship their spiritual preceptor. Saints, monks and men of

God are honored and entertained with acts of charity by all the

householders with deep faith and sincerity. The period Chaturmas

begins from this day; Sannyasins stay at one place during the ensuing

four rainy months, engaging in the study of the Brahma Sutras and the

practice of meditation.

 

Mark fully the deep significance of this great day. It heralds the

setting in of the eagerly awaited rains. The water drawn up and stored

as clouds in the hot summer now manifests in plentiful showers that

usher in the advent of fresh life everywhere. Even so, all begin

seriously to put into actual practice all the theory and philosophy

that have been stored up in them through patient study. Aspirants

commence or resolve to intensify with all earnestness, their practical

spiritual Sadhana right from this day. Generate fresh waves of

spirituality. Let all that you have read, heard, seen and learnt

become transformed, through Sadhana, into a continuous outpouring of

universal love, ceaseless loving service, and continuous prayer and

worship of the Lord seated in all beings.

 

Live on milk and fruit on this day and practice rigorous Japa and

meditation. Study the Brahma Sutras and do Japa of your Guru Mantra,

during the four months following the Guru Poornima. You will be highly

benefited. The day of worship of one's preceptor, is a day of pure joy

to the sincere spiritual aspirant. Thrilled by the expectation of

offering his reverent homage to the beloved Guru, aspirants await this

occasion with eagerness and devotion. It is the Guru alone that breaks

the binding cords of attachment and releases the aspirant from the

trammels of earthly existence.

 

Have a new angle of vision. Behold the entire universe as the form of

the Guru. See the guiding hand, the awakening voice, the illuminating

touch of the Guru in every object in this creation. The whole world

will now stand transformed before your changed vision. The world as

Guru will reveal all the precious secrets of life to you, and bestow

wisdom upon you. The supreme Guru, as manifested in visible nature,

will teach you the most valuable lessons of life.

 

Worship daily this Guru of Gurus, the Guru who taught even the

Avadhuta Dattatreya. Dattatreya, regarded as God and the Guru of

Gurus, considered Nature Herself as His Guru, and learnt a number of

lessons from Her twenty-four creatures, and hence he is said to have

had twenty-four Gurus. The silent, all-enduring earth with its lofty

forbearance, the shady fruit-bearing tree with its willing

self-sacrifice, the mighty banyan tree reposing with patience in the

tiny seed, the drops of rain whose persistence wears away even the

rocks, the planets and the seasons with their orderly punctuality and

regularity were all divine Gurus to him. They who will look and

listen, will learn. Become a personification of receptivity. Empty

yourself of your petty ego. All the treasures locked up in the bosom

of Nature will become yours. You will progress and attain perfection

in an amazingly short time. Become pure and unattached as the

mountain breeze. As the river flows continuously, steadily and

constantly towards its goal, the ocean, so also let your life flow

ceaselessly towards the supreme state of absolute

Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, by letting all your thoughts, all your

words and all your actions be directed only towards the goal.

 

The moon shines by reflecting the dazzling light of the sun. It is the

full moon on the Poornima day that reflects in full splendor the

glorious light of the sun. It glorifies the sun. Purify yourself

through the fire of selfless service and Sadhana, and like the full

moon, reflect the glorious light of the Self. Become the full

reflectors of Brahmic splendor, the light of lights. The Guru is

verily a link between the individual and the Immortal. He is a being

who has raised himself from this to That and thus has a free and

unhampered access to both realms. He stands, as it were, upon the

threshold of immortality, and, bending down, he raises the struggling

individuals with his one hand, and with the other, lifts them up into

the kingdom of everlasting joy and infinite Truth-Consciousness.

 

Do you realize now the sacred significance and the supreme importance

of the Guru's role in the evolution of man? It was not without reason

that the India of the past carefully tended and kept alive the lamp of

Guru-Tattva. It is therefore not without reason that India, year after

year, age after age, commemorates anew this ancient concept of the

Guru, adores it and pays homage to it again and again, and thereby

re-affirms its belief and allegiance to it. For, the true Indian knows

that the Guru is the only guarantee for the individual to transcend

the bondage of sorrow and death, and experience the Consciousness

of the Reality.

 

Give up the delusive notion that to submit to the preceptor, to obey

him and to carry out his instructions, is slavish mentality. Only the

ignorant man thinks that it is beneath his dignity and against his

freedom to submit to another man's command. This is a grave blunder.

If you reflect carefully, you will see that your individual freedom is

in reality an absolute abject slavery to your own ego and vanity. It

is the vagary of the sensual mind. He who attains victory over the

mind and the ego is the truly free man. He is the hero. It is to

attain this victory that a man submits to the higher, spiritualised

personality of the Guru. By this submission he vanquishes his lower

ego and realizes the bliss and freedom of the infinite Consciousness.

 

To strengthen and affirm the faith of the wavering man and to

guarantee the attitude that is necessary for the fruition of all

worship, the ancients have deified the personality of the Guru. To

adore the Guru is indeed to adore the Supreme. In this world of

mortality, the Guru is verily like an ambassador in an alien court.

Just as an ambassador represents fully the nation to which he belongs,

even so, the Guru is one who is the representative of the sublime

transcendental state which he has attained. Just as to honour the

ambassador is to honour the nation that he hails from, even so to

worship and to offer adoration to the visible Guru is verily the

direct worship and adoration of the Supreme Reality. Even as a distant

tree though it cannot be seen is nevertheless known by the fragrance

its fully-bloomed flowers waft far and wide, so also, the Guru is the

divine flower who disseminates the Atmic aroma of divinity in this

world, and thus proclaims the immortal Lord who is invisible to the

physical eye. He is the standing witness to the Supreme Self, the

counterpart of the Lord on earth, and through worship of him one

attains the Self.

 

JAI MA

[Guest guest]

This part (below) is not in line with what Amma

teaches. Although the guru is Brahman, you

don't become a guru upon Realization.

Amma has said that one can say that they are

" One with God " , but not " One with the guru " ,

because " it's the guru that brought them to

that state " . Kinda like someone going around

and saying they're one with Amma, and then

hold darshan programs.

 

Also, what's missing from these articles is the

distinction between the Solar Path and Lunar Path.

Guru Poornima, I've heard is the full moon when

the moon is closest to the sun, so it gives the

fullest and brightest light, like the ideal disciple.

In the lunar path, like those who stick close to Amma,

their light comes from Her. Take them away from

the Amma-sphere and there's no love or compassion, etc.

Someone who practices a more individualized Solar

Path has it rougher, but truth and love shine in

them no matter their location.

 

Another distinction, is that I've noticed that many

in the close inner circle (bad name, I know) practice

what's taught more in Siddha Yoga (SYDA) and that

is " guru yoga " , focusing on the guru. The teachings

of people like Sai and Amma don't focus on it, but

allow it. Dayamrita's directives over the years, I've

seen, have pushed the satsangs in the direction of guru

yoga, more than is healthy, IMHO.

 

tom

 

Ammachi , " ecjensen_us " <ecjensen_us wrote:

>

> OM NAMAH SIVAYA

(snipped)

 

" If Guru is Samadhi, then the disciple is the Sadhana. By Sadhana the

Guru converts his disciple into a Guru, so there remains no difference

between the Guru and disciple; they become one principle of unity. "

(snipped)