I think...............

[ggohil]

Jai Sri Krsna:

 

I think:

 

If the faith was based on visual observance of God, then blind people would never have faith in God.

 

If faith was based on scientific proofs then illiterate people would not have faith.

If faith was based on intelligent questioning of one’s believes, then stupid or

mentally handicapped people could not have faith.

 

I think, if one endeavors with sincere faith in God, then God will reciprocate with

him and show him the correct way. This will happen irrespective of whom one

follows or whether one has questioned his believes with intelligence. For no one

deliberately follows a wrong person without asking any questions. Everyone from

their point of view has made correct observances before one takes up a certain

path.

 

The important thing is to surrender first.

 

With the same token God cannot be found if one follows with insincere faith, even

under the guidance of a bona-fide Guru.

 

[gtam]

Hi,

Appraoaching a guru is the right method to understand the ultimate truth.

All teachers who are motivated and trained teach the subjects of study perfectly well.Each might have a different method but they are trying to arrive the same end result that is understanding of the subject by the pupil.

 

Now getting the well trained motivated teacher depends on the students search and disposition to understand the subject.There are some students who meet this teacher by virtue of recommendations from friends or by parents with whom they already have a high amount of trust.While there are others who meet their teacher when they were seeking answers for some questions and they realised that the teacher they met gave the precise answers.While there are others who just met the teacher at just the right moment and from then on it was just learning.While the fact of knowing the teachers qualification in terms of which school of knowledge he belongs,the older students of the teacher and their performance makes the ideal way of knowing if the student has met the right teacher.

 

The most common factor is establishing a point of trust and begining from there.

 

However as important as it is to meet the "teacher"(being fortunate to do so)it is also important how the student respects the hours of learning,the teacher,develops a good relationship that in case of doubts doesnot hesitate to get them cleared. To the student the teachers teachings are so important and even in the absence of the teacher he remembers them,utilising them as guidelines.

The teacher sometimes abridges big texts and makes notes,easy methods of remembering,tells students exam oriented questions making learning, the goal of learning a lot more easy.Having met such a teacher the student will most likely be interested to attend every learning session,make notes and like to learn every lesson when the teacher is ready to start teaching.The chapters ahead would be very difficult to understand untill the teacher starts the session.However if in a situation where the student gets seperated from the teacher teachings are so important that he continues to follow the guidelines taught by his teacher.

 

Sometimes even if one cannot directly learn from such a teacher there are students who would love to read the notes made by the teacher in a class and use them as a good guide to undertanding the subject.We have seen students like Ekalavya who did that and accumulated the wealth of knowledge.

 

There are students who will claim that their teacher is best like students of elementary math who will say that their teacher instructed them count in the mind while adding and other students say their teacher told them to use fingers etc.Its best to follow the method told by one's teacher and acknowledge other methods of other teachers to lead to the same results except using a different method.

 

We all know that after elementary school we come to high school and then on to college etc and have different teachers but it is still learning that we do despite of changes in teachers.The scope of the subject will be limited to the time and age of the students and gradually this learning process takes place.

 

So remembering to respect our teachers in terms of their knowledge and skill in delivering the subject to students lets achieve the goal of learning.

 

I used this example to understand the role of Guru in the disciples life to understand the higher truth.

 

Thanks

 

[akiran]

 

The importance of a Guru in one's quest for knowledge, be it spiritual or any other kind, is to provide guidance. The role of the Guru is to provide us with answers for our "unknowns" no doubt, but more importantly, it is to guide us through the right path towards that Goal. Most students have this misconception of expecting a teacher, the Guru, to give them all the answers to their questions at one time, and as a whole. And when they do not find what they wanted they get disappointed. What they don't realize is that they need some pre-requisites on their part to fully comprehend the teacher when the ultimate answer to their question is handed over to them. Some of the requisites are complete faith and devotion, paitence and the will to learn.

 

The greatest teacher in my opinion, therefore, is one who understands his/her student, makes the student ask the right question at the right time, and knows when the student is ready to take what he/her has to give. Sri Krishna, being the greatest teacher, knew this when He gave the Gita Upadesam to Arjuna. He did not start off with explaining the complex meaning to life itself, because He knew that Arjuna was not prepared for it. So He made Arjuna ask the more simple questions, and by providing answers to these questions prepared Arjuna, and ultimately mankind, to fully comprehend the importance of what He had to say. In the same way, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did not pass on all the knowledge to Swami Vivekananda right in the early days of their meeting. He tested the Swami's paitence in a number of different ways to make him prepare to have pure and complete faith in what the Paramahamsa was going to pass on.

 

No one can help someone realize the ultimate but oneself. The Guru can only show you the way to this realization.

Jai Sriman Narayana.

[animesh]

In my view, when I have made somebody as my guru, then, irrespective of whatever I want to learn from him (things related to religion or other things), we should be first of all willing to listen to him. Very often it is seen that one person asks another something, but the former has already decided that whatever the later will say will be wrong. Therefore, without listening to the answer given to his question and without pondering over them, he will start making fun of the person giving the answer. But at the same time, it is also not true that whatever the other person has told must be true. There are instances when even great acharyas went against some of the beliefs of their gurus. One such example is Ramanujacharya whose meanings to some verses were different from the meanings given by his guru.

So, when I have made somebody as my guru, then I should fisrt have faith that he will answer my doubts. I should listen to him attentively. If something is not clear, then rather than simply dismissing that person as unknowledgeable or deceiver etc. etc., I should humbly ask him for clarification. But, in the process, I should also keep my mind open. After all these still if I find that the answers given are not proper, then only I should dismiss the answers. As I have written above, this is true for gaining any kind of knowledge, not only religious.

 

Many good deeds have been performed by individuals because they believed in their guru and acted according to guru's wishes. But at the same time, many bad things have also been done because of one's faith. I have read news in newspapers in which small children have been killed in some villages by their own relatives because of faith that doing so will appease gods. Also some women have been killed because they were believed to bring bad omen.