The Guru

[Guest guest]

Hi Y'all,

 

This appeared in my inbox today. It's a little long, but I though you

might find it interesting. It came from Swamij's website.

http://swamij.com/

 

Hope you like it.

 

Jai Maa!

Chris

 

>From the book:

Sacred Journey: Living Purposefully and Dying Gracefully

by Swami Rama

ISBN 8188157007

Published for the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust

by Lotus Press

 

http://www.swamij.com/swami-rama-guru-grace.htm

 

In the effort to understand life and approach death meaningfully,

vairagya [non-attachment] and abhyasa [practices] are the

responsibility of the seeker. When these two are truly undertaken,

another help follows. That help comes in the form of guru and grace,

each linked to the other, each so beautiful and comforting, each so

powerful. Unfortunately, each is so frequently misunderstood.

 

Western culture, which has increasingly welcomed and embraced

traditions from the East in the last thirty years, has too often

understood guru to mean simply a teacher. In the West guru is

frequently considered to be merely someone who is trained in

philosophy, meditation, and hatha yoga. From this point of view, the

guru is expected to share this knowledge with the students, training

them in scriptures and various spiritual disciplines. While the

western student may become dependent on the teacher and have high

expectations about what the teacher should do on behalf of the

student, the guru is nonetheless viewed as a teacher only.

 

In ancient times students received formal education in guru-kulas.

The students lived with their guru from an early age and were given

not only instruction on an intellectual level, but also were guided

in spiritual development and in the maintenance of physical health.

The guru had a very close relationship with the students and knew

their habits and level of inner strength.

 

In today's life there is no spiritual environment in which a seeker

can fully concentrate on learning the language of silence in order to

find inner fulfillment. It is very difficult for the student not to

be distracted by the temptations of the external world. Modern

education focuses on memorizing facts of the external world, and

ignores the growth and development of the inner being. The guru-kula

system of ancient times is not practical in today's world, but a more

holistic approach to education can be adopted. Such an approach

emphasizes spiritual growth along with the development of the

intellectual aspects of the mind, and also includes guidance in how

to maintain the fitness and health of the physical body. In the

eastern tradition guru is much more than a teacher. He or she

represents the special energy that is guiding individuals toward

their fulfillment as human beings, toward perfection. Grace is the

impulse of that energy.

 

The word guru is a compound of two words, gu and ru. Gu means

darkness and ru means light. That which dispels the darkness of

ignorance is called guru. The energy and action of removing darkness

are guru. Guru is not a person, it is a force driven by grace.

 

To put this another way, there is an intelligent momentum that

pervades the universe that is moving all human beings toward the

perfection we call God. Guru is that intelligence. Everyone's

receptivity to that intelligence varies. It depends on preparation,

which includes the development of vairagya or nonattachment, and

abhyasa or practice. In other words, guru is always there, but the

student may not be ready to receive what the guru has to offer. When

the student is prepared, the guru always arrives to help the student

do what is necessary to progress in removing the veil of ignorance.

It is said that when the wick and oil are properly prepared, the

master lights the lamp.

 

Guru is not a person, but guru can be represented in a person. One

who has developed his or her own spiritual awareness to a very high

level can guide others, and is considered to be guru. Only one who is

finely attuned to the inner guide can inspire the awakening of the

inner guide in another. Guru is not a physical being. If a guru

begins thinking this power is her or his own, then they are no longer

a guide. The guru is a tradition, a stream of knowledge.

 

In India guru is a sacred word that is used with reverence and is

always associated with the highest wisdom. The guru is unique in a

person's life. The relationship between disciple and guru is like no

other relationship. It is said that guru is not mother, father, son,

or daughter. The guru is not a friend in any conventional sense. It

also is sometimes said that the guru is father, mother, son,

daughter, and friend all in one; the guru is sun and moon, sky and

earth to the disciple.

 

The truth is that the relationship of guru to disciple is

indescribable. The relationship extends to the realm beyond the

world, transcends death, and stretches far beyond the limited karmic

bonds associated with family and friends. A mother and father help

sustain the body of their child, and nurture and guide the child

through the formative years of life to adulthood. Guru sustains,

nurtures, and guides a soul through lifetimes to ultimate liberation.

 

The relationship with the guru is based on the purest form of

unconditional love. There is complete openness with the guru. The

disciple should hold nothing back from the guru. This is why in the

tradition, a student goes to the guru and offers a bundle of sticks

to burn. The bundle symbolizes that everything the disciple has is

offered unconditionally to the guru. Everything is offered to the

guru so the guru can do the work of shaping the student spiritually.

The disciple comes with full faith and entrusts his whole life to the

guru. The guru takes that life and chops it and burns what is not

necessary, and then carefully carves what remains into something

sacred.

 

In this chopping and burning, the guru is merciless. The guru's job

is not to hold hands with the disciple and wipe away tears, but to

cut into pieces the disciple's ego and all that stands between the

disciple and freedom. The guru does not allow dependence. If the

disciple becomes too dependent on the guru, the guru pushes the

disciple away, insisting on independence. It is a remarkable

_expression of the deepest love.

 

To be on a spiritual path with a guru is not an easy thing. It is not

pleasant. The guru tests the disciples, puts them in the most

difficult situations, and creates obstacles for them. All the tests,

difficulties, and obstacles are meant to train and expand the

consciousness of the disciple.

 

That is the sole work of the guru. The guru wants nothing from the

disciple. Guru is that force moving a soul toward enlightenment. The

guru's actions are from pure compassion. As the sun shines and lives

far above, the guru gives spiritual love and remains unattached.

 

Guru is a channel for spiritual knowledge. Jesus repeatedly reminded

his disciples of this. "I have not spoken of myself, but the Father

which sent me." The Father is that stream of pure knowledge. Jesus,

as an enlightened being, was attuned to that knowledge.

 

No human being can ever become a guru. Guru is not a human

experience, or, better said, guru is not a sensory experience. It is

a divine experience to be a guru. A human being allows herself or

himself to be used as a channel for receiving and transmitting by the

power of powers. Then it happens. Then guru manifests. To do that, a

human being must learn to be selfless, must learn to love. Real love

expects nothing. That is how genuine gurus live. Selfless love is the

basis of their enlightenment, and the basis of their roles as

channels of knowledge.

 

Guru is not the goal. Anyone who establishes himself as a guru to be

worshipped, is not a guru. Christ, Buddha, and other great persons

did not set up any such example. Guru is like a boat for crossing the

river. It is important to have a good boat and it is very dangerous

to have a boat that is leaking. The boat brings you across the river.

When the river is crossed the boat is no longer necessary. You don't

hang onto the boat after completing the journey, and you certainly

don't worship the boat.

 

Many times students come to the guru with a preconceived idea of what

the guru should be like. They come with expectations of what the guru

is there to do for them. Perhaps the students think the guru should

give them much attention, or make decisions for them, or take on

troubles they have created for themselves. Sometimes the students

think the guru should behave in a certain way. When these

expectations and preconceived images are not met, the student becomes

upset and may even leave the guru.

 

This is not the proper way to approach a teacher. A student should

not be filled with expectations and preconceived images, but with a

burning desire to learn, and with firm determination. Then there will

be no difficulty. The guru and the disciple can then do their work

accordingly.

 

The spiritual seeker should not worry about who the guru is, or what

the guru will do. The seeker's first concern is getting prepared,

organizing her or his life and thoughts in a spiritually healthy way,

and then working toward a way of life that simplifies and purifies.

At the right time the master will be there.

 

Once the guru has arrived, the methods and behavior of the guru

should not be the disciple's concern. The disciple's work is to act

on the instructions and teachings of the master, and at the same

time, work toward more and more selflessness, and surrender of the

ego. It is the ego that is the principle barrier to enlightenment.

 

A spiritual master's ways of teaching are many and sometimes

mysterious. To one student the guru may show much attention, spending

much time with a student, even doting on a particular student.

Another student may be utterly ignored by the master. It doesn't

matter. Each student is getting a teaching, and because of the

insight of the master, just the right teaching at the right time. The

guru is not in a student's life to give the student what the student

thinks she wants, but rather to give what is needed to progress

spiritually.

 

Jesus' parable of the prodigal son illustrates this. Briefly retold,

a man had two sons. One day one son asked for all the property and

wealth that would come in his inheritance. Then he went away and

lived a wild, sensory life of rich foods, drink, gambling, and women.

When all of that wealth was spent, the son returned. The father ran

to his son when he saw him, and hugged and kissed him. He gave him

expensive clothes to wear and ordered a feast to be held.

 

Meanwhile, the other son had remained all this time with his father,

working for him and beside him, always respectful and devoted. When

the devoted son saw all the attention given to the wayward and

reckless son, he asked his father how this could be.

 

"I've been here all these years with you, always serving you, obeying

every commandment, and you've never so much as given me a goat to

throw a party for my friends. Now my brother returns after

squandering all that wealth and living a wild life, and you treat him

like a king and make a grand celebration for him."

 

The father's response was essentially that the wayward son needed

this attention at this time, and the devoted son did not. Each son

was given what was right for his spiritual growth at the right time.

 

The guru does not operate from what seems fair, or outwardly

appropriate. He is not constrained to such cultural amenities. He can

seem harsh, even brutal. He will put students in situations that make

no sense, or are very uncomfortable. He will say things that won't

make any sense for months. He will ask things of students that

students think are impossible. Everything the guru is doing is for

the growth of the student. The student need only have faith in that

fact.

 

The guru also teaches without words or actions. As the disciple

learns to surrender and move the ego out of the way, and grows more

selfless, the ability to learn intuitively from the guru grows. The

student learns in the cave of silence. It is like tuning into the

guru's frequency or plugging into that stream of knowledge. The guru

is always working from there. The disciple's role is to gradually

learn to also work from that place. The disciple learns this by doing

all duties with love, by being nonattached, and by surrendering. The

disciple should always be striving to purify and prepare for more and

greater knowledge. Then God will say, "I want to enter this living

temple that you are." Remove the impurities and you will find that

the one who wants to know reality is the source of reality.

 

There is also the activity of grace. Grace is the impulse or the

impetus of the energy to dispel darkness. There is the grace of the

scriptures, from the wisdom that has passed down from others. There

is the grace of the teacher, who imparts that wisdom and helps bring

it to life in the student. There is the grace of God, or pure

consciousness, that is alive and ever present in everyone's life.

Integral to these three graces is the grace of oneself, having the

will to undertake a purposeful journey in life, to do the spiritual

work of life, and to prepare oneself.

 

How do we get this grace? It comes of its own when a seeker has made

maximum effort. When all efforts have been made, and all efforts have

been exhausted, then grace comes.

 

A Sanskrit word for grace is shaktipata. Shakti means energy, and

pata means bestowing. Shaktipata means "bestowing the energy" or

lighting the lamp. Sometimes shaktipata is translated as "descent of

power." A power comes from above, of its own, to a vessel that is

cleaned, purified, and is prepared to receive it. When the

instructions from the guru have been completed, the seeker has become

strong in selflessness and surrender, and the samskaras have been

burned, grace comes.

 

In my own life, since I was a small child I was raised and guided by

my master. I had done all that he asked of me. Grace had not come and

I grew frustrated. So one day I went to my master and said, "You have

not done shaktipata for me. That means either you don't have shakti

or you don't intend to do it."

 

I told him, "For so long now I have been closing my eyes in

meditation and I end up with nothing but a headache. My time has been

wasted and I find little joy in life."

 

He didn't say anything, so in my exasperation I continued talking.

 

"I worked hard and sincerely," I said to him. "You said it would take

fourteen years, but this is my seventeenth year of practice. Whatever

you have asked me to do I have done. But today you give me shaktipata

or I will commit suicide."

 

Finally he said to me, "Are you sure? Are you really following all

the practices I have taught you? Is this the fruit of my teaching,

that you are committing suicide?"

 

Then he waited a moment and said, "When do you want to commit

suicide?"

 

"Right now," I said. "I am talking to you before I commit suicide.

You are no longer my master now. I have given up everything. I am of

no use to the world, I am of no use to you."

 

I got up to go to the Ganges, which was near, and was prepared to

drown myself.

 

My master said, "You know how to swim, so when you jump in the

Ganges, naturally you will start swimming. You'd better find some way

so that you will start drowning and not come up. Perhaps you should

tie some weight to yourself."

 

"What has happened to you?" I asked him. "You used to love me so

much."

 

I went to the Ganges and with a rope I tied some big rocks to myself.

When I was ready to jump, my master came and called, "Wait. Sit here

for one minute. I will give you what you want."

 

I did not know if he meant it, but I thought I could wait at least a

minute. I sat in my meditation posture and my master came and touched

me on the forehead. I remained in that position for nine hours and

did not have a single worldly thought. The experience was

indescribable. When I returned to normal consciousness I thought no

time had passed.

 

"Sir," I said to my master, "please forgive me."

 

With that touch my life was transformed. I lost fear and selfishness.

I started understanding life properly. I wondered if this experience

came about because of my effort or my master's.

 

His answer was simply, "Grace."

 

"A human being," he explained, "should make all possible sincere

efforts. When he has become exhausted and cries out in despair, in

the highest state of devotional emotion, he will attain ecstasy. That

is the grace of God. Grace is the fruit that you receive from your

faithful and sincere efforts."

 

Grace is only possible with a disciple who has gone through a long

period of discipline, austerity, and spiritual practices. When a

student has done these practices and followed the teacher's

instructions with all faithfulness, truthfulness, and sincerity, then

the subtlest obstacle is removed by the master. The experience of

enlightenment comes from the sincere effort of both master and

disciple. When you have done your duties skillfully and

wholeheartedly, you reap the fruits gracefully. Grace dawns when

action ends. Shaktipata is the grace of God transmitted through the

master.

 

Guru is the disciple's guide through life, through the mysterious

terrain of the spiritual heart, and into and beyond the realm of

death.