to Berijoy on Guru Gita

[Guest guest]

Dear Berijoy,

 

thank you for writing about your feelings concerning the Guru Gita and

the attitude prescribed therein. I do understand your resistance as I

felt it myself and in many ways I am still struggling.

Perhaps it helps you if I try to explain what made a change for me

(apart from Chris inspiring me to finally read the whole thing). The

very first thing the Lord Shiva says to Parvati is: 'Oh Goddess, you

are my own form. From my love for you I will answer this question..."

That really struck me, because I thought 'but if She is His form, He

must be Her Self'. So She is asking her own True Self to instruct Her.

We don't know our Self, the only Self there is, because we identify

with the body/mind/emotions. But there have been and there are human

beings who do (and who have told us about It through history), who

totally identify with that Self, whose 'personal I' has died and in

whom only that Self lives (which does not mean they all walk and talk

the same, because that Self expresses itself via different

combinations of qualities). So if you ask the Guru to show you the

way, you are not asking 'someone else', but you are asking the Self,

closer to you than breathing. And you are not 'someone else' to the

Guru, but He/She sees his/her own light (still distortedly) reflected

in you and will spare no effort to help you make that reflection clear

and perfect. He/She loves you as his/her Self. When Swamiji says that

the true disciple wants to become the Guru, it means (among other

things and to my ears) that the true disciple finally wants to become

him/herSElF. Surrender means (to me) that you trust the Guru to lead

you to your/his/herSELF and to the highest possible expression of that

SELF.

 

What helped me to trust Swamiji and Shree Maa is that they say in the

preface that 'through all the teachers, guides, inspirations, examples

of every realm of heaven or earth, the principle of Guru is what has

shown forth'. They do not say that those you have learned from before

were worthless, nor that they are the only gurus who can lead you

across. You are not moving from one teacher to the next; you are

moving from one manifestation of Truth to the next, all the time led

by Truth Itself. And if you lend your ear to a teacher who only sheds

a little light, then even that is not without value. Looking back, I

see now how every step has led to this point where I am now, and this

is the best ever. Perhaps that is the same for you. Should that not

lead us to trust more and to open our hearts more?

 

I totally understand your reservations concerning the way feelings of

love and awe for the Guru are expressed. I myself do not tend to pour

out my heart to all and sundry. But here I have found myself saying

things I never thought I would ever say or ever feel (or allow myself

to say). That I cannot explain.

 

hope this helps a little, with love,

Henny

 

 

 

, Berijoy <berijoy> wrote:

> hello chris,

> for me, i am still trying to appreciate the guru gita. i think even

> though i have discrimination in whom i would likely surrender to

(sure

> like to think so anyway), i still find it difficult to get whatever

it

> is others are getting from this text. i am just not so moved as i

wish i

> was. and the idea of a kind of guru worship--well, even if

> intellectually i know that this guru is the ultimate principle, it's

> still a human being modelling the principle for us. while i can

> definitely defer to those who have more spiritual knowledge and

> experience than me, in general, i see gurus or saints the same as i

see

> jesus the christ, and that is as teachers and examples of how to do

it

> right. that i get. perhaps it is what others do in the presence of

> saints that gives me pause. while i think a certain reverance and

awe is

> in order, the sometimes fawning (or so it seems to me), almost

falling

> over the guru that i have read about seems exaggerated.

>

> i suppose i have not yet learned to understand and appreciate the

> "gurudeva for what she does for us." what is the 'much' that is

> received from the guru in the body? i would really like to feel and

get

> this connection that many seem to have.

>

>

> > In the tradition I came from, though in truth my gurudeva loved

his

> > master very much, obeyed him completely, and respected him

highly,

> > the "order" was that the guru was not to be worshipped. The fact

of

> > the matter is, though, that there is no other definition I know

of

> > for worship than the demonstration of love, obedience, and

respect.

> >

> > Anyway, when I read the Guru Gita the first few times it seemed

to

> > promote guru-worship to the point of mindlessness, and that

tended to

> > put me off. But in the introduction Swamiji points out that as

> > disciples we need to use our discrimination, so there is a way to

> > approach the Guru, surrender, and become an extension of the

Guru,

> > without losing our personal uniqueness. The Guru Gita itself

focuses

> > so much on the attainment of wisdom that it surprises me I never

> > really noticed before.

> >

> > The gurutattwa gives us everything - our very lives - and much is

> > received through the guru in the body. We can never repay the

> > gurudeva for what she does for us. How can one repay what is

beyond

> > price? If we receive even a little light from the Guru in this

life,

> > how much suffering is averted, how much peace created? The

Gurudeva

> > is the font of all grace. I offer myself at the feet of the

gurudeva.

> > I bow, I bow, I bow to the compassionate gurudeva.

> >

> > Jai Maa! Chris

> >

> >

>

> Be Love,

> Berijoy

> http://www.egyirba.net

> `/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/`/

> -=-=-

> ...

> Self-enquiry is the direct path to Self-realization or

enlightenment.

> The only way to make the mind

> cease its outward activities is to turn it inward. By steady and

> continuous investigation into the nature

> of the mind, the mind itself gets transformed into That to which it

owes

> its own existence. - Ramesh S. Balsekar

> -=-=-

> ...

> Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into a flame by another

human

> being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled

this

> light. --Albert Schweitzer