Teachers/Gurus

[Guest guest]

Someone mentioned Dr. Ramamurti Mishra as being his/her guru on the Advaitin

list. I was reminded of the time back in the 1970s when I walked into the

East-West Book store in Manhattan and saw Dr. Mishra looking through some

new age books including those of Rajneesh. I said "Hello Dr. Mishra" with a

big smile. Back then I was reading every book of discourses by Rajneesh

(later known as OSHO) that came along. I thought, Dr. Mishra would be quite

critical of Rajneesh as were most orthodox Hindus and Jains (Rajneesh was

born a Jain and had been a professor of Philosophy and lived in Bombay).

 

During the conversation, Dr. Mishra spontaneously started singing very high

praises of Rajneesh and I started laughing. "Are you joking with me Dr.

Mishra?" I asked. "No! No!" He insisted and went on and on about Rajneesh."

I could not help laughing. Dr. Mishra was a good friend of my teacher and

they did several retreats jointly, if my memory serves. Dr. Mishra's book

on pranayama was quite interesting and contained some highly advanced

techniques. He was a great advocate for concentrating on Anahata sounds

(inner sound heard in the ear) to attain Samadhi. Dr. Mishra eventually

became Brahamanda Swami. He had a stroke later on I believe, but could still

sing devotional songs.

 

I spoke to my teacher about Dr. Mishra, Rajneesh, Swami Muktanananda, Swami

Rama, Amrit Desai, Swami Chidananda, and all the "famous" gurus of the day.

He knew most of them personally and had done conferences and retreats with

them. If he wanted to encourage me to listen to someone or read them, he

would say, "Yes, he is a good man." My teacher visited Ramana Maharshi as a

teenager and spoke to me about him. I cannot really pinpoint my connection

with Ramana Maharshi in time. It is like I had always known Him.

 

My teacher has kindness and warmth but let me know in his own way not to be

much impressed with gurus. He had known them (swamis and all) as ordinary

people with all the weaknesses and strength human beings have. "Be

independent and do not rely on any guru", he would say. "What if the guru

goes crazy and nuts, what will you do," he would ask? Then I would laugh

and laugh.

 

 

Harsha