RE: Dirk/Jil/ Info on TM-Maharishi's Guru Dev, a nyone?

[Guest guest]

Hi Jani,

I don't think there has been much written about Guru Dev. Long ago I

read a book called "The Whole Thing, The Real Thing". It was printed

in India. Sorry I don't remember the author. Maharishi wrote

something short about him in the intro to his book "Love and God".

Books about Maharishi are a little more common, but they seem to have

a tabloid quality to them. My favorite is a book called Darshan which

is mostly just pictures. Maybe the best way to get a flavor of

Maharishi would be to hear some of his lectures. A few of the older

ones are available on the web. Since you are in Finland the site in

England might be closest:

http://www.maharishi.co.uk/bkhist.htm

Reading about any saint can be a wonderful balm for the heart. Yet the

biography of someone great never really comes close to describing

their greatness. I've come to recognize that the understanding of any

holy man (or woman) is not in any of their actions or their words.

There is something in their being. You know how it is when you are

with someone that you like. Hours seem to pass like minutes. You

often cannot even recall what happened during that time. If you are

asked to describe your friend you may think of something to say about

their smile or something about their eyes, but it is almost impossible

to convey in any real way what they are like. With a saint it is even

more so. Some of most precious minutes of my life have been in the

company of my teacher.

Still the stories are always fun to hear so I'll try and retell one I

remember Maharishi telling about his teacher, Guru Dev. I don't

recall well the setting of the lecture so we will improvise. Imagine

sitting outside on a warm Summer night. Its dark out and the only

light comes from the full moon overhead. We have all been waiting

patiently for some time when there is a stir and Maharishi comes to

sit on the raised coach. Thursday is the day of the teacher, so

Maharishi starts to tell this story about his teacher -

At the tender age of five when most children are only concerned with

toys and playthings, Guru Dev left his family home in search of a

teacher. He had set a high standard for this teacher- someone that

not only knew scripture, but also someone who was a knower of

reality. Along the way he met many knowledgeable men and good

beginners but no one to satisfy his heart until he arrived at the

foot of the Himalayas at the ashram of Krishnand Saraswati some four

years later.

Since there were many older disciples present around the teacher, Guru

Dev did not have much chance to interact with him. One day a well

known man was in town giving a lecture and the disciples all went to

go see him. As Guru Dev went along he started to have a doubt, "My

master is back at the ashram what is the point of hearing this other

man." He made his excuse and returned, so he was around to offer

hospitality to the lecturer when he came there. By chance the

teacher, Krishnand Saraswati heard of this and realized there was

something special about the boy. Knowing the jealousy of the older

disciples he arranged for Guru Dev to go to a nearby cave. On every

Thursday he was to come back for further instructions.

Time went on with each week Guru Dev visiting his teacher. The master

decided to show his older students something about Guru Dev. He asked

his oldest disciple to go up to the cave and ask Guru Dev where the

master could move in. So the disciple came to the cave and asked.

Guru Dev said to him, " There is no room." With this the older

disciple got very angry. "YOU IMPUDENT BOY! HOW CAN YOU SAY THERE IS

NO ROOM. THERE IS ALL KINDS OF SPACE HERE." Guru Dev looked at him

and quietly said, "I respect you as the oldest of the master's

students. You may say anything you want to our teacher, but if you

are delivering my answer then you must say just what I told you:

'there is no room'."

The next Thursday when Guru Dev arrived back at the ashram there was a

big commotion. Finally someone asked the teacher, "Master, what should

be the punishment for someone that insults their teacher?" The teacher

knew what was going on and looked over at Guru Dev. "It is concerning

you." Guru Dev said that he was willing to accept any punishment the

master felt he needed. The master said, "No please explain your

answer to the older disciple." Guru Dev:"Please, this is between you

and me." Master: "No the others need to hear about your answer."

Then Guru Dev explained, "When I came to the ashram and surrendered

myself to you then every part of me was filled. If I had known that

one day you would want me to have some space set aside then I would

have held back something to give to you. When the disciple asked I

could only answer truthfully that there is no room." Even at nine

years all Guru Dev understood that the Guru dwells in the heart. Not

in the mud walls of a cave. If the teacher wanted to move somewhere

of course he could go anywhere, but Guru Dev's being was totally

filled.

Namaste,

Dirk

 

Jani Mattsson [jmattsso+onelist (AT) niksula (DOT) hut.fi]

Friday, May 19, 2000 1:27 PM

Info on TM-Maharishi's Guru Dev, anyone?

Hello all!

I thought there might be someone on this list who would know.

Just out of curiosity, I would like to find some sources of

information on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's (the founder of the TM

movement) teacher, Guru Dev, whose whole name apparently

was Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Maharaj, Jagatguru, Bhagavan

Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, Badrikashram, Himalayas.

.....

There is a quote from a book called, "Living With the Himalayan

Masters",

by Swami Rama. This is about Swami Rama's adventures and experiences

with

Himalayan masters, one of which included a week stay with Guru Dev.

The

highlights from this chapter are as follows and do include a

description of

Guru Dev's worship of the Divine Mother.

"Traveling toward the forests of Teva State, I went to the Satana

forest

and there met a swami who was very handsome and highly educated in the

Vedantic and yoga tradition. He knew the scriptures and was a very

brilliant sadhaka. He was later nominated as Shankaracharya of

Jyotirmayapitham. His name was Brahmananda Saraswati"

"He used to live only on germinated gram seeds mixed with a little bit

of

salt. He lived on a hillock in a small natural cave near a mountain

pool...he

motioned for me to follow him to his small cave and I did so gladly.

This

was the eighth day of his silence, and after staying the night with

him, he

broke his silence and I gently spoke to him about the purpose of my

visit. During

our conversation, he started talking to me about Sri Vidya, the

highest of

paths followed only by accomplished Sanskrit scholars of India. It is

a path

which joins raga yoga, kundalini yoga, bhakti yoga and Advaita

Vedanta.

There are two books recommended by the teachers of this path, 'The

Wave of

Bliss and The Wave of Bearty'; the compilation of the two books is

called

Saundaryalahari in Sanskrit. There is another part of this literature

called

"Prayoga Shastra," which is in manuscript form and found only in the

Mysore

and Baroda libraries. No scholar can understand these spiritual yoga

poems

without the help of a competent teacher who himself practises these

teachings.

Later on, I found that Sri Vidya and Madhuvidya are spiritual

practises known to

a very few--only ten to twelve people in all of India."

"Swami Bramananda was one of the rare siddhas who had the knowledge of

Sri

Vidya. His authoritative knowledge of the Upanishads, and especially

of

Shankara's commentaries, was superb. He was also a very good speaker.

Swami Karpatri, a renowned scholar, was the disciple who requested him

to

accept the prestige and dignity of Shankarachara in the North, a seat

which

had been vacant for 300 years. Whenever he travelled from one city to

another,

people flocked in the thousands to hear him, and after nominated as

Shankaracharya, his followers increased. One thing very attractive

about

his way of teaching was his combination of the bhakti and Advaita

systems.

During my brief stay with him, he also talked about Madhusudana's

commentary and the Bhagavad Gita."

"Swami Brahmananda had a Sri Yantra made out of rubies, and as he

showed it

to me, he explained the way he worshipped it. It is interesting to

note how

the great sages direct all their spiritual, mental and physical

resources

toward their ultimate goal. Among all the swamis of India, I only met

a few who

radiated such brilliance and yet lived in the public, remaining

unaffected by

worldly temptations and distractions. I stayed with him for only a

week and

then left for Uttarkashi."