A spiritual Guru is the
one who essentially puts you on the path to attain the ultimate goal
and that is to attain the God
In Search of a Guru - The
True Spirit of a Guru
by Dr. Prreeti
So many times I have been
asked this question: Who is Guru, or teacher as we say in English?
When this question comes up, I like to talk about the two questions
I have asked myself before I met my Guruji.
Do I really need a Guru? And
how do I know he or she is the real one? The one meant for me.
Being an Indian brought up
in India, I was very well versed with the different shlokas on the
importance of Guru. But then what do we really mean by 'Guru'. Guru,
as the word is divided in two parts. 'Gu' means deep darkness and '
Ru' means to remove. So a Guru is the one who removes the darkness
in you.
Now again which darkness are
we talking about here. It is the darkness of ignorance or ' Agyaan'
or lack of knowledge. The next obvious question is ignorance about
what? This ignorance can be of anything. As a child comes into this
world, it is ignorant about everything, right from eating, drinking,
walking, and talking. Who gives that child the knowledge of how to
survive in this world. It is the mother and then the father.
So the Guru parampara starts
there at the very beginning of our existence, with the parents. In
fact according to Mahabharata, the epic Indian mythological text,
Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, gained the knowledge of warfare while in
his mother's womb. It has also been proven scientifically that a
child imbibes a lot of things even while in the fetal state.
Theoretically we are never without a Guru right from the time of
conception. Then as we enter school and college our teachers there
impart further knowledge to us. In fact according to the ancient
Indian text called 'Dattacharitra' based on the life of Lord
Dattatrey, who is the incarnation of all the trinities, Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, he made a total of 24 Gurus. They were all from
the nature around us, including a python, a dove, and even a bangle.
What it means is a Guru can be anyone who teaches you something,
whether knowingly or unknowingly. So look around you and you will
find so many things to learn.
Then what does this
spiritual Guru do and why do we need him. A spiritual Guru is the
one who essentially puts you on the path to attain the ultimate goal
and that is to attain the God. He helps you become one with God and
remove the ' aham' or the ego from within you. But remember, he only
shows you the path, guides you along it. The ultimate effort has to
be put in by you.
No one and I mean no body
other than yourself can walk this path for you. Those who claim to
make you one with God by a mere touch of hand or a photograph are
nothing but cheating you. Even in the ancient Indian text there is
mention of 'Tapa' which means burning your body and soul by
practicing a strict pious routine to purify yourself and every
disciple followed it. The great rishis, like Vishwamitra and
Vasishtha, were so powerful that even the Gods feared their piety.
Why couldn't they give their disciples the moksha just by blessing
them? Because this is your individual journey. No body, not even
your parents can do it for you. So a 'Guru' is essentially the
catalyst between you and God. He can facilitate the process but
without your effort and God's blessing cannot achieve it for you.
This is essentially for the
western and some Indian seekers who wish to find a Guru. Please, do
not try to substitute your Guru for a Shrink. A guru is the one who
will show you the path but ultimately you have to walk on it and
face the travails. He may protect you to an extent but he can't make
the difficulties in your life disappear completely. There is no
magic wand. Do not search for a Guru only because it is fashionable
or your friend says so. There will be people who claim to have found
the real Guru who is the ultimate incarnation of God. Do not get
duped by such con-artists. Your ultimate goal is and should always
be God. Let nobody deviate you from that.
There is this scale of 'K' I
personally follow and found useful whenever I visited some sect or
spiritual meeting in my quest for God and Guru. Believe me I have
visited quite a few of them. There are five 'Kakara' or five things
starting with 'K' in Sanskrit that the Guru should be devoid of. It
is Kanak or Gold, which essentially means money, the next is Kanta,
or women, Krishi, or land as in property, Kirti, meaning fame, he
shouldn't run after fame, Krodh, meaning anger, he should have
control over his anger. And most importantly you need to feel that
bond with him.
There is just no strict
measurement of how a true Guru should be. Just as India is a great
country with a rich tradition of 'Guru Parampara" or lineage, it is
indeed sad that there are so many so called Godmen and women duping
people by calling themselves Gods reincarnate.
A Guru is essentially for
you to attain God and he need not be famous and have rich pupils. He
can be someone anonymous who can show you the correct path. The
first and foremost Guru is your mother and then the father. So first
start by respecting your parents for they are the epitome of God on
this earth for you. The next important thing is to be a good human
being who loves everyone around him. Very difficult indeed as there
will be people whom we don't like. But we can at least try to be
civil with everyone, and even if we can't help someone, it is
important that we don't harm them at least. We can just start by
praying to God, whomever we believe in and he will bring the right
Guru for you. If not, God is your Guru himself.
But if you meet someone for
whom you feel from the bottom of your heart, and get strong feeling
to make him your Guru, go ahead and test him. Nothing wrong with
that. Just as a Guru tests his disciple before imparting knowledge,
why can't a pupil test his teacher for his worthiness. Believe me,
this is coming from a person who has attended and been to a lot of
sects in the search of a Guru.
Everybody is interested in
bringing in new members, especially educated and rich people. They
want you to leave your parents too if they are not receptive of the
Guru. This goes against the basic principle of Guru tradition which
starts with Mother, Father and then the Spiritual Guru. So a person
who does not score on the scale of the 'Ks above and asks you to
leave your parents is a definite no-no.
The most important thing
every Guru asks for is 'surrender'. But surrender what? It is not
your money or conscious or your morals. It is the surrender of your
'aham' or ego. The act makes you selfless which actually means you
become a better human being capable of loving one and all. Devoid of
vices and desires. Once you do that you become one with God. You do
not have to keep your sensible and conscious side aside for it. In
fact all this should make sense to you.
If you find someone who you
think fits these loosely scripted guidelines, you have met your Guru
then. Till such time keep your search for the ultimate Divine. He
will show you the way.
Dr. Prreeti is a
post-graduate medical doctor. She learnt astrology under the
guidance of her Guru Divyashree Bahuleyanand Swami and is practicing
it for some years now. To consult her please visit her site
www.yogicindia.com
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