Wednesday, February 11, 2009

HELPERS IN THE SPIRITUAL PATH -CONCEPTION OF THE GURU

HELPERS IN THE SPIRITUAL PATH

[I. Guru : Conception of the Guru—Necessity of having a Guru—Relation between Guru and disciple— II. Divine Incarnation : What is a Divine Incarnation? —Difficulty of recognising Divine Incarnations—Incarnations as revelations of God—Difference between Incarnations and ordinary perfect men]

Guru

CONCEPTION OF THE GURU

Who is whose Guru (spiritual guide and teacher) ? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe.

He who considers his Guru to be merely human, what good can he derive from his prayers and devotions ? We should not consider our Guru to be a mere man. Before the disciple sees the Deity, he sees the Guru in the first vision of Divine illumination. And it is the Guru who afterwards shows the Deity, being himself mysteriously transformed into the form of the Deity. Then the disciple sees the Guru and the Deity as one and the some. Whatever boon the disciple asks, the deified Guru gives him alL yea, the Guru even takes him to the highest bliss of Nirvana (the state of extinction of individuality in God), Or, the man may choose to remain in a dualistic state of consciousness, maintaining the relation of the worshipper and the worshipped. Whatever he asks, his Guru vouchsafes him.

The human Guru whispers the sacred formula (Mantra) in the ear; the Divine Guru breathes the spirit into the soul

The Guru is a mediator. He brings man and God together, even as a match-maker brings together the lover and the beloved.

691. A Guru is like the mighty Ganges. Men throw all filth and refuse into the Ganges, but the holiness of that river is not diminished thereby. So is the Guru above all petty insult and censure.

There are three classes of religious teachers as there are three classes of doctors. There is one class of doctors who, when they are called in, look at the patient, feel his pulse, prescribe the necessary medicines, and ask him to take them. If the patient declines to do so, they go away without troubling themselves further about the matter. This is the lowest class of doctors. In the same way, there are some religious teachers who do not care much whether the disciples attach any value to their teachings and act up to them or not. Doctors of the second type not only ask the patient to take their medicine but go further. They expostulate with him in case he shows any reluctance to take it. In the same way, those religious teachers who leave no stone unturned to make other people walk in the ways of righteousness, devotion and truth by means of gentle persuasion, can be said to belong to the next higher class. The third and the highest kind of doctors would proceed to use force with the patient in case their expostulation failed. They would go to the length of putting their knee on the chest of the patient and forcing the medicine down his throat. Similarly, there are some religious teachers who would use force, if necessary, with their disciples with a view to make them walk in the path of the Lord. These belong to the highest class.

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