*Guru has to be Himself Brahman* There was a seeker once who prayed to his elder brother to initiate him into spiritual life, with the imparting of a saving mantra; but, the brother said, "it is always a hard job to teach one's kinsman, and to teach a brother is harder still. You should go to *Dakshinamûrti *(offering to the object of devotion), who is *S'iva* himself come as teacher". The brother inquired how to discover that preceptor. Then the brother said, "he who considers all men and all things equal - he is the preceptor I have indicated".
So the young man started his search. He went among the hermitages with a gold ring on his finger; he interrogated the hermits, what the metal was. Some declared it was gold, some brass, some copper, others said it was tin or some alloy. So, he moved on. Then, he came upon a young ascetic with shining eyes. He asked him whether it was gold. The ascetic said, 'yes'. He said, 'is it not brass?' He replied, 'yes it is brass'. He said yes, to whatever the seeker said it was. He could not recognise any distinction. So, the young man concluded that the ascetic before him was* Dakshinamûrti*. Equanimity comes as a result of the awareness of unity, not otherwise. Sanat Kumâr was engaged in extreme austerity when God appeared before him. He asked him to place before Him his needs. But Sanat Kumâr said, 'You are my guest now. You have come to this place, where I am since some time; so You may ask anything You need; I am bound to honor the guest, granting Him what He needs'. Having known *Brahman* he had become *Brahman* himself. So he could talk as an equal to God. 'I am You', that was the stage reached by Sanat Kumâr. No wonder he spoke like that. He is ever present; I is born only after the individual seperates himself from the He. So, with the birth of the* jîva*, the idea of *Deva* or God must also be born in the mind. That is the sign of safety and success. Cnu.pne
