How does anyone realise that he is a guru?
On Monday, 4 September, 2023 at 04:03:28 pm IST, Rajaram Krishnamurthy
<[email protected]> wrote:
WHO IS A REAL GURU?
A real Guru is one who is born from time to time as a repository of spiritual
force which he transmits to future generations through successive links of Guru
and Shishya (disciple). The current of this spirit-force changes its course
from time to time, just as a mighty stream of water opens up a new channel and
leaves the old one for good. Thus it is seen that old sects of religion grow
lifeless in the course of time, and new sects arise with the fire of life in
them. Men who are truly wise commit themselves to the mercy of that particular
sect through which the current of life flows. Old forms of religion are like
the skeletons of once mighty animals, preserved in museums. They should be
regarded with the due honour. They cannot satisfy the true cravings of the soul
for the Highest, just as a dead mango-tree cannot satisfy the cravings of a man
for luscious mangoes.
The one thing necessary is to be stripped of our vanities — the sense that we
possess any spiritual wisdom — and to surrender ourselves completely to the
guidance of our Guru. The Guru only knows what will lead us towards perfection.
We are quite blind to it. We do not know anything. This sort of humility will
open the door of our heart for spiritual truths. Truth will never come into our
minds so long as there will remain the faintest shadow of Ahamkâra (egotism).
All of you should try to root out this devil from your heart. Complete
self-surrender is the only way to spiritual illumination.
Divine grace is needed to get the right guru. If the seeker is earnest, he will
get the right guru at the end for sure.
A truly realized Jnani can be a pauper like Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi or a king
like Janaka Maharaja. Sri Krishna, an absolute total Avatar of God was living
amidst worldly pleasures and materialism but nothing touched him.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa lived a poor man’s life; he could not even touch
money with his hand. He lived such an exemplary life of renunciation. But think
of Swami Vivekananda, his prime disciple, to whom Sri Ramakrishna transferred
all his shakti before leaving his body and the way he “extracted work” from
Vivekananda!
Vivekananda roamed all around India as a penniless mendicant; he got the divine
prompting to go to USA again as a penniless person. He swept the west like a
storm, brought wealth, started Sri Ramakrishna Mission and Math, built Belur
Mutt, built a grand temple for Sri Ramakrishna there, set up several branches
of the mutt, engaged his brother monks into various social service activities,
built educational institutions and other institutions for the welfare of the
downtrodden men and women.
Like a tempest he worked ceaselessly and built a huge institution and left his
body when he was just 40 with total detachment as a true Sanyasin!
Think of Swami Sivananda. He was floating in wealth as a popular doctor in
Malaysia. He was gripped by thirst for spirituality, came to India, got
initiated into Sanyas, did tapas at Rishikesh, lived the life of a begging monk
and got enlightened.
He served the poor and sick monks of Rishikesh. He started Sivananda Ashram –
‘Divine Life Society’ from a humble hut and built it into a huge Ashram
comprising of a temple, a hospital, a photo studio, a Yoga Institute, a Vedanta
Institute, a printing press and he had an office manned by some 40 typists with
typewriters to handle all his correspondence and writing!
Swami Sivananda once said, “If I can serve 100 people unobtrusively or serve
thousands of people through advertisement, I would choose the latter”. Same
Swami Sivananda, when his ashram was gripped with financial difficulty, said,
“I have no qualms if we have to shut down everything and we can always go back
to our old simple ways by taking food at Annakshetra”. That is the sign of a
mahatma.
Likewise, there are indeed Gurus of today that the media may project as
billionaires rolling in luxury, materialism and worldliness, but they may be
totally untouched by any of them even today.
Kali yuga is such that even Ashrams cannot totally escape some pomp, show,
commercialization and materialism. If the head of the ashram is a pure realized
soul, everything can remain in balance. The institutions may have to be run by
ordinary people with ordinary morals (who are yet to be evolved) and some of
them may bring bad name to the Mahatma who runs the institutes too! But true
Mahatmas accept all sorts of people out of compassion to elevate them
spiritually.
As I said, it requires divine grace — the grace to know the difference between
the right Guru and a fake Guru, to differentiate the wheat and the chaff.
Thus so many had wonderful gurus; so many had false gurus also;the best Guru is
the books. Because the mukti, GURU cannot give but only individually we have to
seek. K Rajaram IRS 4 9 23
On Mon, 4 Sept 2023 at 14:48, 'N Sekar' via iyer123 <[email protected]>
wrote:
Excellent message, thanks
N Sekar
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
On Mon, Sep 4, 2023 at 12:07 PM, ARR<[email protected]> wrote:
Why do we need a Master?Once upon a time, a cow went out to graze in the
jungle. Suddenly, she noticed a lion racing towards her. She turned and fled,
fearing that at any moment the lion would sink his claws into her. The cow
desperately looked for someplace to escape and at last, saw a shallow pond.
Barely evading the lion's reach, she jumped into the pond, and in the heat of
the chase, the lion blindly leaped after her.To the surprise of them both, the
pond was extremely shallow yet filled with deep recesses of mud. After toppling
over each other, the cow and the lion found themselves a short distance apart,
stuck in the mud up to their necks. Both had their heads above water but were
unable to free themselves no matter how much they writhed.The lion repeatedly
snarled at the cow and roared, “I am going to enjoy the sound of crunching your
bones between my teeth!”He thrashed about in fury but soon became fretful as he
found no prospect of escape.The cow thoughtfully laughed as the lion struggled
to free himself and asked him, “Do you have a master?”The lion disdainfully
replied, “I am the king of the jungle. Why do you ask me if I have a master? I
myself am the master!”The cow said, “You may be the king of the jungle, but
here all your power has failed to save your life.”“And what about you?”
Retorted the lion. “You are going to die here in this mud too!”’The cow smiled
mildly and said, “No, I am not.”“If even I, the king of the jungle cannot free
myself from this mud”, snapped the lion, “Then how can you, an ordinary
cow?”The cow gently replied, “I cannot free myself from this mud, but my master
can. When the sun sets and he finds me absent at home, he will come looking for
me. Once he finds me, he will raise me up and escort me home sweet home.”The
lion fell silent and coldly glared at the cow.Soon enough, the sunset and the
cow’s master arrived. He immediately recognized the plight she was in and
lifted her to safety. As they walked home, the cow and the master both felt
renewed gratitude for one another and pitied the lion they both would have been
happy to save if only the lion had allowed them.The cow represents a
surrendered heart, the lion represents an egoistic mind, and the master
represents the Guru. The mud represents the world, and the chase represents the
struggle for existence therein. In briefIts good to be independent and not rely
on anyone. But don't take it to an extreme, you always need a
partner/coach/mentor/ friend who will be always on the lookout for you. Having
them does not mean you are weak, it's just that you can be stronger with their
help. Make sure to share this story with your partner/coach/mentor/ friend and
express your gratitude.
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