Introduction
The institution of a Guru has always been a part of the Indian psyche since time immemorial. But its relevance in today's context needs to be examined.
There are many definitions1 of Guru. Commonly any person who teaches is taken as a Guru. But traditionally the scope of a Guru goes much beyond ordinary teaching. He is someone who, having a weight of spiritual knowledge, guides the pupil to realise his inner aspirations.
But I like the definition in Advyayatarakara Upanishad which gives the meaning of a Guru as a dispeller of darkness.2
The Need for a Guru
Do we need a Guru?
This is a question people ask in these troubled times and rightly so. This is because we are unable to decide as to how we can trust a person and accept him as Guru. The difficulty is compounded because most often we little idea about the subject matter (to connect with the inner self).
The need for a Guru in our lives is elaborated in many Indian Scriptures.
In the Bhagwat Gita ( Chapter 4.34) Lord Krishna has stated as follows:-
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.
Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him.
The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.”
The need for a guru has also been expounded by great teachers such as Mahaperiava3, Guru Nanak4, and Swami Vivekananda5
One reason that has been given by Mahaperiava is that when we learn a subject by ourselves, there is no sense of dedication and surrender in our efforts. Instead of humility, we develop the opposite quality, that is Ahamkara (ego), which is detrimental to the learning process.
The Masters of Heartfulness Movement6 (a system of meditation practices that I follow) have always emphasized the need for a living guru.
To my mind, just as we need a Teacher for learning any activity such as academic subjects or sports, we need a Guide or Guru for matters relating to the inner search.
There may be a few realised souls who have attained the knowledge of the Self by direct perception, but such persons may have been rare in History- exceptions to the general rule.
The majority of humanity needs guidance in the quest for inner search.
It may be true that there are many so-called "Gurus" who have destroyed the lives of those who trusted them-materially, morally and spiritually. But to abandon the inner search, for this reason, is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
One of the first signs of a true guru is that in His presence you will experience peace and calm.
Secondly, it is advisable to follow only such a person as a Guru who will not ask you to go against common ethics, morals or the law of the land.
Also look for a Guru who is genuinely interested in serving you, rather than being served.
It is therefore important to use intellect and discrimination in selecting a Guru.
Some people consider the family priests, who perform rituals for a fee, as Guru. These priests in addition to performing rituals are expected to reinforce the assimilation of common moral codes in our lives and also guide us in the conduct of daily ritual and obligations to God. Unless the family priests are of the required calibre, in my opinion they should not be considered as Gurus.
Such rituals and prayers, which are external, gives us some idea of the direction which we have to take. They can be considered as stepping stones to the Ultimate spiritual quest, for which we need a Guru of calibre who has travelled the path, to take us there.
Who would want to be waiting on the stepping stones, when the Lord is anxiously waiting for you to welcome you in His abode?
It is said that if you do not get a guru to your satisfaction – you may sit and pray to God almighty in a supplicant manner regularly ( say at night ). A true guru will then reach out to you through some means or the other.
Types of Gurus
Mahperiava has mentioned about three types of Gurus who give Diksha ( initiation into a spiritual path)7
a) Kukutta Diksha (Like the Hen.)
The hen sits on the eggs to make them hatch and bring forth the young ones. This is comparable to the type of guru who uses the power of his touch to impart spiritual training.
b) Matsaya Diksha (Like the Fish)
Fish lays its egg in the water and watches over the eggs even as they float around. The mother fish looks intently at the eggs and the young ones break out of the shell. This is comparable to the type of Guru who uses the power of his vision(sight) to impart spiritual training.
c) Kamatha Diksha ( Like the Tortoise)
The mother tortoise, it is said, lays its eggs on the shore and then returns to the water. The egg is deposited in one place and the mother goes somewhere else. However, it always keeps thinking about its eggs, worried about whether its young ones will break out of the shell without difficulty. This is comparable to the type of Guru who uses his power of thought to impart spiritual training.
In the Heartfulness System, the Guide Transmits “Yogic Transmission”, which is also known as Pranahuti in Sanskrit. Since the transmission is imparted without the need of physical touch or presence of the Guide, He can be compared to the third type of Guru described above.
Is there a need for a living Guru?
In some of the spiritual systems, once the Guru passes on, He does not leave behind a representative. It is believed that in some immortal way, he continues to exist, to guide and inspire His followers.
The Mundaka Upanishad speaks of approaching a Guru, with some sacrificial fuel, (samit, a type of firewood used in sacrificial fires) and that Guru should have obtained knowledge of the Scriptures and knowledge of the Self ( Brahma Vidya)8. The need for a living guru is implied in this passage.
In the system of Heartfulness meditation which I follow and practice, there is a living Guru. We learn from His lifestyle and His approach to day to day situations. We understand from Him how we can seamlessly integrate our spiritual aspiration into our material life. A living Guide of the Highest Calibre is alone capable of receiving Pranahuti from the Source and transmitting to the aspirant, which can result in his or her transformation.
Master has often clarified that the real Guru is the Source or God(also known as Ishvara, Adi, Khuda, Holy Spirit etc.) who is in the heart of each one of us.
The offering of a Dakshina to a Guru can be a symbolic gesture9. In Heartfulness the Guru demands nothing but an earnest heart of the aspirant so that it can be thoroughly purified for receiving the Brahma vidya.
What comes first? The Guru, the teachings or the Practice.
I feel that in a majority of the cases, it may be difficult for the aspirant to accept the Guru from inception. If the aspirants are given the teachings first – he or she may get bogged down or confused in the intellectual process of trying to understand the teachings.
Therefore in the Heartfulness System, the aspirants are first exposed to the practice, which gives the practical experience of the effects of Pranahuti. As the internal transformation takes place, they can progressively validate their experience with the teachings. In the absence of such experience, the teachings can largely remain an intellectual or theoretical exercise.
Invariably the teachings are in seed form sowed by the Guru within our heart. As we continue the journey, there are newer and newer discoveries made by the aspirant because the seed has germinated, grown into a plant and then with His blessings into a tree. This gives the confidence to put in more efforts in the practice and understanding of the teachings.
Then comes the next process of finding and associating with the real person who has caused such a transformation within us, which is the Guru.
Such an association starts with a trust that He may be the right person for us. After some time it progressively transcends to belief and faith. A kind of reverence ( Bhakti ) starts developing.
In His book “The Role of the Master in Human Evolution”, Revered Shri Parthasarathy Rajagopalachri, the third guide of Heartfulness Movement, has beautifully examined the importance of practice, teachings and the Guru for the inner quest of Brahma vidya. He clearly explains that the Master( Guru) is the most important element of the system.9
Now in the next section, we will examine why is this reverence( Bhakti) for the Guru required and the nature of such reverence.
Reverence for a Guru ( Bhakti)
Traditionally speaking, when we talk of Bhakti for the Guru in an Indian Context – we immediately think of falling at the Guru’s feet, lying prostrate, garlanding Him and singing His praises.
But in Heartfulness, any outward display of Bhakti towards the Guru is gently dissuaded. Thus we do not garland the Guru, touch His feet or sing His praises.
When you approach such a guru, who is a householder, and dresses like any other person then you find it easy to relate to him.
The only reverence which can develop is in the hearts of the aspirants. It grows and remains there only. But such reverence can create a vacuum, which will pull the Guide towards the aspirant. This is the most dynamic element of the spiritual process in attaining Self-knowledge.
I find it very comfortable with this idea of the inner reverence for the Guru. Since it is based on transformational experience, the reverence is permanent and growing.
But suppose let us say you are attached to the Guru because of his external charms, his eloquence, his kindness and other external factors. It is possible that later on, you may not find him so charming, so eloquent, or as kind, because our sense organ perceptions keep on changing. It is, therefore, best that a kind of unspoken internal reverence is there for the Guru, and this reverence is beyond the external sensory perceptions.
I have heard Daaji say many times that the Bhakti towards the living Guru has to develop in the aspirant, This is only in the interest of the aspirant. Once the Guru passes on ((and it is of course a painful subject to talk about ) the Bhakti has to be transferred ( so to say ) to the next living guru so that the spiritual progress goes on.
My Experiences
At the time when I started the Heartfulness practices ( or stumbled into it – I should say) I held the belief that an intermediary between God and me is not required.
As I continued the practice initially under Revered Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari ( affectionately called Chariji) I realized how much a Guru was needed in our lives. I am grateful that the system does not require us to fall at the feet of the Guru because I am not sure how I would have taken this at the initial stage of my practice.
I would narrate one incident during my initial meeting with Chariji. It was a stormy November evening with rain lashing all around. I was then about 40 years old and he was about the same age as my father, nearing 70 years. We came out of his room in Chennai Ashram and He and I were in a tiny passage outside the room which was dimly lit. Our slippers were kept in that passage. I put on my slippers and immediately spotted His slippers even as He was searching for them.
Normally I am positively inclined to respect and help elders. Once I had, following an instinct, fallen prostrate at the feet of my school teacher, whom I meet many years after school, on a railway platform.
However, in this case, my Heart told me to help Him put on his slippers, but my Mind was hesitant and confused. The thought came to my mind that if I bent down to help Him with His slippers, I would have become His forever. That I could not accept.
It also showed His magnanimity as He went on as if nothing had happened and I continued to be blessed by Him.
But I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I had truly accepted Him on that rainy evening in November many years ago.
Conclusion
My main purpose in writing this blog is to put out a prayer that nobody should stay ignorant like me and that everyone who reads this does find a true Guru who will lead Him to the Ultimate.
The End
Disclaimers
The opinions which are expressed in this blog are my own.
For more details about Heartfulness Meditation Practices and connect with a Trainer please visit www.heartfulness.org.
All Heartfulness Meditation Sessions including those with a Trainer are always free of charges.
If there are any factual errors in the blog please refer them to me at parasugopalan@gmail.com, They will be corrected with all humility.
References
1The word guru (Sanskrit: गुरु), a noun, connotes "teacher" in Sanskrit, but in ancient Indian traditions, it has contextual meanings with significance beyond what teacher means in English. The guru is more than someone who teaches a specific type of knowledge, and includes in its scope someone who is also a "counsellor, a sort of parent of mind and soul, who helps mould values and experiential knowledge as much as specific knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who reveals the meaning of life." As a noun, the word means the imparter of knowledge (jñāna; also Pali: ñāna). As an adjective, it means 'heavy,' or 'weighty,' in the sense of "heavy with knowledge," heavy with spiritual wisdom, "heavy with spiritual weight," "heavy with the good qualities of scriptures and realization," or "heavy with a wealth of knowledge. The word has its roots in the Sanskrit gri (to invoke, or to praise), and may have a connection to the word gur, meaning 'to raise, lift up, or to make an effort'. – Wikipedia
2 Darkness and light
गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः स्यात् रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः।
अन्धकारनिरोधित्वात् गुरुरित्यभिधीयते॥ १६॥
The syllable gu means darkness, the syllable ru, he who dispels them,
Because of the power to dispel darkness, the guru is thus named.
— Advayataraka Upanishad, Verse 16
3Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamigal ( 1894 – 1994) the 68th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
(We) need someone to draw us ( towards the Supreme Reality so that we too will realise our true Self) . Is there one like that ? Is there one who can make us our real Self , the True we?
Who is a Guru ? It is he who teaches us the reality about ourselves and instructs us in the Sadhana by which we may realise this reality.
Such one is the Guru.
From the Book “ The Guru Tradition.” Page 11
4Guru Nanak
God Reveals the divine light to human beings through the Gurus. Nanak says
“ The Guru is the Giver
The Guru is heaven of peace
The Guru is the lamp that lights the three worlds.”
(from The Philosophy of Guru Nanak – A critical Analysis
By Md Didarul Islam – the University of Leeds – published in ResearchGate June 2016. Arts Faculty Journal.
5 Swami Vivekananda
The Guru is the bright mask which God wears in order to come to us. As we look steadily on, gradually the mask falls off and God is revealed. "I bow to the Guru who is the embodiment of the Bliss Divine, the personification of the highest knowledge and the giver of the greatest beatitude, who is pure, perfect, one without a second, eternal, beyond pleasure and pain, beyond all thought and all qualification, transcendental". Such is in reality the Guru. No wonder the disciple looks upon him as God Himself and trusts him, reveres him, obeys him, follows him unquestioningly. This is the relation between the Guru and the disciple.
6 Revered Shri Kamlesh Patel, (affectionately called Daaji ) the present living Guide of the Heartfulness Movement says:-
“Guide ( or Guru) is a teacher who accompanies and guides a student of spirituality, like any good teacher, guides students in any discipline.” ( from his book Designing Destiny).
7 From “The Guru Tradition” by Mahaperiava (Pages 38-40)
8 “ Let him, in order to obtain knowledge of the eternal, take sacrificial fuel( samit) in his hands and approach a preceptor alone who is well versed in the Vedas and is established in the Brahman.” ( Manduka Upanishad1.2.12).
9 The Third and the most important element is the Master Himself, His life, His Example. In a very real sense we can do without the other two (practice and teaching), but we cannot do without this (Guru). Every Abhyasi can do without the practice, provided he comes to the Master, lives with the Master, behaves like the Master, lives with the Master and becomes like the Master. It is quite easy too. That is why Babuji ( Second Guide of the Heartfulness Movement) said “ Closeness with the Master is the most important thing.” – From the book Role of the Master in Human Evolution – Talk by Revered Parthasarthy Rajagopalachari at Vorauf, Germany July 3rd 1986.