In Search of a Guru

[G.S. Iyer]

To all readers: This is my first piece since registering on the site. I hope to interact with you all through this outlet over the months or years.

Who is a Guru?
A Guru is different from a ‘shikshak’. The latter merely teaches us the techniques of how to go about achieving our desires and is, in this sense, more of a tactician. A Guru is more than that: he is equated with God himself: “Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwara; Gurus Sakshat Parabrahmam Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah”.

He removes unseen and, perhaps, unknown obstacles from our path, invokes the Lord’s kindness on us and clears our spiritual pathway for us progressively, so that we may practice the techniques of self-advancement that he teaches us at various stages in our path.

A Guru plans our self-advancement for us. In return, we need to repose absolute faith in anything that he says and surrender ourselves to his superior knowledge and wisdom. But we must be unquestioning in this. It must be a faith that yields to absolutely nothing and no one. We must ask ourselves: Is this possible for the majority of us? If not, are we truly deserving of a Guru?

Why do we want a Guru?
Perhaps the more fundamental question is: Why do we need one? Could we not be content with a ‘shikshak’? Do we suffer from unhappiness or general dissatisfaction with the common problems of life, or are we grappling with spiritual problems that need some answer? If the former, a Guru is not warranted; a mere ‘shikshak’ would do. If it is the latter, it is the Guru who will find us and not the other way around. Various great persons have told us so and have also told us that we must prepare ourselves to be spiritually ripe to receive a Guru. That is, we must abide by the ‘yamas’ and ‘niyamas’ (such as delineated by persons like Rishi Patanjali) and assiduously cultivate our character - especially, intellectual and emotional honesty and integrity - such that it is not weakened under any circumstance. After that, we can only WAIT – wait patiently for a Guru, even if it takes several births! It is not for nothing that patience is considered the first virtue on the path to spiritual progress.

The moot question is: Are we in a position to determine whether we are or are not spiritually ripe? Further, is this something to be determined by oneself or by the prospective Guru?

[c.smith]

Hari Om!

Fantastic question.

Please bear with me here -

A banana goes through stages. A flower to start, green as it grows and matures on the tree, yellow as it ripens, and then finally brown as it decays.

So much to draw from this in my humble opinion and my small brain can only begin to explain.

Ego is non existent at beginning, we are innocent and beautiful like a flower. As we grow, we become tainted along the way through a process of maya to a final point of decay and finally death. Seen another way, rot and this "death" can be the death of ego that is gift from guru. We ripen along the way as a result of His grace. I am one who believes this it IS necessary to have guru to attain final liberation and that one need make that the goal of this life. Not all may agree.

Question begs - can this ripening process be accelerated? As a banana can be enclosed in a simple paper bag to enhance the process by sitting in its own gas, one can advance only by grace of Guru.

So, how does one "find" Guru? In my humble opinion, Guru and seeker find each other. Again, by divine grace. My experience speaks to this.

Hope this hasn't taken the thread off track and apologies if so.

Others?

Om

[saswathy]

Dear friends ,
Like many things we can't choose a guru . When the time is ripe for that , he himself walks in to our life .Guru is not the modern guru who pours out all the textual knowledge. Gnanis need not necessarily be the realised souls . A real guru is the father , mother , God , best friend ,a guide all rolled in to one .It is the best fortune to have such guru and literally it is the second birth when that happens .When such guru enters our life , he takes care of everything , either mundane or spiritual .

[Believer]

Namaste,

When the time is ripe for that , he himself walks in to our life......
....When such guru enters our life , he takes care of everything , either mundane or spiritual....
I hear a lot from people about Gurus. Now are the above claims from personal experience, OR are they copied from some Hindu book? If this is a reflection of personal experience, do you care to detail how did your Guru enter your life and how did he transform your life? Besides taking care of your spiritual needs, what mundane needs does he take care of? Does he do that for a multitude of other shishyas or are you his only shishya? I am curious about the real life experience of somebody having a chance encounter with a guru, being with him/her on a daily basis from then on, for spiritual growth as well as for having the 'mundane needs taken care of'. And since such souls don't exist in large numbers outside of India, are the Hindus in other countries doomed to have a life without a guru? Would they never find any spiritual bliss in this lifetime? Just curious.


The moot question is: Are we in a position to determine whether we are or are not spiritually ripe? Further, is this something to be determined by oneself or by the prospective Guru?
Not sure if you are really asking a question OR is this a segue to your next writeup?

Pranam.

PS, This being a sub-forum for introductions only, I don't know why the OP started the thread here.

[saswathy]

Dear friend ,
There are certain things , rather certain experiences which can't be discussed in the forums . It is from my personal experience I said that . Every word of what I said is cent percent true .I
don't think that there are caste , creed , race ,religion ,region , factors which play a role in spiritual sadhana . When a statement does not appeal to any , they can just ignore the post. There is a time and place for everything and the intense thirst for a guru definitely brings him in to our life .That is a thing which comes in to experience and not one for debate.

[kumar_s]

Just sharing my personal experience. Certain people did come into my life who taught me invaluable lessons. However, in most of the cases I was not ready and what I learnt just passed by me, much like a class where even though you are being taught something it is possible for you to completely miss it.

I do believe that there comes a time when one is ready to receive knowledge and only then does he/she truly receive it. He/she might have encountered the knowledge much earlier, but one has to be ready in a certain sense.

[Mana]

Namaste G.S. Iyer,

om gurave namaḥ:

anugraha is activation of guru chakra, and not to be blindly led; As you have wisely recommended it is best practice Patanjali rishi's sutra well, that we continually realize the difference, and keep a very clean head ...

Welcome to the forum.

Kind regards.

[Believer]

Namaste,

.......It is from my personal experience.....

Thank you for that response and I certainly respect your request for privacy in this respect.


.......don't think that there are..... region , factors which play a role in spiritual sadhana . .......
I am glad to see that the above is 'your opinion', and not something universal. From experience I know that outside of India, Hindus who are householders have very little or no chance of having a frequent, physical one on one contact with a guru. Maintaining a once a month email or phone contact with someone located far away, just does not work for me.

When I make a post in a forum like this, I always expect others to post differing opinions or ask me about what I say in the post. Then it is up to me to reply to that or just walk away.

I certainly understand the need to have decorum in the forum, but for me to claim that my word is that of God and is not debatable does not make much sense. Of course, I do have the option to just not respond to comments to my posts.

I am always curious about people's interaction with a guru and how it changed their lives. And I also understand that some may not want to reveal any details at all. I am okay with that. Far too many on the other hand, write about the need to have and the virtues of having a guru, without themselves having one. And I, not having access to one, merely try to understand what does it all entail.

Feel blessed to have someone watching over you, someone who can assist you in your spiritual journey.

Pranam.

[saswathy]

Dear friends,
There are many mysteries unraveled in nature .One such mystery is Siddha gurus . There is a siddha loka and all realised souls live there .When ever the world is in need of them , they come either in person or give flash messages . Some times we get flash like suggestions from them . since we don't know the truth , we think that we got the idea like a flash. Now if a proof is demanded , I am sorry , I can't produce one . But whether it is a scientist or an artist or a poet many times it happened in the past . A siddha guru sometimes gives spiritual initiation and guidance also in dreams or visions.He or she regularly gives guidance in mundane life also , if there is a pressing problem which disturbs the sadhaka and distracts the sadhaka from the path .Like already pointed out , the time and place is important for the materialisation of that boon .The only proof we can see is the change in the attitude of the sadhak . He looses all the greed for money , for possessions , for name , fame , for mundane yearnings , and recognition. Literally gold becomes dust in his eyes . The difference between the worldly standards of good , bad , right or wrongs get erased . He experiences un conditional love and unlimited compassion .It is very very rare but happens.

[NayaSurya]

One of the thousands of wonderful wise post from Yajvanji which I will never forget is this: (full post here- http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=6781&goto=nextoldest )




hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

We have talked often here on finding a guru. I think there is a difference between finding a guru and finding the guru.

The dilemma as I see it is the following...
If we are looking for the guru while in ignorance one's vision is not clear. What seems to be the guru could be less then expected. It is like looking for a doctor. Some practice in a way this is perfect for your body and others do not. There are all kinds of doctors , no? Our illness is that of ignornace. How to pick the right doctor?


So, some say I will try and stay keen on who and how I evaluate a person as a guru. I will look for honesty, integrity, vision, knowledge. I will look for a realized being on this earth. These are all good things no doubt.

As I re-read śrī nisarga-datta maharāj's words on guru, I found them to be true. He says, the only way you can judge is by the change in yourself when you are in his/her company. If you feel more at peace and happy, if you understand yourself with more then usual clarity and depth it means you have found the right person.

I found this not to just be 80% true, but 110% true. Śrī nisarga-datta maharāj also says the inner guru (sadguru) assists and leads you to the physical guru.
Like a mother taking the child to a teacher.

Yet for this to occur do you think there is anything one can to to improve this to occur? And do you think only one guru is appropriate?

http://www.maharishiphotos.com/picsd7.jpg


praṇām

Now, this was many years ago...

But, as often with Yajvanji's words...they linger for even longer, thankfully.

You can see I was quite settled and calm with my situation...even joked that a Guru would have to come find me on my hill...and this is exactly what happened.

Seeds...planted as a child...a song, from my childhood, sang my entire life. Written, in the location of this Guru.

Many years later, the image burned into my heart, the Mahayogi...a certain image in my mind, found residing within this same location.

And it wasn't just the form, it was that exact image...that exactly.

Our Beloved Pujari, a sincere devotee...yet I did not know this...

One fine day a few months back I am doing the Yatra around Mount Kailasa on Youtube. Since I am bound to duties here...I do a mental Yatra around the mountain via this Guru and his followers.

I was watching a video from many years ago...and suddenly...found our Pujari, at the heart of the video doing a puja at Lake Manasarovar.

Rushed to the Temple...and he spoke with me many hours. He gave me five calendars to have and to give to my family. I put one alongside my Beloved image of Mahadeva, the Image of Him in the Ghat which is residing within my home shrine.

The song, the image...the Pujari...

Then His beloved Helpers come round to the Temple, hear me sing this past Sunday and come up to me and say..."Do you know this person??"

The person, non other than this Guru.

They are bringing me to meet Him.

All of this a journey, often long and a bit confusing.

I am not sure what will come of this all...but I know 100% Bhagavan is watching over us, so lovingly...so wonderfully.

Never doubt, who ever you are, where ever you dwell...no matter how long it takes. Wonderful things are going to happen. <3

If a fool in the middle of a jungle can be found, anyone can! <3

[Dilip]

Hare Krishna!

Jai Guru, Jai Guru, Jai Guru !

Inspired by the beautiful posts here, would like to add a few lines.

The saying goes, "As you sow, so you reap". In other words, "As you desire, so you get." If we can understand and accept that the Guru comes to us then naturally the thought comes how he comes to us, who sends him, why in particular he and not somebody else.

Why do we need a Guru ? If we need him for God alone and nothing else, then the right Guru is sent to us to take us to Him. The standard or level of Guru depends on what we truly crave for. Before we look for a Guru, we need to sound ourselves how good a 'disciple' we are going to be. That is why probably it is said, "Guru mile hazaro, chela mile na koi".

It is simply like this that God himself is the best Guru and we are all in Him and He is in us, yet we all do not get liberated. We are his sons, daughters and creations, He is the father still only a few gets salvation. So even if the Guru is an avatar, there is no hope if we fall behind. He shall surely show us the way, the path but we have to do the walking.

Even then, a sadguru is so very important. Because, it does not matter if we fail and do not reach our goal. Advancement towards the goal will be there for sure. After all today's thief will be tomorrow's saint. Nobody becomes a saint overnight.

Sadguru is like a gentle flow of breeze, inside a room ,that carries the fragrance of that unknown divine flower. It cannot show us the flower but if we follow the direction and path of the breeze we can hope to find it. This job we have to do.

Those who can shed tears for the Lord, who are premi, who are near derangement to see Him, who are like Meera Bai or Shabari, they do not need a Guru. God himself becomes their Guru, takes care of them and show up.

It is the Grace of my Gurudev upon me that tells all that Guru is God and God is Guru. So it is not a must to have a human being of flesh and blood as a Guru. But it is so very difficult to meditate, love and worship an unknown, never-seen, with or without form entity as a Guru. So, we take the easier path. That is why God himself, being so compassionate, takes the human form as a Guru and tells us to follow his path.

With love to all,

Dilip.

[NayaSurya]

This past Sunday I traveled to meet him and was eventually invited to a private meeting. I am still wondering how this chicken had the nerve to do all of that...very outside of my comfort zone.

I wasn't even, at this point, expecting anything at all. I had just accepted my situation so happily...was even a bit apprehensive about changing it.

Something about surrender....saying okay I don't have the answers...and I don't know what's best for me...so maybe a guru/helper isn't what I need right now...or even deserve?

The funniest thing is that all along I was seeking I was just simply not aware of the wheels turning me allll those many years toward that moment.

As a child in a car waiting to get to the ocean vacation is unaware of the distance...or maybe even the destination....we cry...ask how long....beg to go...all the while....we are on our way and just to ignorant to know this!

For those seeking, know that if a fool dog can be given this grace, any being is fit upon this good earth to also receive the same thing.

Just keep traveling on your journey, be happy for your location...and when things are right...you will see wonderful things happen. <3

[Anima Deorum]

Namaste,


Welcome :)

I, too, have the desire for a guru. The guru will come when we are ready. The guru chooses us.

Guru Om

[Aanandinii]

Namaste,

Welcome. =)

As much as I would like a living and physical Guru in this birth, I know I have much to learn. I have a feeling Guru will be looking for me when I am ready, so I try to not focus on the distraction of my desire for one. In the meantime, I look to all those wiser than I - which is almost everyone - as teachers in their own right and try to listen/watch for the lessons Sri Bhagavan sets in my path, as the ultimate Guru.

~Pranam