Arun Jandial
Paramhansa Yogananda says, “In the beginning of one’s spiritual search, it is wise to compare various spiritual paths and teachers. But when you find the real Guru destined for you, the one whose teachings can lead you to the divine Goal, the restless searching should cease. A spiritually thirsty person should not go on indefinitely seeking new wells; rather he should go to the best well and drink daily of its living water”.
Shri Ram Chandra, founder President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission while discussing the difficulties being faced by aspirants in finding a real guru of calibre has said, “The real search should be an inner search. A person may go from place to place all over the world, spending his whole life time, and yet not succeed in finding a Guru. What should we do? We should pray direct to God, with deep longing in our hearts, that he may send us a worthy guide. And when we are ready for him the Guru will himself knock on our door.”
One of the roles of a true Guru would be that of awaiting the call of a devoted heart, and responding to it says Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, spiritual Master of our times. According to him physical contact between the Guru and the disciple may come much later. The exact time of occurrence of the personal relationship is unimportant insofar as the Abhyasi’s preparation is concerned. Frequent personal contact is for the Abhyasi’s personal satisfaction, and lack of such personal face-to face contact in no way interferes with one’s progress when one has a Master of calibre, capable of transmission.
The Guru occupies and plays a fundamental, decisive and all -pervasive role in the spiritual life of an aspirant. He may appear to be a mere guide playing a limited role at the commencement of practice but, in a perfect and growing Guru- disciple relationship, his role becomes greater and greater , and encompasses more and more of aspirant’s life. Finally a culminating spiritual condition is reached where the aspirant’s life, in its entirety is governed and motivated by the guidance of the Master.
The second stage of Master’s work is that of cleaning and purifying the Abhyasi to make quick progress possible, and to consolidate that progress. Master teaches that all sensory and mental activity-actions leave an impression called Samskara when very deep. The accumulated impressions which are in us form the Samskaric burden of the past. This has to be cleaned by the Master by the use of his own spiritual power. As this cleaning proceeds the Abhyasi experiences actual ‘lightness’ during his meditation sittings.
A good life, one that has been conducted on principles of good conduct, charity, adherence to religious codes, et cetera, is not sufficient to make ‘spiritual progress’ possible. For this something more than a life of mere social and ethical goodness is necessary. A saint ‘attracts’ grossness from the atmosphere onto himself. He acts like a cosmic vacuum cleaner. So cleaning of the atmosphere is another important aspect of Master’s work.
Master’s several roles include those of field preparation, seeding of the individual heart, nourishing the growth of the Abhyasi, and protecting him on his spiritual journey until the goal is in sight. The Guru’s role lasts until the Abhyasi has been taken up to the highest level of spiritual existence open to mankind. For those who need the Master’s help even beyond that stage it is always available. And the direct link with God, established for the Abhyasi by the Master, could lead to ego if the Abhyasi was not careful and level headed. The Master’s role never ends, not even after the seeker’s link with God is established! Because the journey to the goal is an endless one. At this stage the disciple have to be extremely cautious and see that he does not indulge in making the supreme mistake of abandoning Master. Sant Kabir when faced with the dilemma of whom to pay his salutations first- God or Guru preferred Guru because Guru is the refuge if God is unhappy but if the guru is annoyed there is no place left for him.
This life as human being is the highest life that we can achieve, and by God’s grace we are here as human beings. How to evolve out of this into the ultimate condition of no more birth in any condition? That is what this life is for. We have come for a purpose. Everything is predetermined by the soul before we are born. Why we don’t succeed in our goal? Because once we are born, we forget our purpose. Even Jesus had to be baptised. Even Lord Krishna had a Guru. The primary function of the Guru is to remind us the purpose of our life.
All great saints have said, “All that I am and that I have done [that] can be considered good is because of my Guru and all failure is mine.” Unfortunately today, the selection of the proper guide is much neglected, although every religious minded Hindu believes that it is incumbent upon him to have a Guru in order to satisfy his craving for spiritual benefit, generally people select anyone for the purpose without regard to his capability or worth. They are induced to do so mostly by persuasion or by miracles displayed by those so called Gurus to attract the ignorant masses.
It must be borne in mind that it is not the learning or knowledge that makes a true Yogi or saint. It is just possible that the man who has impressed you, with outward form, learning or eloquence, may be at the lowest level as regards practical attainments. Knowledge, therefore, is no criterion of a true Mahatma or Yogi. Similarly the real test of a Mahatma or Guru is not his miracles but experience on the path of realization.
In the words of Paramhansa Yogananda, ‘When one has found his Guru there should be unconditional devotion to him, purpose is to bring the disciple to self-realisation; the love a Guru receives from a devotee is given by the Guru to God.”
