Sandeha Nivarini - Post 3

Dear All,

In the earlier 2 posts, we read about the need of a Guru in spiritual sadhana.

In today's modern world, all spiritual treatise, commentaries, discourses are available in internet / publications which can be purchased online. 

Then why do we need a Guru??

This was asked by some one and the answer is as follows:-

• As human beings, we have our own ego, our own hidden impressions that we have been carrying along with us for several births and then, there is influence of vasanas of various people with whom we come into contact on day to day basis.

• Thus, even if we are eager to evolve spiritually, if we resort to internet / online publications and discourses etc., our own mind with its own likes and dislikes, vasanas etc., will filter what we are taking in and color the same with its own preferences. 

Here is the need for Guru, a spiritual master who has experienced SELF Himself. 

The master may still be repeating / giving you the dosage of spiritual sessions which you may get otherwise from any book but the difference is, when you accept someone as Master, you surrender your own preferences, your own impressions, your own ego, your own intellectual knowledge of spirituality from whatever discourse / treatise you have heard / read,  at the Master's feet and are receptive to the teachings of the Master. 

Thus, the truth taught by Master GETS IN to your very identity, AS SUCH, without any coloring of your ego / your theoretical knowledge gained at intellectual level."

Now moving on to other questions and answers in the vahini,

Devotee: Swami, whom are we to believe, whom are we to discard? The world is so full of deceit. When those whom we believe to be good turn out to be bad, how can faith grow?

Swami: Well, My boy! Where is the need for you in this world or any world to grow faith in others? Believe in yourself first. Then believe in the Lord (Param-atma). When you have faith in these two, neither the good nor the bad will affect you.

Devotee: Swami, faith in the Lord also diminishes sometimes. Why is that?

Swami: When one is deluded by the mere external world, and when one doesn’t attain success in such external desires, faith in the Lord diminishes. So give up such desires. Desire only the spiritual relationship; then you won’t become the target of doubts and difficulties. The important thing for this is faith in the Lord; without that, you start doubting everything, big and small.

Author's note

Swami has beautifully clarified the reason for losing faith in Lord as faith / desires in things in the world other than Lord.

Let us see very briefly how faith in Lord is affected by our desires / wants in this material world.

• When we have desires in the world, say - to get a good job, to get a good wife, to amass wealth and build a good house, to gain power in society, in office etc. etc., then, what happens??
• We approach Lord and pray to Him to fulfill our desires.
• Now, at this stage, we put our faith in Lord in a vulnerable state.
• If our desire is fulfilled, then we praise Lord and thank Lord for fulfilling our desires.
• If, due to our own karma, any of our desire is not to be fulfilled or, the desire as such is an unwanted, bad desire which is never to be fulfilled at all, then, our faith in Lord is gone and we blame Lord for not helping us.

Whereas,  while  developing all such desires, we never keep Lord as our partner, we never get Lord's concurrence on whether it is ok to pursue any such desire. 

Thus, we have to realize Swami's words and put the same into  practice on day to day basis.

Never desire for anything other than Lord, says Swami in the above question / answer part.

When you crave only for Lord's Grace, Lord's love, Lord's nearness, then whatever you get in your life, you are able to accept the same without complaining to Lord because you never asked for anything from Lord in  the first place and in the second place, your Love for Lord tells you that whatever you are getting in this world, let me accept the same and move on, ensuring that such getting or not getting does not come in the way of my Love for / Love of God!!

Love.