Sadhana Panchakam - Post 30

Endearing Oneself to the Guru  

External forms of devotion may certainly help in the beginning to build up devotion to the Guru. 

However, it is dedicated and long service of the Guru that truly endears us to the Guru. This is what is meant by Tat Paduka Sevyataam, “serving his Holy Sandals”.

The Indian ideal is not just serving the Feet but the sandals. The sandals are already serving the Guru’s feet. The ideal we have to try to cultivate is to be the “servant of the servant of the feet that hold up the Guru!” This calls for great humility and sacrifice.

Even if we serve his feet directly, sacrifice is needed. Sandals are known to do all the dirty work. Yet, they go on serving the Master unnoticed. When entering a home, they are left outside, invariably not neatly. They uncomplainingly face the bad weather, the rain and the mud. 

Bharata refused to accept the throne of Ayodhya when Rama, his elder brother, was exiled to the forest. Rama appealed to him that he had to do this duty. As a compromise, Bharata took Rama’s sandals, placed them on his head and walked back to Ayodhya, where he placed them on the throne and ruled the state as a servant of the Lord. 

He even shifted his residence to Nandigram, lower than Ayodhya, where he built his home below the ground – he had to be in a lower position than Rama!

Indeed, the highest humility is needed to do Guru-Seva. Service of the Guru has the designed effect – it naturally reduces the ego at every stage. Every act of service gives us the opportunity to eradicate a chunk of our ego-sense. 

The Guru’s service is incomparable in the efficiency with which the disciple’s Ego is chipped off.

When looked at in this manner, who is serving who? Isn’t the Guru really serving the disciple? 

He is lifting the disciple up from the ditch, as it were. Effacement of the ego happens on its own when the disciple puts his whole mind on pleasing his Guru by his service. The disciple serves with no thought of his own comfort.

Points to Ponder in Guru-Seva 

1. God has some choice forms through which He expresses Himself. Mother and father are two of those forms. A good friend is a third. 

The Guru is the purest form of God that we can ever hope to see. He is mother, father, friend and a guide all rolled into one.

2. The service of the Guru is for our benefit; it is not that the Guru needs this service. The service must not be forced onto the Guru. If he is not in need, please leave him alone. It is not required to be aggressive in personal service to the Guru.

3. It is said, “Obedience is better than Reverence.” Total unconditional love and sincerity is needed in our approach to and service of the Guru. We should always know where to draw the line in our freedom to talk to him and be close to him.

4. There is a very subtle aspect in serving the sandal of one's guru. The Guru's feet may take a disciple to Guru's form and the disciple may get immersed/get emotional about Guru's form, which is not what his Guru wants from him.

On the contrary, Guru's sandal at least takes the disciple's thoughts from the physical form of his Guru at a gross level. Serving the sandal is able to render the disciple to go beyond the physical form of his Guru. 

5. Where does this service of the Guru lead us to? The answer is to greater and greater inner purity of mind. 

There is one important point related to service to Guru, which is the most significant secret revealed to all today in the following steps/points.  

In the path of Jnana, the seeker is supposed to equip himself with sadhana chatushtaya, i.e., Viveka, Vairagya, Shad Sampath and Mumukshatva.

Next, he has to approach a Guru, whom his very inner soul confirms as “his Guru”.

The Guru then starts imparting knowledge to the disciple.

At this juncture, unless and until the ego of the disciple is completely annihilated, completely removed beyond any chance of hitting back, he cannot benefit from the vidya that his Guru is imparting to him. How????

Till slightest trace of ego is left out in him, his mind, fueled by his ego, will try to judge the teachings of his Guru with the knowledge gained earlier by the disciple from somewhere, from some book, from some discourse, from some sources.

It might even happen that even while his Guru is teaching with a certain approach, the disciple gets to know of a different approach followed by someone under some other Guru/in some other way and the ego hits him saying, “it seems the other path is better”

The significance of serving the sandal of his Guru lies here. The disciple, by serving the sandal of his Guru, is able to remove the least trace of ego within him and is able to render himself (his intellect, his heart)  as a pure white paper in which his Master can write supreme Brahma Vidya clearly.

More on this important step to follow in next post.

 

Love.

 

Sadhana Panchakam - Post 29

In the very first Step, our Divine Rescuer hands us a “saving aid”, and it comes to us in human form! If we succeed in using the rope to draw ourselves to the bank and come out of the water of worldliness, our due reward comes to us as the GURU! The Guru is the customized version of God for our own unique need.

On Finding the Guru

To know whom NOT to take as Guru, advertise for him in the newspaper! You will have a long queue outside your home. Even your dog will get fed up wagging its tail, and will soon start barking to drive them away!

We need not go hunting for a Guru. Our sincere seeking itself attracts him to us.

Chinmayanda says, “He in whose presence we feel inspired, elevated and peaceful, is our Guru.” Vedanta sees it as God’s responsibility to lead one to his Guru.

God arranges everything to make it happen. After all, it is God that comes in this human form, the “customized form” of God!

In Katha Upanishad, Nachiketa informs Yama that by his own statement it is not easy to understand, therefore, he needs to be instructed by him since another teacher like him is not easy to be found and no other boon could be comparable to this. Then Yama communicates to him the wisdom of the AUM, the immutable word which all vedic scriptures declare in hymns, which all austerities proclaim, desiring which people go through learning wisdom of Brahman. 

Mundaka Upanishad recommends that having scrutinized the status attained by performance of actions, a man of Wisdom (Brahmana) should arrive at non-attachment. Even so would those who having ascertained the Wisdom of the supreme Vedic Wisdom, having purified their nature through renunciation, they dwell in the world of Brahman at the end of their life being one with the supreme goal and delivered.

In Viveka chudamani, Sankara says, that having crossed over the great ocean of primordial world, living without any purpose and only for the sake of the good of the people, equanimous great persons function in life like the spring season. 

He suggests, therefore, that one should approach a Guru who is communicator, who is peaceful, sincere, without any desires, well qualified in Wisdom, dazzling like fire without fuel, compassionate without any expectations, friend of the noble ones and bowing down in respect, for Wisdom of the wise.

Bhagavat Purana too says, ‘saints are forbearing, compassionate, and composed. They are friendly to all and inimical to none. 

Following the injunctions of the scriptures, their kind disposition serves as an ornament to them. They are free from desire. Their company, therefore, should be sought for avoiding the pernicious effect of desire’. 

There is the case of Swami Tapovan Maharaj, a very good friend and contemporary of Swami Sivananda. 

(If ever Swami Tapovan Maharaj used to come down from Uttarkashi to any place, it would be to meet and be with his friend Swami Sivananda. 

Swami Chinmayananda has the unique blessings of being taught by both these masters, initially by Swami Sivananda who gave him diksha and gave him the name “chinmayananda” and then by Tapovan Maharaj, to whom Swami Sivananda Himself sent Chinmayananda for further intense study) 

To him (Tapovan Maharaj), came a lady with flowers in her hand. She did this every day. One day Swami Tapovanji looked straight into her and said, “Drop it!” The bewildered lady dropped the bunch of flowers. 

Swamiji calmly repeated, “Drop it!” She could not understand. Then Swamiji compassionately explained to her. “The first time, I asked you to drop the Ego which brought the flowers. 

The second time, I asked you to drop the same Ego which made you feel hurt about it.”

What does this tell us? It tells us the Guru is all compassionate and lovingly caring for our highest welfare.

 

Sri Ramana says on "Guru", thus:-

Disciple: What is the significance of Guru’s Grace in the attainment of liberation?         

Ramana Maharshi: Liberation is not anywhere outside you. It is only within. If a man is anxious for Deliverance, the Guru within (SELF) pulls him in and the Guru without (Chosen Guru in form) pushes him into the Self. This is the Grace of the Guru.

 

Swami describes eight types of Gurus and their functions:-

“There are eight types of gurus: (1) bodha guru, (2) Veda guru, (3) nishiddha guru, (4) kamya guru, (5) vachaka guru, (6) soochaka guru, (7) karana guru, and (8) vihita guru.

1) The bodha guru teaches the scriptures (sastras) and encourages the pupil to act up to scriptural injunctions.

2) The Veda guru imparts the inner meaning of the Vedas, establishes the pupil in spiritual truths, and turns his mind toward God.

3) The nishiddha guru imparts knowledge about rites and duties and shows how one’s welfare here and in the hereafter, can be ensured.

4) The kamya guru makes one engage oneself in meritorious deeds to secure happiness in both the worlds.

5) The vachaka guru imparts knowledge of yoga and prepares the disciple for the spiritual life.

6) The soochaka guru teaches how the senses are to be controlled through various types of discipline.

7) The karana guru reveals the unity of the individual soul (jivi) and the Atma.

8) The vihita guru clears all doubts, purifies the mind, and shows how Self-realization can be attained.

Of these eight gurus, the karana guru is the foremost. Through various teachings and practices, he helps the individual to progress from human to divine consciousness. 

Only the divine can act as such a teacher. All other gurus can be helpful only to a limited extent.”

 

Love.

 

YT - JDW - Niravana Shatakam - Part 5

 Sairam All,

Today's pour is an extension of previous pour where "Na Me Mrtyu Shanka" was elaborately dealt with. Like how the Mother is not contended enough to believe that Her child is well fed, She goes a bit further to ensure that the feed is enough to take care if at all there is any potential hunger left in the child.

Previous pour was indeed a difficult one to absorb which the Author felt as He could enter into each one of you to understand the amount of hunger which has been satisfied. He was able to come up with this chart which would make it easier for you all to grasp the essence in a much better way.

Now with this chart if you go through the below pour, you will be able to connect the earlier pours with this pour and as a result would be able to evolve into this phenomenon... Many questions that may or would arise have been adequately addressed in the below pour.

https://youtu.be/aPCQmFyhGUI

Take this as the preparation for the last verse which is the ultimate revelation / merger as the Pure Consciousness.

Love.