The guru mantra
On a full moon night, the moon’s magnetism is at its peak, and on Guru Purnima, which was on Tuesday, a guru’s glow is at its height. Just being in your guru’s presence on this day can lead to phenomenal experiences for your inner world and have amazing effects on your evolution.
Guru Purnima holds the highest place in yogic philosophy, for this is the day when the guru’s force is in full bloom and is easily accessible.
However, many treading the path of yoga make the mistake of equating the guru with the physical form. Unfortunately, this takes you nowhere. If the physical or sthool is what constitutes a guru, then all the gurus who have existed till now would still be accessible in their physical form. What is not shashvat can never be the guru. The four-letter word “guru” has the phenomenal potential of taking you beyond not just the pains and miseries of life, but beyond yourself. Provided, you view the guru as an energy form. And if you are connected to the energy, its true form will reveal itself to you.
People read books and scriptures all their life, but it remains acquired knowledge for them. They do not imbibe the gyan (knowledge) in them and, hence, fail to apply even the basic principles to practice. Gyan is, in reality, all around you, and it leads you to evolution. A guru imparts gyan, not bookish knowledge. To better understand “guru energy” there is a shloka given by the rishis of yesteryear:
Dhyan mulam guru murti
Pooja mulam guru padam
Mantra mulam guru vakyam
Moksha mulam guru kripa
This means that the state of dhyan is achieved through the murti of the guru. Murti here is not the physical form but the true form of a guru. Till the practitioner is not focused on the energy of the guru (dharana), dhyan is not possible. The feet of the guru are considered sacred. When I first started yoga I was told to simply, unblinkingly look at a certain point on my feet. For gyan actually flows from these centres. Physical touch is not required, it is the drishti (energy which flows from the eyes) of the guru that results in evolution. The third sentence indicates that any utterance from the mouth of the guru is like a mantra for the shishya. This maxim is perhaps the toughest to follow, as it requires doing whatever your guru asks unquestioningly. The last sentence of the shloka says: Moksha (salvation) is only attainable through guru kripa, it is impossible without a guru.
I am often asked by my followers, “How can I be blessed with guru kripa?” My answer is simple, “Just do guru seva — that is, follow the path your guru has shown.
Those aspiring for evolution should stop viewing their guru, whoever, wherever, as a physical entity. For in doing so they go nowhere. Connect to the energy and nothing will be impossible or unattainable for you.
Comments
It is a wonderful article by
Sneh
05 Jul 2012 - 14:13
It is a wonderful article by Yogi Ashwini ji who always explains the most difficult facts in a very simple way & helps one attain gyan very spontaneously. Amazing article.
This article is such an
Anjana
04 Jul 2012 - 17:53
This article is such an eye-opener on the concept of a Guru.The term is often not understood well.Thanks for such lucid writings Yogi ji.
Its so unfortunate that in
Tulika
04 Jul 2012 - 13:05
Its so unfortunate that in our commercial times because of a few selfish people calling themselves as "Gurus" most of us today do not get an opportunity to know what this concept of Guru is all about. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met a real Guru, Yogi Ashwini, even in our times and get an opportunity to know and experience this highly revered concept of the Guru and why a Guru has been described as an incarnation of the divine in our scriptures.
In this regard, i would like to share a few of the many things i have discovered so far which might just help- Guru does not take anything from you, not even a penny because what money can buy can only be physical and any such interaction with the Guru means that you are interacting with a physical being where as a Guru (even though in a body) is above the physical realm, Guru never does sweet talk with you, his role is to show you your truth so that you understand your current state, get the desire to evolve and then make an effort in that direction. Guru gives you the experience (and not teach by mere words) of the various Laws of creation that governs ones life and so you learn from your own experiences. And last but not the least, just like the divine thinks of the creation and all other beings first, so does the Guru.
OM Shri Guruvaye Namah OM
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