Thousands of disciples of various gurus, especially in India, will be celebrating July 22, the night of full moon, to express their gratitude towards their gurus. The full moon in July is very significant, and it is called Aashadh Purnima. It is such a time, when we can never be sure if the full moon will be visible in the sky or not.
Osho has given a very poetic expression to this. He says: “Guru is like full moon and disciple is like Aashadh (the month of clouds and rains). The moon of Sharad Purnima is beautiful because it is in the empty sky.”
“There is no disciple then, the guru is alone. If the same beauty happens in Aashadh, then it is something, where the guru is surrounded with cloud-like disciples.”
“The disciples have come with their darkness of many lives. They are like dark clouds, they are the weather of Aashadh. If the guru can shine like the full moon in that atmosphere of darkness, if he can produce light, only then he is the guru. That’s why Aashadh Purnima is called Guru Purnima.”
This brings us to another question: Who is a guru?
A guru is the one who liberates us and with whom we are in deep love, faith and reverence. A guru is a presence. Through him one gets the first glimpse of divinity. A guru creates, transforms and gives a new birth to a seeker so that with complete trust one can follow his guru while travelling through many unknown paths and doors and opening many unknown locks. His blessing is a vital phenomenon. Through a guru, we can look into our own future and can be aware of our own destiny. Through him, we start growing up like a seed trying to sprout towards the sky.
In Osho’s words: “Guru means one who has gravitation, around whom you suddenly feel as if you are being pulled. The guru is a tremendous
magnet, with only one difference. There is a man who has charisma — you are pulled, but you are pulled towards him. That is the man of charisma. He may become a great leader, a great politician. Adolf Hitler has that charisma; millions of people are pulled towards him. Then what is the difference between a charismatic leader and a guru? When you are pulled towards a guru you suddenly feel that you are being pulled inwards, not outwards.”
When you are pulled towards Kabir, Nanak or Buddha, you have a strange feeling. The feeling of being pulled towards them and at the same time you are being pulled inwards — a very strange paradoxical phenomenon: the closer you come to your guru, the closer you come to yourself.
The more you become attracted towards the guru, the more you become independent. The more you surrender to the guru, the more you feel that you have freedom you never enjoyed before.
Guru does not exist as an ego — he exists as a pure presence and godliness radiates through him. He is transparent.
Swami Chaitanya Keerti,editor of Osho World, is the author of Osho Fragrance