Revisiting the Role of the Guru on Guru Purnima
The great mystic Saint Kabir once said,
Guru Govind dono khade kake laagu paye
Balihaari Guru aapne Govind diyo bataaye
Roughly translated, it means, when my Guru and God stand side by side in front of me and I know not whom to bow to first, I should realise that it is the Guru who deserves my first reverence as without him I’d never have known God.
What Kabir said hundreds of years ago, I understand a tiny bit of it today as I complete one year of my discipleship. I became a disciple of our beloved Gurudev Paramahansa Yogananda long long long after he left his physical body. How, then, did he influence me? How did he guide me? How was he constantly there with me during this one year? This is the story of that realisation.
Before I found my spiritual path, I was, for lack of a more relatable phrase, a mess. I was in a state where I couldn’t see any light, barring some flickers of relatable sentiment through support groups here and there. What was I looking for? Happiness? Contentment? Ways to reduce/manage my stress and anxiety?
Anyone reading this would suggest psychotherapy. I too, advocated it to others and tried it out myself. Again, I felt there were flickers of low-burning flames of acceptance and guidance here and there when I went for those sessions, but something was missing.
What was missing was constant support, constant energy just being there with me, leading me to a path of light, lifting me from the pits of my creation. Who was to walk with me on such a path? Who was to be my constant guide and friend? My therapist? My partner? My family? None of them seemed like the correct answer. The first one was a professional relationship and the others, well, they had their pits to get out of.
That’s when I found my Guru and began my self-realisation journey. And although I know that one year of discipleship is nothing compared to the eternal journey of our souls, this one year itself has shown me what having a Guru can mean.
The relationship, for starters, has been both personal and impersonal to me. The personal aspect arises from the feeling that the Guru is walking with me, in every moment of my life, whether awake or asleep. I slowly began to shed my fears of loneliness, because, well, who can be lonely when such a strong magnetic presence emanating from the Guru’s light brightens up the very fibre of body, mind and soul?
I no longer fear. I take on tasks without stressing about the results, even those tasks that I have been assigned to work on completely alone (which is most of it) because I am no longer alone. We’re doing everything together. And the things that used to scare me, they are taken care of by the Guru. His ethereal presence drives those negative forces away.
The Guru’s blessings are there for everyone to harness, only when you can attune yourself to his will. And he doesn’t have to be in the body for that to happen, because, after all, what is the body? It is just a piece of equipment through which we experience this world.
This world is a tiny fragment of God’s manifestation. When this world ends, another begins. When one body falls, another rises. In the case of the Guru, his body was of no significance to the disciples even when it was there. It was his soul, his ever-pervading wisdom, and his magnetic energy that mattered and inspired.
These are the elements that still exist, and a true disciple can feel them. In this way, the Guru is ever impersonal. His compassion, his light, his energy, and his wisdom shine on every disciple equally, knowing no personal favours. The ability to benefit from it lies with the disciple alone.
Having the blessings of my Guru with me in whatever I do is the best thing that ever happened to me. In due course of time, I hope his never-ending love and support allow me to advance more spiritually and completely offer myself to the path of union with God.
On the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, I offer this prayer:
O Divine Master, guide me to be more compassionate, more kind, to offer up my ego and identity, so that I may become a stronger channel of your love that flows through this earth into all beings. Om shanti shanti shanti!
