Continued
Glory of the Guru
In the Tantric scriptures the guru is said to be non other than God Himself.As it is said in the 'Hymn to the Guru.'
Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheswarah
Guru Sakshath Parabrahma
Thasmai Sri Gurave Namah.
Guru is Brahma, guru is Vishnu, guru is siva, guru himself is the supreme Brahman;salutations to the guru.' The guru is supposed to be none other than the supreme Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that Satchidananda, the Ultimate Reality, Brahman alone is the guru. This is in conformity with the teachings of the Vedas and other scriptures. But when one goes for initiation one does not realize that one is being taught by that all-knowing supreme Reality called Brahman.
We approach an individual whom we choose as our guru because we feel he is competent to guide us. That person has birth and death and other human limitations, but as such cannot be identified with Brahman. But our scriptures strictly enjoin us to look upon the guru as the Supreme.
Does this not lead to a conflict between theory and practice? Yes, in a way it does. But then, it is just like our practice of worshipping God through images. We make images of God signifying particular aspects of Him. The image is made of materials which are nonsentient and we meditate or worship God, who is the infinite Spirit, through that image. why do we do it? Because our mind cannot grasp the Infinite, the pure Spirit which transcends our thoughts. Therefore, we have to take recourse to a physical representation of It - either an idol or a picture or simply a symbolic diagram. There is no religion in the world in which God is worshipped without either an image or symbol. If we do not worship God through symbol, we cannot conceive of Him. Even religions that strongly advice the eradication's of all images from the mind take recourse to one symbol or another.
Is it necessary to go to a guru to progress along the spiritual path? Obviously it is the practical approach. A guru has to have certain qualifications without which he will not be able to direct the ignorant disciple.
The first qualification is that he must be a srotriya, that is, he should have a knowledge of the scriptures. But mere scholarship does not make one a guru. He has to be a man of true knowledge, enlightenment; he must be a man who has realized the Truth.
Secondly, he must be avrjina, his conduct should be above repreach. He should live strictly in conformity with the scriptural ideal. He must be free from all sins. He must be absolutely pure.
Lastly, he must be akamahata, his relation with his disciple should not have any kind of selfish motive. He should be free from the desire of getting any advantage from the disciple by imparting the mantra. These are the main qualifications that have got to be kept in mind when we proceed to accept any one as our guru.
To be continued...
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Glory of the Guru
In the Tantric scriptures the guru is said to be non other than God Himself.As it is said in the 'Hymn to the Guru.'
Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheswarah
Guru Sakshath Parabrahma
Thasmai Sri Gurave Namah.
Guru is Brahma, guru is Vishnu, guru is siva, guru himself is the supreme Brahman;salutations to the guru.' The guru is supposed to be none other than the supreme Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that Satchidananda, the Ultimate Reality, Brahman alone is the guru. This is in conformity with the teachings of the Vedas and other scriptures. But when one goes for initiation one does not realize that one is being taught by that all-knowing supreme Reality called Brahman.
We approach an individual whom we choose as our guru because we feel he is competent to guide us. That person has birth and death and other human limitations, but as such cannot be identified with Brahman. But our scriptures strictly enjoin us to look upon the guru as the Supreme.
Does this not lead to a conflict between theory and practice? Yes, in a way it does. But then, it is just like our practice of worshipping God through images. We make images of God signifying particular aspects of Him. The image is made of materials which are nonsentient and we meditate or worship God, who is the infinite Spirit, through that image. why do we do it? Because our mind cannot grasp the Infinite, the pure Spirit which transcends our thoughts. Therefore, we have to take recourse to a physical representation of It - either an idol or a picture or simply a symbolic diagram. There is no religion in the world in which God is worshipped without either an image or symbol. If we do not worship God through symbol, we cannot conceive of Him. Even religions that strongly advice the eradication's of all images from the mind take recourse to one symbol or another.
Is it necessary to go to a guru to progress along the spiritual path? Obviously it is the practical approach. A guru has to have certain qualifications without which he will not be able to direct the ignorant disciple.
The first qualification is that he must be a srotriya, that is, he should have a knowledge of the scriptures. But mere scholarship does not make one a guru. He has to be a man of true knowledge, enlightenment; he must be a man who has realized the Truth.
Secondly, he must be avrjina, his conduct should be above repreach. He should live strictly in conformity with the scriptural ideal. He must be free from all sins. He must be absolutely pure.
Lastly, he must be akamahata, his relation with his disciple should not have any kind of selfish motive. He should be free from the desire of getting any advantage from the disciple by imparting the mantra. These are the main qualifications that have got to be kept in mind when we proceed to accept any one as our guru.
To be continued...
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