Concept of GURU

Prince or commoner, rich or poor, every individual who wishes to get empowered and enlightened benefits greatly from the guidance of an able guru. Even the gods sought out gurus for themselves. Lord Krishna's guru was Sandipanirishi. Rama and Laxmana along with many other princes learnt all skills from their spiritual master, Guru Vasishtha. When Swami Vivekananda first visited Ramakrishna Paramahansa he asked: "I have read the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures several times, i lecture and give discourses on the Gita and Ramayana. Do i still need harbour of a saint; do i still need a guru?" Ramakrishna didn't reply to Vivekananda's question. After a few days Ramakrishna called upon Vivekananda and handed him a parcel to be delivered at a nearby village a few hours away by the sea route. Early morning the boat and sailor would be ready and all he needed to do was to go to the village and deliver the parcel to the designated person. Vivekananda agreed and decided to start early. He found the boat and the sailor ready to put out to sea. Suddenly, upon sitting in the boat, Vivekananda realised that he didn't know the road to the village. He inquired of the sailor who had no clue, either. Vivekananda decided to go back to his guru to ask him the shortest way to the village. Upon this Ramakrishna said, "Narendra, this is my reply to the question you asked me when we met the first time: Today, you have the medium (the boat), you have the resource (the sailor), you have the road (the sea), you know what to do (deliver the parcel) and you also know where to go but you don't know the way. Likewise you have read all the scriptures, and you can conduct wonderful discourses on them. However, to realise the wisdom of scriptures one needs a guru, someone who has already traversed that path so that he can guide you through the journey and encourage you to not give up." In Sanskrit, 'gu' is one who dispels and 'ru' means darkness. Every individual who wishes to rise above his existing levels needs a lighthouse, a guiding star to guide him on the journey of life, who can help by dispelling darkness at every step. Lord Swaminarayan ordained Sikshapatri, containing 212 conventions of code of conduct for every human being. One of the points reads: "Even the most learned of men will become morally declined if he is not involved in devotion to God and in good acquaintance." Many seers have made various suggestions on how to embark on the spiritual path according to their perceived wisdom. Is there a universally accepted spiritual definition? How should one lead one's life which balances both the spiritual and the material? To understand all this and choose the right path for a balanced life of duty, responsibility, love, detachment and striving for higher consciousness, you need the grace and guidance of a spiritual master. As the saying goes "When the disciple is ready the Master arrives." Like a lone ship sailing in turbulent waters hunts for a safe harbour to anchorage, similarly one needs to constantly endeavour in the journey of life for a true guru, a harbour against all storms.

Greatness of Guru

Once Swami Vivekananda was touring North India by walk.One day he walked for long and felt totally exhaustedand was looking for ashram which offers food. He wasinquiring the people there and one boy toldVivekananda that nearby there is an ashram run by aBabaji who offers food for the wandering monks. Swamiwent to the ashram and had his food and after that metthe Babaji & introduced himself and also about hisGuru Ramkrishna paramahamsar.During the interaction Babaji enquired him whether heknew Bhav hari Baba from Ghazipur - near to Kasi andVivekananda replied him, " yes, I know and I have alsomet him once , Babaji continued saying that Bava Haribaba is a great Mahatma and even your Guru Paramahamsahas talked about him"Babaji narrated an incident to Swami about thegreatness of Bhav Hari Baba:Bhav hari Baba used to live only in the caves and alsofeed peoples whoever comes to him when hungry. On onesuch occasion a thief entered his cave and started tosteal certain items and packed whatever were availablethere when Baba was meditating. When Baba opened hiseyes after Meditation he saw the thief stealing andrealizing this, the thief started to run. Babaimmediately started chasing him with food in his handand finally caught him.Bava hari baba asked the thief, :" why you are afraid?All items lying in that place belongs to you andwhatever you want, you can.... Moreover, whoever comesto my ashram, I used to see them as Narayana and offerfood to them. So please have this food & bless me"moreover Baba hugged him with love after the food wastaken by the thief.Listening to this from Baba, Swami Vivekananda said,"Yes, I have heard of this, such is the greatness ofthat guru"After narrating all these, Baba with a smile toldVivekananda “I WAS THAT THEIF"Morale: If a Guru touches a person (sparsha), thenthat person undoubtedly becomes a holy person(irrespective of his past deeds).P.N: Similarly in this forum I would like to share myTrue and honest experience about the greatness of myGuru which has transformed me till date not by histouch but only by his look.We have seen lot’s of mail from our Guru how the GreatSaint Thyagaraja expounded the name RA & MA, (Rama)Today I have put it in a different way to show withoutmy Guru this Life would have been a mere waste,Our Life’s 5 years back was full of ---Adhar MA Surprisingly GOD guides us to our----Guru MAAnd there on our GURU….Initiated us to chant the powerful name of-SriRa MAMade us understand the Life’s ---- Trau MAGuiding us in the each scene’s of Life’s -Dra MA One and only to rescue us from our --Kar MAShouldering us & guiding on the Divine Journey to place -- Brah MAAnd finally the meaning of LIFE understood by meBefore & Now Live In Fear/Feeling Ever MALive In Fun/Finally Enlighten MALet’s all chant and pray to invoke the grace of thelord to guide us to the Sath Guru.Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare