Swami Chinmayananda

Think for a moment: Is there anything that we do well today with confidence or any amount of mastery that has not been taught to us? If for every perfect act in the world, in any activity, we need the guidance of an instructor, we can very well understand the need for a Guru in the spiritual path; for there we have to deal with the subtlest forces and the enormous confusions of the vehicle called the mind, and with its moods called delusions.

The Guru-disciple relationship is unavoidable. Every great master has been under the guidance of a teacher. It is not true to say that we can reach the goal just through books. A teacher is necessary, but we have to understand this very carefully. To say the Guru is necessary does not mean that the Guru will take the responsibility that all you have to do is to meet the Guru and thereafter he will carry you to the goal.

The relationship between the teacher and the taught is exactly like the relationship of the gardener and the flowers on the bush. The gardener does not create the flowers from the soil and the manure; the flowers must themselves come from the bush. The gardener can only tend its roots, water it, protect it, and see that it has the correct amount of sunlight and shade. He can provide all these externals. But no mere gardener can guarantee the blossom; it can come only from the bush itself.

Similarly, the teacher’s job is to nurture the student with right thoughts. The student must be given a conducive and protective environment where he or she need not overstrain to live. But the blossoming – the real fragrance and beauty of the personality – must come from within.

There are some gurus who will say that they will carry you to the goal. Those are all mule gurus. You can ride on them. But the true Gurus only show you the way and encourage you.

As the student advances the mind becomes quiet and concentrated. Then its subtler powers, called sidhés, come to manifest themselves. If you revel in the play of these psychic powers, you may never reach the goal. Here, too, the Guru is needed to knock you down: “Why are you lingering here? You may enjoy such fascinations in passing, but don’t stay and play with these toys, for you are still only playing with the mind. Go forward.”

You ask, “How does one choose a Guru?” It is not question of the disciple selecting the Guru. He gravitates towards a Guru, and he will find exactly the Guru he needs for his present state of mental development.

So choose whatever guru comes to you. But understand that the only Guru is He, the Lord, who expresses in many forms.

Pantheon of Gurus

What about then the current Hindu pantheon of gurus and god men who run their private industries, and who often suggest completely different and sometimes contradictory routes to salvation?

Have you watched the followers? They all come voluntarily, they are all free, and no one has forced them. They follow these masters because they find some consolation from them. So, at different levels, all gurus are valid. I know that there are too many teachers, too many masters, and too many gurus. But I would wish there were more, as long as they are teachers – not quack healers or exploiters of the innocent.

Do not think that all teachers will teach only at the undergraduate level, or that the graduate level teacher can teach everybody. Some students can only be taught the alphabet, and the addition and subtraction. Isn’t this true? In education, there are various levels and various teachers. If the graduate teacher is given an elementary class to teach, he will become confused and go screaming mad. The elementary teacher cannot, similarly, teach graduate classes. So, at different levels, different teachers are valid. They do not know beyond their levels; just as their students cannot understand beyond the levels at which they speak.

The True Preceptor

From the Bhagavada-gétä’s descriptions of a Man of Perfection (chapter 2), we know that a man firmly established in wisdom is tranquil, and his equipoise is never disturbed even when he is investing his entire energies in the service of mankind.

The Upaniñads summarize the qualifications of a teacher in two terms: Srotriyä (one who is a master of the scriptures) and Brahmaniñöhäà (one who is well established in the experience of Truth). Without the Knowledge of the scriptures, the teacher will not be able to convey his wisdom to the disciples. But mere book knowledge is not sufficient. The words coming from an individual can gather wings only when they spring from a heart soaked with sincere subjective experience.

However, to be a preceptor, he must have two more qualifications. His behavior in the world must be perfect, since we as students when admiring the teacher will be tempted to imitate him in all his external habits. If his behavior is not perfect, it is possible that we will copy his bad habits and thus ruin our chances. Secondly, a preceptor must have large-heartedness flowing with kindness and patience. This is necessary since in the early stages the students will revolt against the new concepts that conflict with their present understanding. To weed out old ideas and to replant new ideas in the mind is a most painful operation, and this can be achieved only when the teacher has infinite patience, endless love, and supreme affection. When these qualifications are not there, the preceptor is not a true one.

In the last analysis, a preceptor is known by his own disciples, just as a good musician is known only by the true students of music. Students who have a spiritual urge and have practiced a little will instinctively recognize a teacher. Our preceptor is he who inspires us to live an abler life, and in whose presence we feel elevated. When we compare our life with his we feel ashamed of our own weaknesses; in times of burning passion, by remembering him, our mind cools down.

In fact, the true preceptor for us all is the Lord. The Lord of our heart very often talks to us through His chosen deputy, and we revere and worship Him as manifesting through the individual. No mortal individual is ever a preceptor. The Lord alone is the Teacher, everywhere, at all times.

On progress

Why has then the world made no true progress despite the coming of so many prophets, incarnations, and saints?

The answer is obvious. For eons, waves have been coming and lashing against the shores and still there are waves in the ocean. When will they end?

For centuries politicians have been arriving and giving us political philosophies. Believing them, successive generations have sacrificed themselves, yet where are we today?

Medical science has progressed over time. Hospitals are built, doctors are trained, yet is there no illness now in the world?

Would you say, therefore, the world has not progressed? If in these known realms there is progress in spite of imperfections, can you say that man has not progressed in spite of prophets and religion?

No doubt the ideal world has not yet been reached, even with the valiant contributions of politicians, doctors, scientists and economists. But please consider what our condition would be had these mighty intellectuals not served the world?

In spite of prophets and preceptors, man has not given up lust and has not learned the art of living in tranquil joy. But consider what our condition would have been had these benign influences not taken place in our evolution to present civilization?

How much food is there in restaurants and stores? And yet how many die of starvation? The existence of food in the world is no guarantee against people starving. Even when food is in front of us, it is not going to help, unless we take it in. Even if we eat it, unless we have the strength to assimilate it and make its essence our own, health is never improved.

Religious masters lay down the rules of conduct and explain the greater Reality in life. We have to digest these ideas and assimilate them to make them our own. Religion is a subjective science.

In generations, which recognized and lived these values, there was more peace and progress. But when, moral virtues are discarded and religion is shunned on the false and stupid argument of secularism, as in our times, we find immorality, corruption and faithlessness in all departments of activity.

On looking around, we see how religion and prophets are still serving the world. We do not need another demonstration of how effective they are, because evidences of their contributions are aglow everywhere.