Swami Tejomayananda

In Hinduism the place of the Guru is considered higher than that of the Lord Himself. Atheists and non-believers feel that this is a gross exaggeration. They cannot comprehend the concept. We learn from teachers, who give us knowledge on various secular subjects; we respect them, but do not revere them, as we do our guru. Is the worship of the guru an overstatement? In any stuti or praise there is, normally, a tendency to exaggerate, but this does not hold true in the adoration of the Lord, His devotees, a mahatma, and the Guru. In fact, any praises spoken, sung or written about any of these always fall short of their true import. If we say that the sun’s light is like the light of countless glowworms, will it be an overstatement? The light of the glowworms can never match that of the sun.

In life all of us are seeking happiness. Yet, we are suffering. Why? Is it not important to know? Is it something we gain by our effort? Is it something we already have and don’t know about? Can it be directly experienced? Can it be gained by inference? To know our true nature, which is happiness none of these means are valid. Only a Guru’s teaching can tell us what we are searching for and point out or indicate our true nature. Is it not strange that someone has to introduce us to ourselves? This jiva is taught and made to realize that he is that infinite Brahman–the Bliss Absolute! For the guru, who teaches Brahma Vidya, can any amount of namaskars or tributes be enough? To repay the debt of the guru is a foolish attempt because we can never be free from it.

Who is a Guru? First, there are teachers teaching us secular subjects; then there are purohits who perform sanskars like Upanayanam etc, - they are also gurus. Some gurus give mantra deeksha. But the highest position is that of a Sadguru who gives us the knowledge of the Supreme. Swami Ramdas in Dasbodh defines the Guru as the one who unites the jiva with Shiva; the jiva becomes Shiva. Otherwise, as Shankaracharya points out, he is only a shava-an inert body. In that joyous ecstasy of realization, the disciple exclaims, “Shivoham… Shivoham - Shiva am I, Bliss am I”

How can we know the Self? The Upanishads say that the Atman can neither be realized by too much pravachan – by giving or listening to discourses, nor by memorizing strotras or verses. ‘He whom’ ‘this’ chooses, that man knows (the Self). Who is ‘He whom’ and what is meant by ‘this’? The dualists interpret it as: ‘that seeker whom the Lord chooses, that seeker knows.’ Adi Shankara states, “When that seeker chooses the atman alone, the Self reveals itself.” Then again, a mantra from the Mundaka Upanishad says that a realized soul is one who achieves anything he thinks about–by the mere power of thought alone. Therefore, a seeker must worship a man of realization. So: ‘That disciple whom the guru chooses, that disciple knows the Self’.

All three interpretations are valid from different standpoints -the Lord, the guru and the disciple are all the same Reality manifesting in different forms. So it does not matter whether you say that the Lord chooses you, or the guru chooses, or the seeker chooses. Chooses yes, but it has to be like Nachiketa- choosing only ‘That’ to the exclusion of everything else. That seeker who has supreme devotion for the Lord and his guru, to him alone the meaning of the Upanishad is revealed.

To sum up – I seem to be suffering because of ignorance of my True self. This ignorance cannot be removed with my effort alone. He who introduces me to Myself is the sadguru. Any amount of praise of him would be inadequate. A devotee has even said: “I don’t consider the Lord as great. To me the guru is greater.” This is not to belittle the Lord, but to stress the importance of the guru who indicates the path to the Lord by protecting us from the five looters of the world – our five sense organs.

Today, we prostrate to the entire guru parampara from Adi Sadashiva, Veda Vyasa, Shankaracharya, Swami Chinmayananda, and to all the great saints of our age. This day is also known as Vyasa Poornima – dedicated to Veda Vyasa the propounder of Vaidik dharma. In every kalpa at the end of dwarpa Yuga, Bhagvan Vishnu appears in the form of Veda Vyasa. Veda Vyasa complied the Vedas, itihasaas and wrote the puranas. Without him the scriptures would have been lost to us.

The author belongs to Chinmaya Mission