A bonafide Guru.

[elmec]

> On Sat, 1 Jul 2000, T Swaminarayan wrote:
>
> > How are you certain that your guru is a Brahmanishti? Are you sure
> > that your guru is not the Scriptural blind character ,following whom
> > other followers of his also end up in darkness?
> >

Hari Om,

I found the following passage, from the book " Voice of the Guru " by
Paramapujya Swamiji Chandrashekara Saraswathi of Kanchimath, would answer the
doubt that may arise in the minds of all sadhakaas at one time or the other.
Let me reproduce it here for the benefit of all. ( The book is a Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, Bombay publication. First Edition 1991 )

**********************************************************

Some excerpts :

( Starting from Page 28 )

The Shastras proclaim that if a man has a burning desire to be pure, the Lord
Himself will send him a worthy Guru.............

Suppose the Guru we seek turns out to be a false teacher, what should we do ?
Or how can we make sure that our Guru has flawless character
?...................

How can we believe that he is a Guru who is total or Poorna in all respects ?
What do we do when we come to know that he has shortcomings ?
......................

When we came to him as a student we never thought him to be wanting in in
character or incomplete in an respect. Had we thought so we would not have ,
in the first place , become his student. Now what do we do ? ...........After
becoming the desciple of the present Guru how can we leave him and go to
another ? Will it not be disloyalty or Gurudroha........?
The only solution in such a situation is not to worry about the Guru's
qualifications.
We looked for a Guru, we found him and we sought refuge at his feet. Does it
not mean then that there is the hand of Ishwara in our finding such a Guru ?
We may take it that way. According to the Shastraas, one must have faith in
the fact that not merely does Ishwara send us our Guru, but that Guru himself
is Ishwara.. It is only when we regard ha Guru as a mortal that the question
arises whether or not he has drawbacks. Ther is no such question if he is
Ishwara. ...........If our present Guru is Ishwara himself there is no
question of leaving him to seek another. .......................

After we find refuge under a Guru, we must seve him untiringly. We should not
bother about what he is like and our devotion for him must be unwavering
throughout. If we do so, Ishwara himself will, through him, make us pure
within and bestow jnaana on us. Whether or not the Guru himself attains
moksha, we will.

............................Without caring for our own profit or loss and
without caring for personal honour or dishonour, if we surrender to someone in
full faith, Ishwara will give us the supreme and ultimate gain of Atma-jnaana.
..............................

If we submit to a Guru even when he does not possess any good qualities, we
will aquire maturity of mind. We should take it that Ishwara has brought us to
such a Guru , wanting to test us and make our mind steady. ................We
may test ourselves in this manner.

If we want a Guru, who is assuredly great, it is beacuse we are too lazy to
put our maturity of mind to test. If our Guru is great it is not a matter of
credit to us. Our devotion to the Guru is relevant here. ...............Our
merit is enhanced if we remain steadfast in our devotion to the Guru even if
he be not a great man.

It is enough if we keep our mind under control and not let it wander and
surrender to our Guru. We sought the Guru first in the belief that he would
protect us. If we are steadfast in our devotion to him in any event and ever
remain in an attitude of surrender to him,  we will receive from him that for
which we sought him first - and receive it as the Grace of Ishwara.

**************************************************************

I think now, after reading Poojya Swamji's words,  we must purge our minds of
all doubts and disbeliefs lurking in our minds and surrender totally at the
lotus feet of our Gurus and offer him our heartfelt Pranaams on this occasion
of Guru Poornima and receive his wholehearted blessings and look ahead to
realise that Parama purushaartha of Moksha.

Sadguro Paahi  Parama Dayaalu Paahi.

Om Tat Sat

Regards,
Latha Vidyaranya


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