Day - 4
Doubt to Dedication
“The Guru is the Ladder, the Guru is the Boat, and the Guru is the Raft to take me to the Lord's Name. The Guru is the Boat to carry me across the world-ocean; the Guru is the Sacred Shrine of Pilgrimage, the Guru is the Holy River. If it pleases Him, I bathe in the Pool of Truth, and become radiant and pure.”
There are some points to remember in order to build a good relation with our Guru:
1. Near:
A flower looks beautiful from far away and thorns are seen when we come near to the flower. But we just ignore the thorns and pluck the flower for its beauty and fragrance. Our love for the flower remains the same even after seeing the thorns in it.
"He who wants the rose, must respect the thorn"
Likewise, in order to maintain good relations with God and our Guru, we need to take the good things from them. We have to come near to our Guru to grow in life. In spiritual life, there will be difficulties, but we need to learn from them for our own growth. After seeing the weakness in our Guru's life and still being able to love them the way they are is the biggest challenge. If we want to inherit something from our Guru, we have to take the good from them.
2. Hear:
"Hear one side and you will be in the dark. Hear both and all will be clear."
Do we have the ability in us to hear what our Guru has to say?We have to understand that whatever our Guru says is for our welfare and well being and we have to hear first as listening brings more welfare than seeing. We have to come near our Guru to understand their true value. A doctor prescribes a medicine that is good for the patient and not a medicine that the patient likes. Similarly, a Guru will tell us what is good for us.
Once Gurudev went to his Guru and said that he feels very hurt the way he treats him. He does not like the torture. Gurudev's guru replied," I have not made you a Saint to protect your mind but to protect your soul".
When a Potter makes a pot, with one hand he shapes the pot from outside and with the other hand he supports the pot from inside. So we all are able to see the harsh words of our Guru but we are not able to see that our Guru protects us from inside.
Once a Guru asked his disciple not to go outside. Even after telling a number of times, the disciple went as he had some important work. When he went outside, he saw a donkey crying on one corner of the road and he returned back thinking it is a bad sign. His Guru then asked why he had returned. The disciple explained that there was a donkey crying, he returned as his work will not be done. So such is our case. We listen to the donkey but not our Guru!
Even a cricket player listens to his coach in order to grow in his career. Likewise, we have to listen to our Guru to grow in spiritual life. There should be no arguments and no doubts, but just the ability to hear.
3. Dear:
Our love and respect for our Guru has to be steady no matter how our Guru says or how he treats us. Our love has to be the same even if we they say something that we don't like. They still have to dear to us.
"Every stone is ordinary, a sculptor makes it extra ordinary
Every disciple is ordinary, a Guru makes him extra ordinary"
When a Guru tells his disciple to GO AWAY, and the disciple still says NO WAY, that is love of the disciple for his Guru. The disciple does not want to leave his Guru no matter how he treats him or whether he hurts him.The love which the disciple has for his Guru is really the response evoked by the greater love which the Guru has for the disciple. and it is to be placed above all other loves.
Here is a story from Mahabharata to explain this:
Eklavya was a brave boy and had a great desire to learn archery from Dronacharya. He had dreamed for learning the art of archery under Drona but he was not accepted as a disciple. But Eklavya was very determined. He installed a clay idol of Dronacharya near his house and worshiped it as his Guru. Everyday he prayed in front of the idol and took self lessons in bow and arrow. Soon he became an expert in the field of archery. One day Dronacharya and Arjuna were passing near the hut of Eklavya. Dronacharya saw the skills of Eklavya and asked who his Guru was? Eklavya was very excited on seeing Drona and said that he worshiped him and that he was only his Guru. Dronacharya had never accepted Eklavya as his disciple as he loved Arjuna and wanted Arjuna to be on the top always. So Dronacharya asked Eklavya for Guru Dakshina. He asked Eklavya for his right thumb as his Guru Dakshina. But Eklavya was happy and kept his promise without any protest. He cut off his right thumb and placed at the feet of Dronacharya. Such is the sacrifice of a true disciple for his Guru!
A Guru always wants to give a lot to his disciples, but a disciple gets what he deserves.
4. TEARS:
"Tears are words the heart can't express"
Is is so true that tears are the silent language of love. Have we ever felt this love for our Guru. Tears would flow our of our eyes when we know that whatever we are today is because of our Guru. What role does tears play in our life? Gurudev, with his Guru's blessing is today able to talk in front of thousand's of people and has written so many books. He might have become proud about his accomplishments but he did not. When we come near our Guru, love them and listen to them , we will become devoted to them in any case.
There was man in Mumbai who used to live in a flat worth Crores. He used to go everyday to Gurudev and asked him to come to his house for Bhiksha. When Gurudev said no to him, he started crying. Tears were flowing out of his eyes. Seeing this, Gurudev agreed to go his house. Gurudev had asked on which floor was his flat. The man replied that his house was on the 21st floor. But on seeing his love, Gurudev went to his flat and took Bhiksha. The man was filled with so much joy that he could not explain in words. On coming closet to our Guru we will learn how to maintain peace in our life. If we don't consider our Guru "Dear" to us we can never come "Near" to them.
5. FEAR:
"One who does not fear God, shall live in fear; without the Guru there is only pitch darkness"
Place the fear of the God on your head and bear that weight, for those who do not have the fear of God or their Guru are overtaken by fear. They are destroyed by their own pride. When we fear to do anything that our Guru does not like, we will never do anything wrong. This fear that we have is a positive one and not a negative one. This positive fear will help us to grow in life and it has a lot of strength in it. We have to fear the one's we love. This fear will take us long way in our life.
A man had a wine shop near the temple. Everyday around ten people who used to go to the temple used to curse the man for having a wine shop next to a holy place. They used to wish that his shop catches fire. One day, it happened that the shop was really on fire. The man then lodged a complaint in the court that his shop caught fire because of the people's curse. The people who had cursed the wine shop asked the Judge that how could their curse cause fire. But the Judge said that the man who has kept wine shop has more faith on God than them because he believes that God has listened to their wish.
So we need to come close to our Guru, listen to them and follow their teachings to live a good meaningful life.
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