A Guru's Perspective on Guru Purnima

G.L. Sharma for Acharya Shri Maharshi

On this pious occasion of Gurupurnima, here is a humble attempt to explain to you what, according to Acharya Shri Maharshi, is the place and role of a guru in modern world and how a Guru needs to reinvent religious and spiritual values in relation to the changing times. As a seer does not say everything explicitly, it is not an easy task for an ordinary human being to understand the full import of his words dipped in mysticism. Still I have tried my best to convey his all-embracing message as succinctly as possible. My apologies for the flaws which might have crept in inadvertently.

Guru is the ultimate reality, Living piousness

And dignity incarnated.

Guru Purnima is celebrated to respect spiritual or academic teachers, who share their knowledge, wisdom and transcendental experiences with their disciples. In yogic tradition, it is believed that Shiva became the first guru on this day and he imparted yogic knowledge to

Saptarishis (seven sages namely Vashishth, Viswamitra, Kanv, Bharadwaj, Atri, Vamdev and Shaunak.) These sages gave this nation such a vast treasure of knowledge and wisdom that they have been made immortal by naming a constellation in the sky after them as a mark of respect and gratitude for them.

Lord Shiva is Adi (first) yogi as well as Adi guru. It implies that yoga is the root of all knowledge. Gurupurnima is the day when the first guru imparted the highest wisdom to the most deserving first batch of seven disciples. This is the day when a tradition of delving deep within and without, exploring the minutest as well as the largest beyond their hitherto accepted usual limits and transcending human understanding came into being. What a great wisdom this tradition has bestowed upon humanity is not easily explicable. It is this tradition that wishes happiness, good health, welfare for all irrespective of caste, creed, culture or anything else for that matter. It is this tradition that thousands of thousands year ago unequivocally declared:

The entire static or dynamic world is pervaded by the Supreme Lord.

Therefore enjoy its pleasures in a detached manner. Do not be greedy. This

wealth does not belong to anyone.

This age-old tradition renounces extravagance. It is all-inclusive and comprehensive and underlines the importance of conscious and frugal living. The whole world accepts the supremacy of this tradition. Even the tired world of materialism is looking to fall within the ambit of this unique tradition.

Shiva has been extolled and interpreted in myriad ways since the times immemorial and truly so, for describing the immense versatility of the first guru is like putting a quart into a pint pot. He resides on the Himalayas. The great river Ganga flows from his locks. Smeared with the ashes of the dead and with his third eye signifying fury and disaster, he resembles nature itself. He is the supreme spontaneity of nature embodied, sustaining the delicate equilibrium of duality such as joy and sorrow, fame and ignominy and life and death etc. he feels no regrets for dried and falling leaves, young tall trees uprooted by gales or abysmally inundated lands. Nor does he feel elated for new smooth leaves and flowers beautifully swaying in the gentle winds, lush green stretches of lands with innumerable creatures thriving happily there. He is as calm within as the calmness itself. Despite being awarely unaware, His grace keeps the all- encompassing motive of welfare unfolding always everywhere. Shiva is nature; nature is Shiva nurturing and sustaining the existence. A guru belongs to that lineage and draws inspiration from Lord Shiv. Guru is essentially Shiva Himself, pervaded in the existence, engaged in welfare and yet sitting beside his disciple as a bosom friend.

Guru makes his disciple live scriptural wisdom rather than just learn it because the wisdom contained in Vedas and Upanishadas is not just a play of words. It is the revelations that dawned upon sages during their highest state of consciousness. They too say that God permeates the whole existence.

Even Einstein has proved that all matter irrespective of its state, shape or size is nothing but energy. Nothing but only that energy exists. God is all energy. It is this energy that pulsates in all forms. Therefore, anything that our senses can perceive or conjecture at is the manifestation of GOD Himself. Nature is God Himself in tangible form. A Canadian-French astrophysicist Hubert Reaves also echoes the same wisdom in the following lines:

“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys visible nature, unaware that this nature he’s is destroying is this God he is worshipping.” So, the sages always endeavoured to achieve heightened consciousness that merged with the universe,

pulsated with it and felt with and for it. They prayed to it; they prayed for it. They have always been advocating sustainable development that nourishes all alike.

As far as religion is concerned true Gurus keep redefining it with the passage of time. For them it is not pond water static and stinking rather it is a flowing stream of pure water ever fresh, ever new, retaining its traditional identity and quenching spiritual thirst. Sages sync religious and spiritual values with time. They can foresee the future and contemporize social, political ethical, and religious values. With their awakened consciousness, they have been guiding humanity to prepare itself for future challenges.

Deeply rooted in traditional wisdom, venerable Acharya Shri Maharshi has something innovative to tune our ancient wisdom to the newly emerged and fast-moving world. For him, religion is not something static confined to rigid rituals only. It has an inbuilt dynamism that always keeps it abreast of time. It is not confined to scriptural dicta. It is a realisation beyond words that spontaneously unfolds from within. Dogmatic approach in religion and spirituality has not yielded desired results. It has not helped adequately in completing the evolution of existence. The cacophony of ‘my religion’ ‘your religion’ ‘my belief ‘your belief ‘is creating chaos and confusion. The people at large are in a fix and tend to avert the greatest wisdom that they so badly need. This aversion might derail our sublimation and evolution process. It is high time it was tackled. Lest it should be too late to mend. Humanity needs an all- encompassing religion that is considerate and compassionate and embraces all: a religion compatible with the present circumstances: a religion that can size up the impending dangers and challenges and offer apt remedies. This religion emerges from the seers with their religious and spiritual realisations which occur with the grace of Guru only. For Shri Maharshi “Religion is not an idea or an understanding. Nor is it a constitution for social control. It’s the Truth itself timeless and universal.”

Acharya Shri Maharshi is one of the obscure exponents of this supreme legacy. He is aware of the fact that humanity is distancing itself from nature thereby inviting disaster and calamity. For a guru God and existence are inseparable. Any confrontation with the existence itself disturbs universal poise and calm, resulting in floods, droughts, famines or pandemics. He has been writing about it all for a decade. Here are a few of his brief sayings which hint at impending dangers.

And now truly enough, the world is going through a tumultuous time. A tiny virus has caused turmoil across the globe. Nature is furious and it has given humanity quite a jolt. We have been taken aback with almost all modern values getting a big jerk. It is the times such as these when we look to great seers and mystics for solace and guidance.

In India, Guru (spiritual preacher) is at the highest rung. He is supposed to tune his disciples’ consciousness to the cosmos. Scriptures abound in his encomia. He is equated to God Himself. A disciple is supposed to go through rigorous penance to get his blessings.

But Acharya Shri Maharshi feels that the disciples engaged in their mundane chores and trying to keep pace with the fast-moving life cannot reach to a guru sitting on such a very high pedestal, however hard he may try to stretch his arms and that it is high time they came down to the earth to embrace their disciples and be there with them to be their guides, mentors and friends. He says that the chasm between a true guru and a not-yet-disillusioned disciple has widened. It is up to gurus now to come to give succour to the helpless disciple.

The guru is ethereal energy beyond and above illuminating the skies. It has, now, to descend down in the form of oceanic energy to moist and embrace the earth with grace. Nothing can be poured into an earthen pot unless the golden pot is in proximity. The earthen pot may remain stay put but the golden one has got to approach it to fill its void and infuse it with ecstatic delight.

This world of differences, dissensions, disputes, discords and disturbances with imbalances within and without is seeking shelter in the lotus feet of Guru who belongs to all: all religions, all creatures and the whole existence, whose heart beats resonate with the cosmic rhythm, who feels for all alike, who perceives comprehensively not in fragments, whose intimacy exalts, exhilarates and sublimates one and all alike and above all, who is a friend as close, as caring, as patient and as affectionate as Shri Krishna Himself. Shri Krishna accepted to be the charioteer of Arjuna. Guru is so kind that he takes the reigns in his hands. His preaching is a friendly conversation rather than a pulpit eloquence. Friendliness has got to be the buzz word all across the globe. Friendliness is the only way out. We have had enough of hatred and envy. Now it is the turn of love, unconditional and boundless: now it is the turn of trust and assurance: now it is the turn of co-existence and acceptance.

This year, we celebrate Gurupurnima with an unprecedented quietude but with the same zest and fervour thereby engaging in more reflection and contemplation. It might bring a guru and his disciples closer. The relation of Guru and Shishya is not a one-way traffic. Both of them fine-tune themselves with the changing times. Though the disciple is living in an age of uncertainty and complexity, though he is highly engrossed in worldly affairs yet he should not be made to feel that he does not deserve to tread on the path of spirituality. Guru needs to be flexible to the extent that the essential spirit of Guru and disciple is in resonance. A new understanding, a new perception and a new system have to be evolved in order that all life may be transformed into utter gratitude. Disciple-friendly spirituality is the need of the hour. Different theories, beliefs, cults and creeds rife these days have thrown the world in confusion. It needs a clear and universal message devoid of bigotry and dissension: a message that nurtures unity and oneness rather than fostering divide. My obeisance to the myriad-hued spirit of Guru which reveals itself in innumerable forms.

Oh, Gurudev!

You are mercy personified, God Himself in human form

Who dispels the darkness of illusion, Unravels the mystery of life

And unfolds its beauty.

Let no part of creation be devoid

Of your all-inclusive and boundless grace.