Sunday, July 14, 2013

(July 14,2013) Spiritual Message for the Day – Guru Bhakti and Guru Seva

July 14,2013 -50th Anniversary of the MahaSamadhi of our Gurudev Swamiji Sivananda Maharaj
OM NAMO BHAGAVATHE SIVANANDAYA
HARI OM
 
Guru Bhakti and Guru Seva
Divine Life Society Publication: Guru Bhakti Yoga by Swami Sivananda
The Need for Guru 

A Guru is necessary for every aspirant in the spiritual path to awaken the hidden divine power in the innermost core of disciple’s heart. The disciple will achieve results in proportion to his faith in his Guru. It is the spiritual teacher who will show the way and finally lead one to God. Guru is none but God Himself in human form.


 Disciple has to obey his Guru implicitly.  Sometimes the methods prescribed by the Guru may not be to the disciple’s immediate liking, but he must have the firm faith that it is for his own benefit and good.  The benefits and mental peace experienced by having a Guru are immeasurable. You know how Lord Krishna, though he was fully conscious of His Supreme Divinity, served His Guru Sandeepani and studied under him. The disciple who has faith in his Guru attains wisdom.  Surrender yourself whole-heartedly, unreservedly and totally to your Guru.  Guru is God-incarnate upon earth. So worship him.   Guru-Bhakti and Guru-Seva terminate in Self-realisation.  The disciple must go on serving his Guru; the Guru will reveal the Truth to him when his self-surrender is complete.  Some deluded disciples serve their Guru for some years and then give it up foolishly imagining that they have attained Chitta-Suddhi. They do not gain the Supreme Knowledge; they do not reach their Goal.  They, no doubt, gain some merit (Punya), but Self-realisation is not attained; this is indeed a great loss, a great blunder. 


Guru-Bhakti and Guru-Seva are like the two oars of the boat of Sadhana that takes the disciple across the torrential stream of Samsara.  One who has surrendered himself to his Guru, one who serves the Guru whole-heartedly, one who has marvellous Guru-Bhakti, knows no grief, no sorrow, no fear, no pain no misery, no ignorance and he instantly attains God-realisation.  Guru and God are one. So adore him.  One of the greatest souls that ever blessed this universe with his presence is the radiant Sankaracharya who is Adi Guru and Jagadguru.  If the disciple gets the shelter of the Lotus-Feet of a Guru, one who has known what has to be known, one who has attained what has to be attained and who is in a position to show the way, he must think that he is really thrice-blessed.  To get rid of selfishness is most difficult. Only if a disciple makes a firm, fiery determination to uproot selfishness and follows this determination by constant grinding, then alone selfishness will go by the Grace of the Guru.  Obey the orders of your Guru and be very persevering in it.  Obedience should be very practical, whole-hearted and actively persevering.  Then only the prescription of the Guru for attaining Moksha will be fruitful. If the disciple tries to fulfil the dictates of the Guru in the fullest possible practical manner with perseverance and determination, he will realise God.  Of all the virtues which a disciple must have the greatest virtue is obedience to his Guru. 


Obedience is precious virtue, because if you try to develop the virtue of obedience, the ego, the arch-enemy on the path of Self-realisation, slowly gets rooted out.  To have complete obedience to Guru is a difficult task, but by trying with sincerity it becomes easy.  Even ordinary action requires great pain, so in the spiritual path, one must be prepared to subject oneself to some sort of discipline and try to cultivate obedience to the Teacher.  Far more than worship, garlanding, and other outward manifestations of one’s inner Bhava of adorations and worshipfulness, obedience to Guru is greater.  Obedience to Guru shows true reverence unto him.  Obedience means trying to act in the way in which the Guru would like one to act.  Supposing one finds that Guru will not like a certain thing, then one must not do it. It is also obedience.  Even if one possesses all the things that are greatly valued upon earth, one possesses nothing if his mind is not fixed upon the Lotus-Feet of his Guru.  The Truth is Unity no doubt, but through the vast stretch of dual experiences one has ultimately to reach the pinnacle of Unity, consciousness and in this process of attaining it, devotion to the Lotus-Feet of the Guru is the greatest desideratum and it is one of the greatest of Sadhanas.  Again and again to establish oneself in Guru-Bhakti he should try to employ various methods.  Each Guru administers his medicine (instructions) in the form in which it can be assimilated by the disciple.  ‘Cling on to the Lotus-Feet of Guru.’ Here underlies the secret of Sadhana. 

Continue to read:
Guru Bhakti Yoga by Swami Sivananda


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