Guru Purnima
On this holy, most blessed Sri
Guru Purnima, at this auspicious moment in the early morning, we place within
our hearts the great Sri Nara-Narayan Bhagavan whose grace spreads through the
whole earth as threads permeate a cloth, who is stationed in sacred Badrika
Ashrama, as tradition goes, who is the original incarnation of Sriman Narayana
– to these twin forces of Nara and Narayana we give our prostrations.
Prostration to Bhagavan Sri Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, after whom this day is
also known as Vyasa Purnima, the great Guru of all Gurus. Uninterrupted by the
time process, this Guru blesses all creation, the original Guru of all Gurus.
Salutations and prostrations to Worshipful Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji
Maharaj who is our immediate Guru, whose presence is not merely in this ashram
but everywhere in this country and in the world.
The Gurus form a fraternity of
their own, and all those who have reached the apex of experience are termed the
Gurus of humanity. A leadership of a cosmic cosmopolitan society is vested with
this great organisation of the Gurus. In this realm of divine ordinance,
blessing and compassion that is bestowed upon all mankind, the Gurus shine as
resplendent stars in the firmament of spirit. They are not human beings, though
we may concede that once upon a time they assumed the form of human nature. Now
they are disembodied, therefore capable of performing more effective action.
Because of the disembodied nature of these Gurus, they permeate all existence.
Because of their subtlety of existence they can manifest themselves at any
moment and at any place. It is believed, in our tradition, that the moment we
think of them they are here in front of us, because to materialise that which
is not really material in form, it does not take time. So if our prayers at
this time arise from the deepest recesses of our heart, these Gurus' blessings
will be upon us forever and ever.
They permeate us and do not
stand above our heads and bless us. When divine beings want to protect us, they
do not stand beside us with a stick like shepherds; they enter us and protect
us. Standing near us with a stick and then guarding us is one thing, but
entering us and permeating us and then guarding us is another thing altogether.
This is a mystery in the operation of divine forces. They work internally,
though they also can work externally. They can provide us with our daily bread
externally; they also can give peace of mind internally. When Bhagavan Sri
Krishna proclaimed the great ordinance of the constitution of the universe – ananyas
cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate tesham nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy
aham (B.G. 9.22): Those who are undividedly united with Me, I bring them
succour, provide them with all their needs – when it was said in this manner,
the meaning is external as well as internal protection. He will give us bags of
rice and wheat, sugar and milk and honey externally, which He shall do
instantaneously. He shall also live in our brains, which is a greater
protection than rice and wheat.
Such power these Gurus have;
they bless us from within and without, in every way and every form, completely.
But it is necessary for us to learn the art of invoking them. Sunlight is
energising, but if we are sitting inside a cave under the earth, the forces of
sunlight will not benefit us anymore. We have to keep ourselves open to the
influx of the forces of the sun openly in order that this blessing may be upon
us.
We have gone into the cave of
this physically bound egoistic existence and shut ourselves up so that the
influx of the rays of the benedictions of these masters may not enter us at
all. Nature's forces and God's forces are shut off by the affirmation of
egoism, but they are compassionate enough even to lift this egoism up into a
divine personality and make it a resplendent ambassador of God's performance.
How Worshipful Gurudev Sri
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj's presence is felt, and he is operating everywhere in
this ashram and in this divine organisation through the hearts and the minds of
his devotees and admirers on this earth, is something well known to everybody.
You are all devotees of Sri Gurudev, and your life is secure today, even in the
midst of difficulties – countless, everywhere in the world. Do you believe that
you are living a very safe and comfortable life? If this blessing has been
bestowed upon you, it is due to the grace of these masters who know your
weaknesses and also your requirements. The gratitude that we have to pay for
this protection that has been bestowed upon us by these masters is our prayer
to them permanently. This prayer has to arise from us, and not merely from our
lips in the form of words and chantings. Prayer arises from the feelings.
Whatever you feel deeply, that is your prayer, and each one has to know what
are the feelings operating within. The feeling is the root of our personality.
Our brain, our understanding, our rationality, our intellect is not our true
person. The feelings are the real person. What do you feel at this moment? That
is your prayer. And even if you do not utter a word, these feelings of prayer
will get communicated through the atmosphere of spiritual forces.
Occupied as we are in our
humdrum activities of factory life, office life and family life, we may not be
able to appreciate the operation of these great divinities. We cannot even see
with our eyes if God is not working through the eyes. We cannot hear, we cannot
speak, we cannot taste, we cannot sense anything unless some divinity is
operating through these sensations. In this sense it appears that we do not
exist at all, but are a conglomeration of divinities. Every cell of our body is
the abode of one god or the other. Millions of gods are operating through us to
give a shape to this personality as we appear to be. If one cell does not
operate, we have to go to the doctor for an operation. One cell is sufficient;
it can set at naught your whole security. Such is the power of a single
divinity operating through every one of us. There are gods in the heavens, we
say – but there are gods inside also. Every particle of our nature is filled
with gods operating – otherwise, we would not be alive. The sense of being
alive is due to the presence of these forces within us. In a way, we may say
all individuals have a borrowed existence. It is given to us; it does not
belong to us. Such is the mystery behind these wondrous forces operating
irrespective of our inability to pursue them. As our eyes are projected
outward, we cannot behold the inward operations taking place even within our
own stomachs.
But faith is a miracle; it can
work wonders. If you really have the faith that such forces are operating even
just now – indomitably, unremittingly, keeping us alive and keeping us
breathing – then this grace will get accentuated in our own selves. We shall be
kept healthy, wealthy and also wise. But the difficulty is, it is hard to bring
to our feelings the sense of these divinities. I can feel that I am here, but I
cannot feel that you are inside me. It requires a special effort to make such
feelings actually workable. Can you feel that I am in your heart? It is not
possible, generally speaking, because the projection power of the sense organs
keeps us outward at all times, and this is also in the case of our difficulty
in feeling the presence of these divinities which are pure subjectivities. Gods
are not objects, they are pure subjects – just as we ourselves are not objects,
we are pure subjects. Such masterly organisation of pure subjectivities control
this cosmos and then make it appear as if it is one single, integrated
compactness. Otherwise the whole world will fall into shreds of little bits and
there will be only dust particles everywhere and there will be no place for us
to sit upon. The gods are very gracious to us.
Therefore, may we recollect to
our memories, bring our will to action, feelings to operate and our
understanding to stand in unison with these feelings is our collective prayer
before the great masters who are actually not different, one from the other, as
rays of the sun are not different. It is a mass of radiance that constitutes
this world of the Gurus who are present here, at this moment, in our deepest
hearts, in our feelings, in our prayers for our blessings, ever and ever.
Excerpts from:
Guru Purnima
Message by Swami Krishnananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit:
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?
http://www.dlshq.org/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?
If you would
like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact
the General Secretary at:
No comments:
Post a Comment