Guru Parampara - 3

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Let me now talk a little of Spiritual Gurus...a troublesome topic.

It is said that "Man doesn't live by bread alone"

King James Bible

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Man (and woman rarely) is troubled by birth, disease and death. He desires peace and happiness and an understanding reconciliation of the meaning of life, love and loss.

It is easy in religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism which have their own revered Prophets whom they can adopt as their ultimate gurus.

For Hindus, it is different. Luckily or otherwise, they have no unique prophet. If I am compelled to name a Universal Guru for Hindus, I would name Sri Krishna. In various ways he compels devotion, knowledge, and liberation.

Gita:

मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु |
मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायण: ||

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते |
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् || 

There he advises "surrender"

But not all can surrender to someone they have not seen or heard with their physical organs of sight and hearing.

That demands a heart-melting devotion, as proclaimed in the Svetasvataropanishad:

यस्य देवे परा भक्तिर्यथा देवे तथा गुरौ।
तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः 

प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति॥

For those who require an intimate touch, someone who proclaims that He resides in the Hearts of All is needed desperately.

Sri Krishna Himself said it:

अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थित: |
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ||

ईश्वर: सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति |
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ||

And there is also this Shriti from the Svetasvataropanishad again:

एको देवः सर्वभूतेषु गूढः
सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा ।
कर्माध्यक्षः सर्वभूताधिवासः
साक्षी चेता केवलो निर्गुणश्च ॥

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Intimacy...that is the key word in the search for a spiritual guru.

And each shishya is made differently. So there are different gurus predestined for different seekers.

And it depends on their mental makeup, family background, and cultural affinity.

Soon after my marriage in 1979, I discovered that my out-and-out Andhra wife was a staunch devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba.

That great saint was not at all well-known or popular in Andhra Pradesh then...unlike now.

In my branch of the family, there was NONE who heard of him then, forget about being his devotee.

And on probing I discovered that my wife's parents (although she didn't grow up in their home always) were living for decades in Maharashtra, not far from Shirdi!

I lived for 40 years in Bengal. And I learned Bengali script with the express intention of reading "Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita" in the Bengali original (a 1000-page close-printed tome). 

And I thoroughly enjoy reading it...the wit and humor apart from the wisdom of the Paramahamsa.

But still, I can't call him my Guru...the cultural divide is too deep (with schools of fish swimming in it :)

Guru of the third kind...Neutral.

Oh! Well! Everyone his Destiny ;)

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Concluded....