What is a “guru”? In Sanskrit, “gu” means darkness, and “ru” means one who removes. So, a “guru” is one who removes your darkness. It is one whose mere presence emanates so much light, so much love, and so much divinity, that every darkness within you is alchemically changed into light. And there is no darkness too dark for a guru. His light can shine through and transform even the darkest darkness. This is the power a guru has.
It is not merely the darkness of ignorance. It is not simply that we go to our guru with a question, ask him, he answers it and then our confusion is cleared. Rather, the mere presence of the guru in our life removes all darkness – all anger, all pain, all confusion.
As we find ourselves dying of thirst for knowledge, as we find our hearts and minds have become dry due to ignorance, anger and darkness, the Guru comes, pouring forth upon our lives the rain of wisdom, of love, of light and of life. We are then reborn anew with love & peace. Yet, just as the soil must allow the rain to penetrate its depths in order to reap the benefits of this life-giving nectar, so we must become porous vessels into which the divine nectar of the Guru can flow.
Guru Purnima is a day of renewing our faith, our shraddha, in He who bestows the light upon our lives. It is a day of re-opening of our hearts, our souls and our lives to His divine presence and letting it penetrate and saturate every aspect of our being.
There is a beautiful story told about a man who wanted to walk on water. He begged his guru to give him a secret mantra so he could complete this remarkable feat. The man was extremely pious and devoted, and he had been in his guru’s service for many years. Therefore, the guru gave him a leaf, folded many times until it was very small. He told his disciple, “Within this leaf is a secret formula which will enable you to walk on water. However, you must not open it because the formula inside is a secret.”
So the man agreed, and begins his journey across the river. He is walking fine when suddenly he is overcome by curiosity. What could be this secret formula? Is it powder or stone or some holy mantra? Where did his guru get it? His doubts get the best of him and he begins slowly to open the leaf as he walks, careful lest any of the secret formula should spill out into the water. As soon as he unfolds the last piece to unveil the secret, he suddenly sinks into the water and drowns. Inside the leaf was written the simple word, “faith.”
It was not the leaf, nor any secret powder or mantra that enabled the devotee to accomplish a miracle. It was the strength of his faith in his guru and in the “boon” his guru had given him. As soon as that faith wavered and doubt crept in, his life was lost. This is the power of faith.
At this time of Guru Purnima, we must look at what really makes up the Guru-Disciple relationship – what makes it so special, so unique, so powerful and life-transforming? That answer is faith. Faith can work true miracles and without it, much of life is futile. The guru might be of infinite power, knowledge and compassion. Yet, without the faith of the disciple, the guru can do very little for him. There is a beautiful poem that says:
As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God, because He was my friend.
But, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, "How could you be so slow?"
"My child," He replied. "What could I do? You never did let go."
That “letting go” is the faith. If we can surrender to the guru with complete faith, he will transform our lives. However, if we “hang around” and doubt and think that we know better than he does, then we gain nothing.
Many people today, are hesitant about what they see as “blind obedience” to the Guru. They feel that somehow whatever they do or are told to do should be logical as per their thinking. We must realize that what we call logical is nothing but the instructions emanating from our mind or intellect, which is influenced by the call of our senses, desires, & Ego. We have blind faith in that which our minds and hearts tell us and we act accordingly (because it sounds logical to us). Yet, these false “masters” so frequently lead us astray. We act out of impulse or emotion and later regret it. Our egos and our vanity cause us to engage in actions we later regret.
Let us realize that we are, as it is, acting in obedience to a master. Therefore, let us at least choose a master who will lead us to light, not darkness, who will lead us to wisdom, not ignorance, lead us to peace instead of anxieties, a master who will never give us an order we will live to regret. Let us vow to surrender our intellect & mind to such a master, ‘Maalik VILAYAT’ & live our lives in obedience to his divine preachings instead of in slavery to the volatile callings of our egos, emotions and senses.
