View source for Lecture on Guru Purnima 27 July 2018

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= Guru Purnima: The Sacred Relationship Between Guru and Disciple =

== Introduction to Atmajnanatma ==
Today we are going to talk about the concept of Atmajnanatma, Atmajnanatma, Atmajnanatma. Guru Purnima is a very great and auspicious day for four important reasons.

== Four Reasons Why Guru Purnima is Sacred ==

=== 1. Special Day for the Guru ===
The first reason is that we have assigned a very special day for Guru. In Hinduism we usually assign one particular day for one particular deity—for example, Kali Puja, Durga Puja, Krishna Janmashtami, Ramanahami, Ganesha Chaturthi, etc. So Hindus thought that in one's life, both secular and spiritual, Guru occupies the greatest place. Guru is the one who builds bridges between Jivatma and Paramatma.

So Hindus thought: why not assign one very special day for our own Guru? On this day everyone will have to worship one's Guru. For Hindus worshipping God comes very naturally, but one of the most significant points we miss is that it is not merely offering flowers and fruits and bowing down to the Guru, but most importantly to remember the vows that both the Guru and the disciple have taken on a particular day.

=== The Sacred Vows of Initiation ===
Briefly, when a person gets initiation called Mantra Deeksha, the Guru vows on his part—though this is not spelt out in words—that "I will not give up this disciple until he attains liberation, until he has got realisation." The disciple takes the vow: "I have surrendered myself to you and I will never accept anyone else excepting you. And following your instructions strictly, I am going to practise Sadhana and I will not stop until I realise God."

Then only my Guru Dakshina really becomes complete.

=== A Beautiful Incident about True Guru Dakshina ===
I heard a very beautiful incident. One of my training centre principal was Swami Bodhatmananda. One day a young man came to him and the Swami knew him earlier and he was surprised. So the Swami asked him, "Why did you come?"

The young man said, "Today I have received my initiation. After it is over I came to pay my respects to you, to make pranams to you and to get your blessings."

Swami asked him, "Have you paid Guru Dakshina to your Guru?" The young man said, "Yes, usually some fruits, flowers, sweets, etc." Then the Swami explained to the young man: "This is not real Guru Dakshina. Real Guru Dakshina is to practise the path that the Guru had shown and reach God Realisation. The day you reach God Realisation, really you pay Guru Dakshina. That day Guru will be free from your burden and you will also never again be reborn." This was a very significant instruction.

== The Eternal Relationship Between Guru and Disciple ==
We can never repay our Guru what he has done for us, what he is still doing, what he is going to do. Another point we need to remember is the relationship between Guru and the disciple doesn't end with one life. It is Janma Janma Antara Samparka.

Until one realises God, Guru does not leave the disciple and the disciple also really cannot give up the Guru. Why can't he give up? Two questions come here. If I die and reborn, is the Guru also not going to get liberation? Is he also going to be bound like me until I attain Realisation? And if I extend this analogy, then he may have one hundred thousand disciples and until the last disciple attains liberation, the Guru is really bound.

The simple answer is: first of all, Guru means knowledge, knowledge means God, God is never bound. The second way to understand is, it is the same power of God which manifests in different forms. Guru is never bound.

At the same time, he is ever related to the disciple, guiding him step by step, helping him progress in spiritual path until the disciple knows who he is and then the Guru goes back to bring every single Jiva unto him. This is the Leela that is going on all the time.

== Why This Day is Important ==
First, let me tell you why this day is so very important in the life of every Hindu.

=== 1. Remembering and Worshipping the Guru ===
First of all, it is for remembering the Guru, worshipping him, remembering what promise I have made to my Guru, whether I am following it and if not, if not completely, take a vow, renew the contract and strive to do better. I will come to this point later on.

=== 2. Opening of Amarnath Temple ===
Second, in the past, this is the day when Amarnath temple would be open for devotees. Nowadays because of changed circumstances, circumstances have changed, they are opening the temple even one month or even one and a half months earlier and it also remains open for a long time. But this is the day when many devotees consider themselves blessed to visit Lord Amarnath and to have the darshan of Lord Shiva, Lord Amarnath.

=== 3. Remembering and Worshipping Vyasa Deva ===
Third, this is a very important day to remember and worship Vyasa Deva. As we all know, Vyasa is not the name of the person, the real name is Krishna Dwaipayana. Krishna because he is black, Dwaipayana because he is born on an island but he is the founder of Hinduism so to say, because he has collected all the existing Vedic knowledge and arranged them properly, divided them into four parts, subsequently known as Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda and strived to propagate it through four of his disciples.

Besides, he also had written Mahabharata and most important Bhagavatam. He is also reputed to have authored the 36 Puranas again divided into 18 Mahapuranas and 18 Upapuranas. The whole Hindu religion and culture practically depends upon the Vedas called Shrutis and Mahabharata, Bhagavatam and these Puranas. One book I have left out is Ramayana that has been supposed to have been written by Valmiki Maharshi but only Maharshis will write these things.

So Bhagavad Gita which is part of Mahabharata and another book which Vyasa composed to reconcile all the doubts that one can encounter by reading various Upanishads seemingly conflicting opinions. To reconcile he had written a book called Brahma Sutras. Now today if Hindus have to understand their culture, the origin of their religion, they have to be extremely grateful to Veda Vyasa because he laid the foundation through these three scriptures Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita.

Even if we study one of them then our life will become blessed. So we have to remember, worship and accept without any doubt the teachings of Veda Vyasa as expressed in these three books. And in the same way many people worship the book called Veda on this Kurupurnima day.

=== 4. Beginning of Chaturmasya ===
Another significant one is that on this day many wandering monks—nowadays there are very few, but in the past there used to be a lot of wandering monks—because this is the beginning of rainy season. Many people they are supposed to stay put in one place for about four months and that staying in one place called Chaturmasya will start on this particular day. So worship of Guru, worship of Veda Vyasa as well as Veda and having darshan of Amarnath and starting of Chaturmasya, all these four are accomplished on this particular day.

== The Supreme Importance of Guru Bhakti ==
Of all these the worship of Guru is most important. Without the least hesitation all Hindu scriptures tell us with one voice, no one can progress in any field of life without having Guru Bhakti. Sometimes it is said that Guru Bhakti is more important even than Guru.

=== The Example of Ekalavya ===
The example given is the story of Ekalavya in Mahabharata. Ekalavya as we all know has approached Dronacharya but Dronacharya had outright rejected him. Ekalavya said that it doesn't matter, "I have decided you will be my Guru" and he went into the forest, made a small image of the Guru and started visualising that his Guru is present and guiding him and in the end he became the best archer in the whole world outdoing even Arjuna whom the Guru himself has trained.

This is to prove that if one has got Guru Bhakti then Guru is not really necessary. This is a funny way of putting it. If we have Guru Bhakti how can we not remember our Guru? It is also said in a funny way Ram Nama is more glorious and powerful than Rama himself but Rama and Ram Nama, Nama and Namne, the name and the name are exactly one and the same.

== Understanding the Guru ==

=== Who is a Guru? ===
So what is really Guru Bhakti? Who is a Guru? What is Guru Bhakti? What can Guru do? And if we have some wrong opinions about Guru what dangers can befall? Very briefly I will talk about it.

First of all who is a Guru? Sri Ramakrishna clearly mentions the only Guru, the real Guru is none other than God also called Satchitananda. God also is called knowledge. We don't usually call it but in two ways we do that. One of the names of God, best names of God is Sat, Chit and Ananda. Chit means knowledge, consciousness.

Another way we all worship God in the form of knowledge is called Saraswati.

=== Two Ways of Obtaining Anything ===
So in the Vedas there are two ways of obtaining anything. Money, jobs, name and fame, fulfilment of desires and of course obtainment of knowledge.

One is through the hard grinding way. You go to the school, go to college, university and run around many offices, get a job. That is one way of trying to fulfil one's desires.

But the Vedas show another way. You don't need to do any of these things. Just follow the Vedic path. You can worship God, you can do Yajnas and Yagas and through that also your desires could be fulfilled.

=== Examples of Divine Grace ===
One of the most famous examples of this is the Kalidasa story. It is said he was very illiterate, idiotic person. But by the grace of Mother Kali, instantaneously he became one of the greatest poets in the whole world.

A recent example is one poor man who came to Sri Ramakrishna and when asked why you are coming, he said "I want to become rich." Sri Ramakrishna said "Bring Jalebi, I will make you rich." The man had brought Jalebi and Sri Ramakrishna ate and blessed him and he became a multi-millionaire. I hope you remember his name, Upendrana Mukhopadhyay.

So what is the point? The point is one can through God's grace obtain anything, life, long life or wealth, name and fame or knowledge. So this is to emphasise another name for God is knowledge. He is pure existence. So one can get out of death or fear of death. One can obtain knowledge. One can become knowledge and one can become Anandaswaroopa and that is our goal.

That is why the famous three prayers that every Hindu is supposed to utter every day: Asathoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Nrityorma Amrutangamaya.

=== Guru as God's Manifestation ===
So what am I trying to tell you? That Guru is none other than God present to us most often in the form of a human being. Because we are human beings, because we do not have that intuitive capacity, God out of infinite compassion manifests through a human form and guides us so that we can progress in spiritual life. But the condition is first of all we must have devotion. Secondly we must surrender to God. Thirdly we must lead a pure life so that the grace which is already flowing in the form of a Guru will enter into us and transform our life.

=== The Upanishadic Teaching ===
There is a beautiful Upanishad called Shweta Shwetara Upanishad in which it is said:

यश्य देवे पराभक्ति यथा देवे तथा गुरव। तस्य इते कथिताः अख्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महाः मनाः

If a person has got as much devotion one has towards God, has the same devotion towards the Guru, then all the intricate meanings of scriptures, the highest spiritual truths become manifest through him.

=== The Example of Swami Ardhutananda ===
One of the greatest examples that we have of Swami Ardhutananda. Most of you know he was an illiterate person and the funny thing was Sri Ramakrishna whom we consider as an incarnation of God and who is supposed to be the greatest Guru, Jagadguru—जननें शारदां देवें रामकृष्णं जगदगुर्—This Jagadguru completely failed to initiate his disciple into literacy.

But that is a deliberately done act. Not that he was incapable, he didn't want to do it. Why? To prove to us. If there is God's grace then a man can become the greatest man of wisdom and from his mouth the greatest truths, Vedantic truths can come out and that's what we see in the life of Lata Maharaj. That also is to prove academic education is not a real requirement for becoming a wise person, for progressing in spiritual life.

== The Nature of the Guru ==

=== Guru as God Himself ===
So a question, who is a Guru? He is none other than God, manifest in some form. Who could advance us towards our goal, whether it be secular or spiritual? Do not think a Guru is there only to help us to move in spiritual life. He can move us forward in any life. There is a stock market Guru, there is a computer Guru, and Guru in every conceivable subject that is there.

So really speaking Guru is none other than God. Therefore nobody can have a real objection why one should not prostrate, take surrender.

=== True Guru Bhakti ===
Second, Guru Bhakti means it is total surrender to Guru. Surrender to Guru is surrender really to oneself. Third means, not being the slave of somebody, but which falls into the ocean, disappears. That is God's help. Whether we obtain it through the path of Karma, Yoga, Bhakti or Jnana, every person is to become one with God. God's help for self-realisation.

The second Guru Bhakti, that means without devotion to, it means not to prostrate, not to simply shed tears. "My Guru is great." Real Guru Bhakti is to put into practise what the Guru had advised us to do, instructed us. And even if the disciple never meets the Guru, but still if a person practises, he is a better, more devoted disciple than just merely personally adoring a person.

== The Six Types of Grace (Kripa) ==
Now it is said in our scriptures, every spiritual aspirant called Sadhaka needs six kinds of graces. It goes like this:

# '''Irishwara Kripa''' - God's grace, and it brings
# '''Guru Kripa''' - the grace of Guru. What does Guru Kripa do? It obtains for Sadhaka
# '''Shastra Kripa''' - That means he understands the scriptures, which are none other than the instructions of the Guru. And Shastra Kripa in its turn brings about
# '''Bhakta Kripa''' - that is a sincere Sadhaka obtains the company of sincere, well-devoted devotees, so that they can support each other. And this in its turn brings
# '''Mantra Kripa''' - that means the mantra given by our Guru becomes alive, it takes us over, it possesses us, and it makes us move forward towards God. It also reveals what are the obstacles, what are the shortcuts, and how to advance ourselves towards God. That is called Mantra Kripa. In fact, the very meaning of the word mantra is that which saves us through repetition. That is called Mantra.

So, how many Kripas we talked about? God's grace, Guru's grace, the grace of the scripture, the grace of fellow devotees, and the grace of mantra.

=== The Sixth Grace: Atma Kripa ===
There is one Kripa for the lack of which, because of the lack of which we get stuck, not moving one millimetre forward, and that is called '''Atma Kripa'''. Here Atma is not divine self, here Atma means mind. Our own mind, which consists of Samskaras accumulated through millions of births. Sometimes, most of the time, they don't stand in the way of our progress in life.

That is why Sadhana is necessary. What is Sadhana? To practise the instructions of the Guru with all the energy and time we have at our disposal. But at the same time, with this feeling in the mind, it is all the grace of God and Guru. And slowly, if we practise to the best of our ability, it takes us forward. That means it takes us towards our real goal, which is Sharanagati.

== Sharanagati: The Ultimate Goal ==
As I mentioned earlier, Sharanagati really means approaching God nearer and nearer, finally becoming one with God. That is true Sharanagati. Sharanagati is the only Sadhana. Sharanagati is the only goal of all Sadhakas, whether it is spelled out or not.

How do we know? Because for everything that I speak, we have got only scriptural instructions, scriptural teachings, scriptural authority. The most wonderful book, Bhagavad Gita, ends with this shloka, which is also known as Charama Shloka, the best and the last shloka in the entire Bhagavad Gita. What is it?

== Can One Progress Without a Guru? ==
The next point we will have to discuss is can one progress in any field without a Guru? There was a funny teaching. Once a disciple asked Swami Brahmanandaji, "Is it possible to obtain Brahma Jnana without the help of a Guru?" Swami Brahmanandaji, Raja Maharaj, sarcastically replied, "Even to become an expert pickpocket, you need a Guru. Otherwise, you will be caught, thrashed and thrown out. What to speak of Brahma Jnana, which is so very difficult in life."

In fact, we cannot obtain Brahma Jnana without the grace of the Guru, who is none other than the manifestation of God. Without God's grace, we cannot move forward in any field, secular or spiritual.

=== When the Student is Ready ===
Next question, can one progress in any field without a Guru? No, we cannot. So what happens if there is no Guru? Such a thing can never happen. If and when the field is ready, the seed will come. Means when a person is ready, the Guru or guidance or knowledge is bound to come.

=== The Four Objects of Reverence ===
So the Vedas, Upanishad advises us, develop the greatest reverence towards four people in this world:

* '''Matru Devo Bhava''' - Mother is God
* '''Pitru Devo Bhava''' - Father is God
* '''Acharya Devo Bhava''' - Teacher/Guru is God
* '''Aditi Devo Bhava''' - Guest is God

Gradually, divinise the whole world. But start with one person. The first person is mother, second person is father, third person is Acharya or Guru and everyone else. This is how we expand our spiritual consciousness. But of all these, the greatest, the best and the most helpful is Acharya.

== The Three Types of Guru ==
So what if a person doesn't seem to get a Guru? That is not an issue really, because when a person is ready, God is ready. In fact, God is ready all the time, waiting for our readiness. When we are ready, immediately the grace of God will flow into us.

Now in our scriptures, the God or the Guru is divided into three categories:

=== 1. Manushya Guru (Human Guru) ===

=== 2. Antar Guru (Inner Guru) ===

=== 3. Daiva Guru (Divine Guru) ===
It is called the Divine Guru, Inner Guru and Human Guru. Human Guru slowly guides us to the Inner Guru, which is nothing but our own purified mind. And this Inner Guru finally leads us to the Divine Guru who is none other than God himself.

In other way of expression, it is only God who comes down as it were and becomes our Inner Guru and still comes down to our level, which is called Manushya Guru. The real goal of the Human Guru is slowly to help us purify our mind so that ultimately our own mind becomes the Inner Guru. And this Antar Guru, Inner Guru, in course of time, leads to the real Guru who is none other than God himself.

== Sri Ramakrishna's Three Types of Sadhana ==
Now many of our devotees know that Sairam Krishna had practised Sadhana three times:

# '''First, without Guru'''
# '''Second, with Gurus'''
# '''And the third is called Narendra Sadhana''' - For four and a half years, Sairam Krishna had worked hard to make the mind of Narendra fit so that he can spread the Divine message, the Incarnation's message, Dharma Sthatana.

== The Seven Steps to Sharanagati ==
There is a most wonderful thing we have to understand is that in order to get the grace of Guru, we will have to follow seven steps. Sharanagati requires seven steps. This we get in the Bhagavad Gita, in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Until Arjuna had completely surrendered himself to Krishna, Krishna did not open his mouth. Only when Arjuna categorically declared, "O Lord, I take refuge in you. Please command me what I should or should not do."

What are the seven steps which leads to this final Sharanagati so that the Divine Grace can work in us without any hindrance?

# '''Discovery of the problem'''
# '''Discovery of one's helplessness'''
# '''Acceptance that I cannot solve this problem without the guidance of a Guru'''
# '''Seek a Guru and take his advice with complete faith and then surrender oneself to the Guru'''
# '''Surrender means without question, ready to receive the instructions of the Guru'''
# '''Receive the instructions, which is the remedy'''
# '''Apply the remedy, apply the medication'''

When Arjuna was able to attain to this state, then Bhagavan Krishna opened his mind.

== The Eternal Relationship ==
Next point we need to understand is that the relationship between Guru and Sishya is eternal because the relationship between Paramatma and Jivatma is also eternal. This is from our viewpoint. There is no such permanent relationship at all because we are followers of Advaita. In Advaita system, there is no such division called Guru and Sishya. But because we are in the world of duality, so long as we remain in the world of duality, we accept this relationship and ultimately Guru-Sishya become one. That is the Sishya realises I am not different from the Guru and Guru is not different from God.

=== Swami Brahmananda's Beautiful Illustration ===
There is a beautiful explanation of this point by Swami Brahmanandaji. Once somebody asked him, "Can Guru take us to God?" Swami replied, "Yes, categorically." Then "What happens to the Guru?" Then Swami Brahmanandaji gave beautiful illustration and said, "Guru takes the hand of the disciple, takes him to God and points out to him that this is your Ishtadevata or God and himself disappears and manifests himself as the Ishtadevata." Guru disappears and reappears as Ishtadevata because Guru is none other than God.

== The Status of Guru in Hindu Tradition ==
In India, every Hindu accepts that Guru occupies the greatest place, even sometimes greater than God. There is a funny story. There was a disciple of Chaitanya Prabhu in Vrindavan and he was very harsh towards his disciples and the presiding deity of Vrindavan was supposed to be Radha Devi, not Krishna but Radha Devi.

The presiding deity of Kashi is Mother Annapurna, not Vishwanatha. The presiding deity of the Ramakrishna order is not Sri Ramakrishna. He is totally useless. Whenever any problem comes, he goes into Samadhi and when the problem is over, then he appears smiling. The presiding deity of the Ramakrishna order means all the devotees, monks of the Ramakrishna order is really Holy Mother Sharda Devi. That is why Ramakrishna had left her so that we can pester her, we can cajole her to give us whatever we want.

So Holy Mother is greater than Sri Ramakrishna in a way of speaking. So it is to surrender to the Holy Mother in our order. But what is Holy Mother? She is none other than Mother Saraswati who had come down to us in the form of Holy Mother's body and through Holy Mother we attain liberation. Bhakti, Bhukti, Mukti all are available only by the grace of the Holy Mother.

== What a Guru Really Does ==
Very briefly now I will mention about what a Guru really does. There are several things a Guru really does.

=== 1. Initiation (Mantra Deeksha) ===
The first thing of course you know is initiation. He chooses a particular deity, form of God, suitable to the mentality of the disciple and tells him this is the form of God you have to worship, you have to adore, you have to develop love for and this is the path that you will have to tread in order to become blessed by Atma Darshana or Self-knowledge. This is called initiation or Mantra Deeksha.

=== Three Types of Initiation ===
There is a Upanishad called Tejo Bindu Upanishad where initiation is classified into three types. These are called Anava, Shakta and Shambhava. In other words, Mantra Deeksha, Sparsha Deeksha and Shambhavi Deeksha.

'''Anava or Mantra Deeksha''': The ordinary initiation is called Anava or Mantra. That is to say, a Guru loudly utters a mantra into the ears of the disciple which we all normally receive.

'''Shakta Deeksha''': Shakta Deeksha is no utterance of the mantra but the Guru touches or just looks at the disciple. Shri Ramakrishna often used to touch the disciple and give Mantra Deeksha, what is called Shakta Deeksha, Sparsha Deeksha. Sometimes, he used to ask the disciple to stretch his tongue out and write out his mantra. Thereafter, the mantra goes on repeating itself because it is given by the most powerful Guru opposed to a fit, Adhikari, Yogya disciple.

'''Shambhava Deeksha''': The last one, which is very rare, is called Shambhava. It is said Shambhava Deeksha is that where the Guru and disciple may be thousands of miles apart but somehow connection is made and the Guru gives the Deeksha and the disciple instantaneously becomes a human. We need not talk about these two but we are only talking about Mantra Deeksha and this is what is most important. We are fit only for that.

=== 2. Receiving Guru Dakshina ===
After receiving initiation, we are supposed to give Guru Dakshina. I already told you what is true Guru Dakshina. It is to surrender oneself to Guru which means to daily practise the instructions given by the Guru until we reach our desired goal which is God Realisation.

=== 3. Instilling Faith and Removing Doubts ===
A Guru, he not only gives initiation, he instils faith and he removes all doubts. There are so many examples in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. By his very presence, in his presence, nobody can have doubt about God. Somewhere Ken writes when we are in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna, nobody ever thinks whether one should doubt about the existence of God or not. As if God is so palpably present in the very presence of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, etc.

=== 4. Channel of Divine Grace ===
Next, a Guru really becomes a channel of Divine Grace and takes one to God. How do we know? We all know what happened on Kalpataru Day. 1st January 1886, Sri Ramakrishna specially blessed so many devotees and future disciples just by touching them and blessing them. "May your spiritual consciousness be awakened." And we have to understand when such a person really touches, the person is not touching, but he merely becomes a channel of the Divine Grace. It is Grace of the God that alone can take us to God.

=== 5. Personal Spiritual Psychiatrist ===
The Guru also does a very important function. He becomes a free personal psychiatrist. I will give you an example. Once a disciple expressed his doubts to Holy Mother. Doubts are problems. "Mother, my mind is filled with full of undesirable thoughts."

Usually when a young man says, it means he is attracted to enjoyment, sensual enjoyment. Immediately Holy Mother became a psychiatrist and said, "My child, this is what is called Vayodharma, the characteristic of youthfulness. These thoughts come and go. Do not pay attention to them." That is an important point. If you pay attention, they grow strong. If you do not pay attention, then they will come and go. This is a wonderful point which I will not discuss today.

=== 6. Ego Reduction ===
One of the most important functions of a Guru and that is why he scolds, sometimes he beats also, is to reduce the ego. It is said in one way that what is spiritual progress? Ego reduction. As our ego starts to become less and less, our progress in spiritual life also becomes more and more. In the beginning, the Guru may gently, sweetly suggest, but when we are stubborn and do not listen, he might scold us, he might even give beatings and the scoldings of the Guru are the greatest blessings.

=== An Incident with Swami Nirwanananda ===
I will just give a small incident. Swami Brahmananda was served by a Brahmachari called Surji. Later on, this Brahmachari became a famous Swami called Swami Nirwanananda and he also became finally Vice President of the Ramakrishna Order.

Sometimes, Swami Brahmananda used to give him slaps for no reason. But the disciple accepted with the greatest humility without reacting. Why is my Guru slapping me? Did I do something wrong? I did not do anything wrong, so he must be wrong. No, my Guru does what he likes for my own good. With that faith, many times this disciple had received slaps. But look at the result.

Before passing away, Swami Brahmananda called this disciple and said, "My child, you have served me well. I bless you that you will attain Brahmananda before your death." And it came true.

I will not elaborate on this occasion, but people were astonished to see the change that had taken place in this Swami, what he was before and what he became later on. Then everyone understood it can happen only because of the boon granted by his Guru. And the Guru granted this boon because the disciple deserved it.

If by getting a few slaps, if we can get Mukti, what we cannot achieve. Every one of us talked for that. No need to do any tapasya, any japa, tapa. Just get a few slaps and get Brahmananda. What a wonderful thing. But everybody is not Swami Brahmananda and everybody is not Swami Nirmananda.

One of the greatest functions of the Guru is ego reduction. And he does it through casually, through suggestions, through scoldings. And the more we reduce our ego, the nearer we go to God.

=== 7. Connection to Sampradaya ===
These are the functions, more or less, important functions of a Guru. And very often he also connects us with a tradition called Sampradaya. This is very important because when a person, when a Guru is an individual, we only have him to support us. But when a Guru belongs to a Sampradaya, everyone that belongs to the Sampradaya also becomes one of us and the support of that whole Sampradaya is of great help.

I will just mention in passing, anybody who has taken any order of Sri Ramakrishna, the whole order of Sri Ramakrishna becomes like a loving family to him. So Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swamiji and other direct disciples, other great Swamis, even the present Swamis, such a person is instantaneously connected to the whole order.

And he feels, "I am a member of this wonderful spiritual family." And often this helps the disciple to withstand shocks that are bound to happen in one's life, whether we are monks or householders. So this is how a Guru really helps us.

== Avoiding Guru Cult ==
But there is a point, Guru Bhakti should not degenerate into Guru cult. What does that mean? It means taking the physical body of the Guru as the object of our veneration and attention and service and only stopping at that. For many people, this is the greatest spiritual bow.

They only accept the body of the Guru. They never understand the body is only a channel, an instrument of the real Guru who is inside, who is really God flowing through that particular form. So it is natural for us because we see the physical body to be devoted to that body. But we should never ever stop there first.

Secondly, whenever we see a photo or the person also, we should not pay attention only to the body, but he who is inside the body, who is none other than God and who is universal, which means we respect every Guru. Any person who makes distinction between one's own Guru and others' Gurus, he is in a dangerous field called Guru cult.

=== The Evolution Beyond External Guru ===
Guru cult also really helps us by giving strength in the beginning. But as Swami Brahmananda used to say, in course of time, if one reverently, devotedly, with faith, regularly, with Nishtha, practises the instructions of the Guru, the one's own inner Guru becomes awakened. Inner Guru means one's own purified mind and infallibly, that mind is going to guide us in every matter from then onwards.

Once our Nishtha to Guru culminates in the awakening of the inner Guru, thereafter, we do not need to depend upon the external Guru. Whether he is present, whether he is somewhere else, whether he is dead, it doesn't really matter. The external Guru from now onwards manifests himself in the form of the inner Guru and will not leave us until we attain to the highest form, God Realisation.

== The Story of Kusum: Ultimate Guru Bhakti ==
And lastly, I wanted to just remind you the story of a great devotee, lady devotee called Kusum, who had tremendous, tremendous devotion to her Guru, Swami Subodananda, popularly known as Gokamaras, in the Ramakrishna order. And even Sri Ramakrishna, at the time of her leaving the body, was forced to come in the form of her Guru because of the excess of Guru Bhakti she had, and thereafter revealed himself, "I am not really Subodananda, Koka, I am Sri Ramakrishna." This illustrates the tremendous Guru Bhakti, what it can do, even it makes Sri Ramakrishna or God assume the form of the Guru and take us to the highest goal.

Those of you who do not know this story, can hear it from those who really know it.

== Conclusion: The Central Place of Guru in Life ==
Now, it is time for me to wrap up and say, in one's life, Guru occupies the most important place. The relationship with which we have with our Guru is the only and everlasting relationship that crosses what is called Janma Janma Antara, until we reach God.

Guru Bhakti is the only way to attain God Realisation. True Guru Bhakti is to follow devotedly, regularly, the instructions of the Guru until we reach the goal. And the reaching of the goal which is God Realisation is a true Guru Dakshina.

When we attain to God, become one with God, then Guru, Sadhaka, God, they become one. These are the some of the important points we need to remember and cultivate. Guru Bhakti, surrender to Guru, go on practising, whether we think we are progressing or not, and pray to God that Janma Janma Antara, let my Guru guide me.
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