|
 What
is a guru?
A short talk on
Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari
May 4, 1975
Translation 1976
Bill Morgan
and Pradeep Mukherjea
See
Baba's words
on the print of the brochure
See
Premanandas comments
below
This is a great day for us.
On Sunday, the 20 th of the month, Baishakh, in the year 1382 Bengal.
We sat in the courtyard Anandamayi, near her feet, and with us, 4 students
from America: Premananda, Yogananda, Nityananda, Gyanananda.
Today I'll talk a little about the meaning of the word "guru" and they
will be translated into English.
What is a guru? "
Once upon a time we had a great king, Janak.
Janak Maharshi.
He vowed: "He who can give me the knowledge of Brahma to close his eyes,
he is my guru."
This knowledge of Brahma, which can not be even after repentance for many
lives to get this knowledge edge in the wink of an eye, nothing is
impossible!
Sanak and the other sages and rishis, 60000 Grand Rishi came and sat
motionless, and the one who gives the King Janak knowledge of Brahma in
the wink of an eye become his guru.
They sat motionless and silent.
At the time, was one rishi named Ashtavakra, which was deformed.
He came, bent over, with the guru place that King Janak was prepared.
King Janak asked: "Will you be my guru?"
Ashtavakra Rishi said: "Yes, I'll be your guru."
"You give me the knowledge of Brahma in the wink of an eye?
"In fact, I'll give you that," said Rishi.
Then King Janak asked: "So, you give me a start?"
Ashtavakra Rishi replied: "Yes, I'll give you the dedication. But first
you must give me a guru-charge. Because once to be your guru, I can not
accept any payment from you. Our Vedic religion, our Hindu Sanatan Dharma
is
very strict. There is no getting around guru before you pay the teacher. "
Then Ashtavakra Rishi said: "Maharaj, there are three things that you
should give me for a guru-charge. The first is the body, mind second,
third wealth. You have to give me these things."
In the presence of 60 thousand rishis King Janak quickly and meekly gave
these gifts.
At first he gave his body, that is, the physical body.
Secondly, he gave his mind.
And third, he gave all his wealth.
By wealth, we do not mean gold , pearls, precious stones or.
Our real wealth of our eyes, ears, our tongue, our nose. "
Within this body there are great riches.
This wealth of King Janak gave without grumbling.
Accepting gifts, Ashtavakra Rishi, sitting on the seat guru said: "Tell me
now, King Janak, who will take this knowledge of Brahma? Who will receive
this knowledge of God"?
Then, Janak said: "What?"
I!
"And again he cried:" I!
"
Ashtavakra said: "What do you mean I mean?
All that you gave to me: your body, your mind, your wealth, if it is not
"I", where there is still "I"?
King Janak was deep in thought.
Then Ashtavakra Rishi said: "Maharaj, that knowledge of God, which you get
a wink of sleep, we will repeat every day, like so:
Guru Brahma, Vishnu, Guru,
Guru Deva Maheshvara,
Guru Sakshat Param Brahma
Tasmai Guruve Sri Namah.
Guru of Brahma, the guru of Bhagavan.
Bhagawan has no form, and also with the form, stands in front of us.
He gives us a mantra in the ear, or he writes it in our language.
It removes the darkness of our ignorance.
And so, in our gurus Pranam, he goes on to say:
Mot
Pranam Sri Guru Pranang,
Mot
Deha Sri Guru Mondira,
Purna
Bridge Bohir Jeno,
Tasmai
Guruve Sri Namah.
Mantra
Mulong Bakkyo Guru
Puja
Mulong Padho Guru
Dhyana
Mulong Murti Guru
Mukhya
Mulong Guru Kripa.
If the Guru gives His grace, of course, we will reach to God! "
Here there is a need for general and complete faith.
Thus, we must have faith: faith in which there are no defects and that the
so-ever.
No error at all.
There is a saying, "Faith will help you the truth, but the discussion
takes forever."
What does this mean guru?
He, in which there is no ignorance.
Agyana Timirandhasha, gyananjano sholokoya
Chokkumilitong Jeno, Tasmai Guruve Sri Namah.
Then King Janak had knowledge of Brahma in the wink of the eye.
What was it?
Guru God!
Guru Bhagavan! "
You can not get the knowledge of Brahma without the blessing of the guru
and the grace of the Guru.
Similarly, we can not see our own faces.
We need a mirror.
We see his face in the mirror.
We have to shave his beard, we see a person, or to put on Tilak, or we can
just get a good look at his face.
We can see it very well.
It is a mirror or a mirror guru's blessing.
We do not see our own faces.
We can see the face of another, but we can not see our own faces.
With the help of a mirror, we can see.
This is the first story of the "Guru Gita".
The second story today: you must accept a guru.
Why should adopt a guru?
When we sit for worship in our eternal Hindu religion, and in all
religions, this homage to the guru, or Guruve Namah.
Who?
Father.
Param Guruve Namah.
Who is it?
Mother.
Parapar Guruve Namah.
Who is he? "
Whoever gives the mantra in his ear.
Paramesti Guruve Namah.
Who?
That is Brahma, Atma.
These four gurus.
Once Rishi Narada went to the assembly of the gods.
Thirty-three crores of gods were sitting.
This Rishi Narada, that he was a devotee of God "
is always drunk with the name of God, he traveled on foot and without
cattle or a cart, over the three worlds.
When he entered the assembly of the gods, he got a small space below the
rest.
Narada Rishi sat in front of them.
All the gods were there: Indra, Vayu, Varuna, Yama, Dijopal, nine planets,
33 rupees of which sits in the glare of offering oblations of wheat the
sacred fire.
Narada Rishi, with a tinge of sadness moved in his heart, asked a great
father Brahma.
"The Great Father Brahma, I am your own child, why such a low place today?
Brahma replied, laughing, Narada, you are a big fan of God!
You always sing the name of God, but you never guru.
For this reason, your seat is so low. "
Then Narada thought: "That's true. I am not a guru-mantra. In accordance
with the order of my mother, I do repeat the name of God, but I never
received a mantra from a guru."
Then Narada Rishi promised to all the gods: "He whose face I can see the
first At dawn, I'll graciously accept him as my guru. I'll take the
beginning of it and return to the assembly of the gods. "
It was a great faith and trust in God! "
It was the practice of spontaneous devotion.
That night, Narada was fast asleep.
Early in the morning he opened the door and saw an old fisherman with a
net over his shoulder and a pole net in his hand.
When he went on his way to catch a fish, he wove his network.
Before he could even see the face of the fisherman, Narada ran up to him.
bowed at his feet, he said: "The old fisherman, you must give me a start!
You are my guru, I swore that he, whose face I saw at dawn, I will be his
graciously accept as my guru. "
The old fisherman said: "What is this? A Thakur You rishis, the greatest
of all, Rishi Narada, the great devotee of the Lord, I am only a low caste
fishermen. I catch fish, I throw the net. I
will be your guru? "Do not make a mistake. Let my feet !
But Narada would not let him down.
He said the fisherman: "Look, please, let me start.
Ryback said: "But I do not know any mantra" I never start a "What's mantra
can give you?"
"What you have in mind, give me that."
sense of the word mantra "Mon-Tel," "Mo-Tel" (Your-mind).
Regardless of the word guru says that if you have complete faith in the
word, then this word is truly the best mantra.
The fisherman thought and said: "I do not know anything. I just throw a
net over the pond, waving it around my head, singing:" Oh, Hari Bol, Hari
Bol on "This is something that
we fishermen sing when we throw the network to fishing.
Narada Rishi said calmly: "Well, give me that very one," and he bent down
to get Mantra.
Then the fisherman said: "Oh, Hari Bol!" Oh, Hari Bol! "Oh, Hari Bol!"
He said that three times and walked away.
Narada bowed to the Guru.
When he returned to the assembly of the gods, the gods may know that
Narada was a mantra from a guru.
They put in his place is very high.
Then the great father Brahma said: "Narada, sit in this high place!"
Narada asked him: "Why my place is so high today?
"Oh, now you have a guru and got the dedication, is not it? For this
reason, your site is so high. And we will all pay tribute to your guru.
Please, I beg of you gurus in the future. We all have to see how
the same Guru Rishi Narada!
Narada then thought: "This is sad!" Terrible thing!
Narada knew that he had accepted the dedication of a simple fisherman.
"I had promised, he thought," that he was the person whom I would like to
see the first morning, I would have him for my guru. "
All 33 rupees gods spoke in unison: "Please, you must bring your guru. We
all want to see him, and together to worship at his feet."
What can Narada do?
difficult situation!
He ran back to the old fisherman.
bowed to his feet, he said: "You must go with me to the assembly of the
gods!" Please climb on his back! "No animal or cart, we will travel the
three worlds!
Guru fisherman said: "Narada! Amazing thing to say! Hari Baba! You great
Rishi Narada! You faithful God You are going to piggyback me?"
The old fisherman was a bit lame, and did not want to go, but Narada would
not release him.
As Narada took him by the shoulders, so that assembly of the gods of the
ancient fisherman's all keep it clean.
And stick with which he weaved his network, he kept that as well.
From these things he went with Narada in the kingdom of heaven.
Gods waiting.
When they saw they were all amazed.
"What does this mean? Guru Narada Rishi is an old fisherman,"
Everyone stood in amazement.
They asked Narada "This is a guru, you said that taken?"
Narada then showed them the truth.
"Yesterday, I promised the gathering of the gods that he is a person whom
I would like to see when I got up this morning, I would graciously accept
him as my guru. So when I opened the door and saw the fisherman went, I
said: "This is not
a fisherman, and I took it as my guru.
So please bow down at his feet. "
Then Narada Rishi was in full Pranam shastanga to his guru.
Pranam Guru is shastanga Pranam:
holding a stone's throw from the gurus in their hands, his head goes down
in the upper leg, was lying completely prostrate.
shastanga In this position, Narada bowed to the Guru.
All 33 rupees gods moved to bow to the guru Narada Rishi.
And when they came to Pranam, what do they see?
This old fisherman fisherman! "
It was a test all of God.
And suddenly, instead forms a fisherman came Shiva himself!
He whom we call Shankar.
Triumbakam
Yajamahe Pushtivardhanam Sugandhim
Urvar
Ukamiva Bandhanan Mrityro Mukshiya Mamritat
Om
Namah Shivaya.
Shiva!
guru Narada Rishi Shiva!
What was the form of a fisherman, that was in the network, all that was
casting the net of illusion Maya.
Samsat
Jalrupen Min Rupen Manava
Janjalo
Jal Kal Dhivara Rupen Rupen.
Shiva is the god of destruction.
In a large pond in this world, he casts the net of illusion and tries to
catch his fish.
For this reason, an old fisherman net on his shoulder.
The fact that he wove was not in the network, it was:
Mahamaya
Prabhavena Samsar Sristi Karini
Mahamaya
Prabhavena Mahagotta Nipatita.
Like a spider making its web from its own saliva, and binds it together in
the same way in this illusion, the Maya, we say "I" "I".
This is my room, it's my son, he's my grandson, my wife this is my father,
this is my home, my country.
This is a "mine" Thakur Ramakrishna said: "When will I be free?" If "I"
ceases to be. "
The word "I" weaving the net of illusion.
This is the second guru story that I gave my American student, Premananda.
Meaning of the word "guru", is inexpressible.
The fact that the guru can not be understood through words or
explanations.
Therefore, in our Guru Pranam we say:
Akhanda
Mandalakaram Vyaptam Ena Chraracharam
Tatpadam
Darsitam Ena Tasmai Guruve Sri Namah.
What is a word guru?
The word guru means one who in the midst of great darkness shows us the
light, the one who removes darkness, he who lights the lamp of wisdom in
us as someone who makes us see a light Parabrahma, Paramatma, he is a guru
.
Today we talked about the place of his guru, the meaning of the guru.
Anyone who gives a mantra in his ear, and it becomes our guru, and takes
charge, and traditionally takes a fee each year, this is not the real
thing.
The real thing that the "gurus", meant One that makes one feel that the
untold truth.
Anyone who makes it a real guru.
There is a saying: "There are thousands of gurus, but the real pupil rare.
For Thakur Sri Ramakrishna, when he shouted in our holy land of India at
Dakshineswar, Naren used in the future.
His original name was "Naren."
But how many times the Naren clapped Thakur, how much abuse and reproach,
he gave.
How he would ridicule Thakur.
And yet, if Naren not show up even for one day, Thakur will suffer and
worry about it.
This is Naren, who did so much to proclaim the universal religion in
America, it name was Swami Vivekananda.
Only one student.
Thakur made a lot of students, but one of them to come?
Naren.
As in our ancient dice game "Pasha" if "it" (ripe), no one can beat you,
so that if the student has not yet matured, it has nothing to fear.
Today I gave it a spiritual reference Premananda.
This is the Bengali language, but it will be translated into English.
Guru is indescribable.
What will you give guru?
When a student first entry into apprenticeship, from this moment gift guru
completed.
After this, besides money, gold, silver?
Maya!
So what is the true gift of the guru, you know?
gift to the guru, is this: the truth which the guru has to wake up, that
the truth to elevate it.
Repeating a mantra (and that word mantra, the words "heart" or "mind"),
overhead view, the removal of impurities heart, making the mind and heart
is pure, while maintaining a belief in the practice, which was transferred
from a guru in all of this is the gift of a student makes.
If one reaches the truth, there is no need for any other thing on this
land will remain.
If you can see that the truth is, there is no desire to see any other
thing.
If you hear the truth in your ear, you no longer wish to hear anything
else.
It is ineffable!
Parabrahma or Satchidananda, Ananda Mayi Purush.
Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti.
We sit here in our Ramanathpur Ananda Ashram, near the feet of The Blessed
Mother.
At this ghat are Premananda, Yogananda, Nityananda, Gyanananda, four boys
who came running from America to reach God.
But God will not get so easily.
Yes, if every day of their zeal and seriousness to grow very large, then,
of course, they will find God will understand, Bhagavan.
But here they must have faith.
Here, I'll tell another little story.
There was once a thief, robber.
He always worked on his crime.
And he would drink wine.
And all lascivious, and indecent acts, which he felt the desire to do, he
would do.
But one day, taking a mantra from his guru, he asked his guru: "When I
reach God?"
"This is a day when you take a bath in the Ganges," said his guru, in this
day you will receive a vision of God, you will have a release. "
The robber would go every day of his theft.
How wicked murder he committed many robberies!
One day he suddenly remembered: "My guru said that if I bathe in the
Ganges, I will get the release, I get a vision of God!" The same day I I
go to bathe in Ganges.
He called all his relatives and neighbors and residents of the villages
around to watch, and he went to bathe in the Ganges.
He dived into the water and coming up he said: "My guru told me that if I
bathe in the Ganges, I get the vision of Bhagavan, the I will release. "
But he took his bath in the Ganges, he was not free, he received a vision
of God.
But it is a thief, a murderer, not to lose faith in the words of his guru.
He said: "As my guru said that, of course, true. Therefore, this river is
the Ganges!" So be it.
Lord and creator of the Ganga Narayan.
So I will go and ask Narayan ".
All friends and relatives laughed and clapped their hands: "How
ridiculous!
But the thief said: "No," my guru said. I call my guru could never be a
lie! "My guru said that if you bathe in the Ganges, I get a vision of God,
I have to release. So look
, this is not the Ganges! creator of the Ganges Narayan, so I will ask of
Narayan "!
went traveling without food, without sleep.
But Narayan could not wait.
He came forward.
Standing in front of the killer that the robber, Narayan said: "Baba,
where are you going?
"I'm going to Vaikunta. I will ask Narayan, 'This is the Ganges or not?"
My words are the guru can not be a lie. "
Then, Narayan said: "Baba, you do not have to go to Vaikunta. This Gang!"
"Then why am I not allocated?
"You are released, Baba!"
Then what? "
Suddenly, in front of a thief, but not an old man, whom he saw:
Shangkha
chakra, gada pane
Dvarika
Nilayachito
Govinda
Pundarikka
Rakkamang
sharanagoto.
"The thief, you have kept faith in the words of your guru, look!" God
conch, wheel, mace and lotus! "These four things in four hands. White,
yellow dress, flower garlands around his neck!"
Narayan thus gave him darshan
and immediately reached a thief release.
Here I finished.
Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti.
Today, around the legs Blessed Mother, sitting at her feet, I gave this
little speech to American students. |
Premananda in wrote: