|| Shri Hari ||

A True Guru is Rare

Swami Ramsukhdas

|| Shri Hari ||

A True Guru is Rare

Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva

tvameva bandhuscha sakha tvameva |

tvameva vidyaa dravinam tvameva

tvameva sarvam mama devadeva ||

Swami Ramsukhdas

|| Shri Hari ||

A True Guru is Rare

‘There are many Gurus who snatch the wealth of their disciples, but a Guru who can relieve the disciple of the burning sensation of his heart is rare to find.’

The Gita talks about the persons who remain engrossed in the welfare of all beings - ‘Sarva Bhootahite Rataah’ (Gita 5/25, 12/4).

The true saints always looks towards the interest of all beings, and they do not attract persons towards themselves. They neither make any disciples, nor make their own sects, nor do they accept any offerings. They always think about the well-being and salvation of others - and that too, not only for their own disciples, but for all the living beings. Their prayer to God is that all beings should be happy, they should be free from diseases, there should be welfare of all and no one should ever suffer in the least -

Sarve Bhavantu sukhinah, Sarve santu niraamayaahaa

Sarve bhadraan paschyantu, maa kaschid dukh bhagbhavet.

The reason being that they have themselves experienced and realized that there is so much suffering in the world and for an everlasting happiness, it is essential to sacrifice the pleasures of the world. They want that everyone should be free from the worldly pains and experience the highest form of happiness till eternity.

Nowadays, it is rare to find genuine saints and sages. They were rare even in the past, but specially at present, they are even rarer to find. Today it is a profession to be a Guru. They initiated disciples to earn their own livelihood, to impose their own beliefs and systems, to encourage their praise and fame and to serve their own self-interest. The disciples have also developed the same feeling of self-interest nowadays.

Guru lobhi, sisya laalachi, donon khele daav |

Dono dooba ‘paras Ram’, baith patthar ki naav ||

It is the time for everything artificial - be it Brahmana, or a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, a Shudra, hermits, housholders, celibates, sages etc., all are fake. Even vegetables, flowers, spices, milk etc., are adulterated, so even Gurus are frauds.

Mithyarambha dambha rat joyi | Ta kahun sant kahayi sab koyi ||

Niraachaar jo skhurti path tyaagi | Kaliyug soyi gyaani so biraagi ||

(Manas, Uttar. 98/2, 4)

It is not enough to be a "sadhu" to attain salvation. I have seen this by being a "sadhu" myself. Therefore for one's welfare (salvation), one should not get bonded with any particular human beings, not even to a Guru.

In reality, bliss, liberation, divine wisdom, and attainment of God are not dependent on a Guru. If without a Guru, there is no knowledge of the self, then how would the first Guru in the world have attained wisdom ? Thus, it proves that a human being realizes eternal truth only by the grace of the Almighty God. But nowadays, it has become a common belief that it is pre-requisite to become a disciple, to accept the principle of the Guru and then only the Guru would guide. In such a situation, the disciple suffers a lot because he does not get proper guidance and benefit, his internal ignorance does not vanish, and he becomes so helpless that he can’t go somewhere else for proper guidance. If someone seeks my opinion, I would say, ‘Attend spiritual discourse, take as much advantage as possible, but do not have a Guru. From wherever you gain something good, accept it and if there is no benefit in it, move on. You should get stuck to a Guru.’

The way a greedy bee sucks the honey from flower to flower, similarly, a keen seeker of knowledge should go from one Guru to another.’

I wonder what be the state of a person after having a Guru. I have met people who made good Gurus from their view-point, but later, they lost their reverence for them. Therefore, a person who wants to attain salvation, should not get attached to anyone. A person who himself is caught in the worldly affairs and is incapable of attaining salvation himself, how would he be able to lead the disciple to salvation ?

It is really difficult to find a genuine Guru nowadays, the one with perfect knowledge of the self. So, how would he be able to impart it to his disciple? Such Gurus were rare earlier also as we are not satisfied by reading the books authored by them. The Gurus of a high stature are those who don’t insist on their own ideologies like duality or non-duality etc. This is why it is essential for a striver (devotee) to be completely dedicated to God, to be one with God as He is the One Who is perfect and not any particular person. If we move towards God, He would bless us with Yoga, Knowledge and Devotion.*