Moksha mulam guroh kripa

The root of liberation is the Guru’s grace

There’s a saying in India, “You must cherish four things in your life, first the guru, then your parents, next your spouse and children and finally your nation”. Unfortunately we seem to have reversed this in the West, nationalism appears to be first and the guru has been relegated to way down the line. The word guru means to dispel the darkness of ignorance so when the guru is missing from our lives, the dark forces of ignorance, fear and anger fill our society.

Swami Muktananda said, “Realization of God is only possible through a guru. Until the Kundalini Shakti is awakened by the guru’s grace, our inner light does not shine, the inner eye of Divine knowledge does not open and our state of bondage cannot be lifted. A true guru awakens the inner Shakti of the disciple and makes him or her revel in the bliss of the Self”.

Unfortunately the word guru has been much misused in the West and its true meaning is often misunderstood. For some it’s become just another way of making a living but there’s a vast difference between an ordinary human teacher and a guru. The guru is the thread that leads us to God. The true guru sees all followers as his or her children, feeding them, sheltering them, teaching them and asking nothing in return. The true guru doesn’t take the role lightly. The guru is not an ordinary person, the guru is a fully realized, Divine descendent of Parabrahma. It’s impossible for us to understand the magnitude of a guru intellectually

A true guru doesn’t take our wealth, only our ignorance. He/she doesn’t demand anything, just keeps giving. The guru doesn’t even ask that we love him/her, only that we never doubt that he/she loves us. It’s a huge responsibility. The guru takes us on for life, for eternity, no matter where we go or what we do. We can run and hide but the guru will never desert us. The guru will always be waiting to stroke our heads, dry our tears, to welcome us home, to share our karma. Just as a rich man loses some money when he pays off a large debt for his prodigal son, who is thus saved from the consequences of his folly, the guru repeatedly sacrifices his/her physical wealth to lighten our miseries. Our gratitude should know no limits.

The guru cannot enlighten us, rather he/she creates the sacred space where our awakening can happen. Looking within we’ll discover him/her in our minds, our hearts, our very Being. We should never think that we are insignificant, lost or unworthy in any way, we are all magnificent, Divine, perfect beings. when we have the love of a great guru, with his/her Grace we will all realize our true Self, our enlightenment, in this life. Giving thanks for this greatest of blessings,

Om Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnur, Gurur Devo Maheshwara

Guru Sakshat Param Brahma, Tasmi Shri Guruve Namaha