Let
there be peace and love among all beings of the universe. OM
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
"Continuously
enquire and seek alone that Grace in the
Heart."
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HE Guru,
the benefactor of true, direct knowledge, who truly
shines as the Self that possesses unlimited
splendour, is the primal silence that puts to
flight the perverse arguments that arise through
the persistent stain of infatuation with the
world.
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The
Guru is the being-consciousness that shines,
abiding as all in all.
As the inner and the outer, as "I" and "this", as
this world and the next, pervading all as the
boundless radiance of consciousness, the Guru is
the unmoving support, the jewel-like lamp that
shines effortlessly in the Hearts of true
disciples.
Following the destruction of the "I am the body"
idea, whatever body it may be, the radiance of
being endures free of limitation, without any
bondage, shining as the pure expanse. Dwelling in
the Hearts of all individuated beings as
attribute-free knowledge, as wholly the Self, and
as non-distinct from them, this radiance of being
abides as the all-encompassing Supreme Power.
Regard only Him who possesses the rare attribute of
radiating that Supreme Power as the Sadguru
[great master] who has the enormous power
to merge, through his causeless sweet Grace, any
individual self that comes to Him with genuine love
into the non-dual embodiment of the Absolute
Supreme, whose nature is attribute-free
consciousness.
It is the very nature of the Self-consciousness to
shine as "I-I". This form of natural Awareness that
remains forever as the Soul of the soul in the
Heart is the inner meaning of the statement that
Reality, the Self which Itself becomes the Guru,
unceasingly and directly transmits spiritual
guidance to the true disciples, the mature
souls.
The manner in which the Guru sits majestically in
state on the Heart-throne of his disciples whom he
has taken up, destroying their egos, is lofty like
a mountain, splendid and glorious. Those who have
experienced this do not talk about it. Those who
talk about it have not experienced it. The abundant
utterances of those who have realised the Truth,
which are sacred like the Vedas, bear
witness to this.
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THE
GURU
IS
THE
POWER
OF
THE
SELF
WITHIN
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The
Guru is the being-consciousness that shines,
abiding as all in all.
As the inner and the outer, as "I" and "this", as
this world and the next, pervading all as the
boundless radiance of consciousness, the Guru is
the unmoving support, the jewel-like lamp that
shines effortlessly in the Hearts of true
disciples.
Following the destruction of the "I am the body"
idea, whatever body it may be, the radiance of
being endures free of limitation, without any
bondage, shining as the pure expanse. Dwelling in
the Hearts of all individuated beings as
attribute-free knowledge, as wholly the Self, and
as non-distinct from them, this radiance of being
abides as the all-encompassing Supreme Power.
Regard only Him who possesses the rare attribute of
radiating that Supreme Power as the Sadguru
[great master] who has the enormous power
to merge, through his causeless sweet Grace, any
individual self that comes to Him with genuine love
into the non-dual embodiment of the Absolute
Supreme, whose nature is attribute-free
consciousness.
It is the very nature of the Self-consciousness to
shine as "I-I". This form of natural Awareness that
remains forever as the Soul of the soul in the
Heart is the inner meaning of the statement that
Reality, the Self which Itself becomes the Guru,
unceasingly and directly transmits spiritual
guidance to the true disciples, the mature
souls.
The manner in which the Guru sits majestically in
state on the Heart-throne of his disciples whom he
has taken up, destroying their egos, is lofty like
a mountain, splendid and glorious. Those who have
experienced this do not talk about it. Those who
talk about it have not experienced it. The abundant
utterances of those who have realised the Truth,
which are sacred like the Vedas, bear
witness to this.
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THE
NECESSITY
OF
THE
PHYSICAL
GURU
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An external Guru
is needed because the desire-filled, infatuated
mind rushes out without listening with love to the
Truth unceasingly proclaimed in the Heart by the
Self, being-consciousness.
One may have acquired all the virtues and renounced
all the vices; one may have renounced totally all
one's relationships and have no attachment; one may
have completely performed all the many penances
enjoined upon the virtuous by the scriptures; but
however great one may be by virtue of one's
intellect and accomplishments, will one attain the
experience, the state of Oneness that is wholly
bliss, until one obtains, as a result of
meritorious action, the good fortune of seeing the
jnana Guru [one who grants true
knowledge]?
For those who are suffering from worldly existence
– to which they are yoked by the twin actions
of good and evil that arise through ignorance, the
powerful dense delusion – the devotion and
longing they feel for the Grace of the Guru, who
has taken responsibility for them, is alone the
medicine for dispelling their mental anguish.
It is impossible to experience the marvellous dance
of true knowledge in the Heart unless the antics of
the unbridled monkey-mind cease through the
Grace-power of the valiant One who wields the
divinely granted sword of true knowledge, He who
has already cut off and brought down his own mind
demon.
Those who have realised the Truth are alone the
possessors of faultless virtues. Apart from these,
everyone else is only base of nature. Hence, he who
longs for the fortune of liberation must redeem
himself only by resorting to those aforementioned
meritorious ones who shine as Reality through the
knowledge of Reality that is devoid of the
world-delusion.
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Peace of mind,
shanti, which is desired by everyone, is not
attained by anyone, anywhere, through any means,
except through the Grace of the Guru. Therefore,
those who want peace should continuously enquire
and seek alone that Grace in the Heart, with their
whole mind.
The blessed Grace of the Supreme, who has the
eightfold form, will be impossible to secure except
through the Grace of the Guru. It will not come
through learning or through any other means, but it
will spontaneously arise through devotion.
Those of perfect and mature wisdom will declare:
Reality, the consummation of knowledge that shines
in the perfectly pure state of still silence, the
hard-to-attain vedantic experience, will, through
the Guru's Grace, spontaneously flare up and shine
as "I-I" within the Heart.
Unless we first obtain the Divine Grace of a Guru,
a liberated one in whose perspective the
triputi-differences [seer-seeing-seen and
knower-knowing-known] have ended and who shines
as the undivided and single essence, it will be
impossible to obtain the life of liberation and
live illustriously under the shade of Reality's
twin feet, a life that is all bliss and the
ultimate of all benefits.
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If you want to
attain liberation and redeem yourself by cutting
asunder with the sword of true knowledge the false
ignorance that has strongly bound you in the form
of an individual self, let your mind spring up
immediately with surging love and, without wasting
a moment of your life, meditate constantly upon the
golden lotus-like feet of the Reality who, in the
form of the Guru, has taken you into his fold.
By taking the Sadguru as one's sole refuge, one
should know, through His Grace, that the cause of
the continuous and distressing confusion that
nurtures births is the fragmented mind which
regards itself as different from Reality. One
should also learn from Him the means for ending the
fragmented mind and, adopting that means, one
should steadfastly unite with the Self, the
ego-free natural state of being, and abide in still
silence. This alone bestows eminence.
This state of being the best among the noble
disciples is this: a constancy of mind whence
gushes forth the feeling of Supreme devotion that
manifests when the "I" is lost in the radiance of
the state of still silence, the Supreme. Know and
keep in your mind that this is itself the state of
being the Guru.
Meditating in the way that one ought to meditate on
the sweet and ineffable Grace of the Supreme Guru,
and remaining still without getting caught in
illusion, the unreal and deceptive panorama that
appears in front of us – this alone is
bliss.
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TRUE
GURUS
AND
FALSE
GURUS
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The Guru who
instructs the disciple, who has taken complete
refuge in Him, by giving one more prescription for
action, instead of directing him towards knowledge,
and who leads him into activities, saying "These
should be done", is for the disciple equivalent to
the coming of cruel Yama and Brahma, the gods of
Death and Birth. Only He who consummates disciples,
transforming them into those who have done all that
needs to be done, enabling them to attain the true
benefit of this birth, is the Grace-bestowing,
Divine Guru.
Know that the Heart-directed conduct in which one
steadfastly holds onto true knowledge in the way
one has been taught, and abiding there firmly as
being-consciousness, without letting the mind stray
towards the ignoble sense objects, is alone the
true teaching of the Guru.
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Since his glance
transforms the rusty iron that is the individual
self into the gold that is the taint-free, pure
Awareness, the Grace-bestowing eyes of the Guru
Lord are the potent alchemical substance that
transforms by a mere glance. Therefore, search
thoroughly to eradicate your impurity, and worship
Him to attain His glance.
With His twin eyes the Guru will instantaneously
kill without killing the one who came into
existence without actually existing in such a way
that "that which is not" vanishes as "that which is
not", leaving that which exists as the
transcendental light shining as "that which
is".
The Guru abides as the silent benefactor and
reveals the light that shines, remaining as the one
and only enduring residue. If His eyes and the eyes
of the disciple meet in total harmony, spoken words
are redundant.
Beyond the reach of both mind and speech is the
glory of those who have the good fortune, earned
through past austerities, of becoming the target of
the Grace-bestowing glance of the Guru, He who has
ripened into the embodiment of the Absolute Supreme
through the excellence of the matchless experience
of true knowledge, the Self.
Those who, through rare, intense and surging
devotion exist by trusting solely in the Guru's
piercing glance of Grace will live in this world
like Indra, the King of the gods. There will be no
suffering for them.
The jnana Guru actually abides as both the Self and
the real form of the absolute Reality within the
hearts of disciples, although in their externalised
view He appears and moves around as if He is
different from them. True knowledge will not dawn
for anyone who has not experienced directly,
through investigation in the Heart, the essence of
this instruction "You are That", which the Guru
silently and unceasingly conveys to his disciples
through the language of His gaze.
Like a deer caught in the jaws of a tiger, those
who are trapped by the Sadguru's
knowledge-bestowing glance of Grace will never be
abandoned. Rather, they are destined to lose their
individuality, their restricted nature, and attain
liberation.
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WORSHIPPING
THE
FEET
OF
THE
GURU
|
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For those who
possess the quality of habitually meditating upon
the feet of the Guru, the blazing flame of flawless
true knowledge, their devotion, dispelling their
suffering, will elicit the Grace of that Supreme
One. Through that Grace their minds will become
clear and they will attain true knowledge.
For those who have the good fortune of living a
life in which they take the feet of the Guru, the
Supreme, as the sole target of their attention, a
longing to merge with Reality will flourish. That
true devotion will itself become the fire of
knowledge that will scorch to destruction the
desires for the false, the non-Self.
As worship of the feet of the Guru simultaneously
destroys the twin desires [vasanas]
accumulated over endless eons, and as it brings
forth in the Heart the dawn of knowledge that is
the cause for our being unafraid of indescribable
ignorance, that worship, performed with devotion
and reverence, alone is the befitting true mantra
for noble disciples in whom dispassion is
strong.
One may, through body speech and mind, perform,
without leaving any out, all the possible varieties
of worship to the jnana Guru, He who is the walking
Supreme Reality who has accepted with delight the
disciple. However, for the disciple, losing the
idea that he exists as a distinct entity, separate
from that Guru who shines as the Soul of his soul,
completely dissolving, like ice in water, his
individuality in His [the Guru's] Supreme
Self, and becoming one with Him as love alone
– this is the perfect and complete worship
that he should perform.
The mind that has settled in the radiance of the
feet of the Guru, who is limitless knowledge,
effulgent like the sun, does not merge in the
triple differences that are an imaginary appearance
in Guru-consciousness.
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Bear in mind that
the true worship to the jnana Guru is only the
Self-abidance in which the desire-free silence
surges once the disciple-consciousness that
proclaimed itself as "I" is destroyed by the raging
fire of the consciousness of the jnana Guru, He who
is Reality himself.
The true worship performed to the Guru by worthy
disciples is the complete destruction of the false
disciple-consciousness brought about by firm
abidance in the state of Self-consciousness, the
experience of perfection that arises through the
Heartward enquiry, "Who is the "I" who has been
accepted as a disciple?"
Know clearly that the excellent conduct wherein the
ego-mind does not rise in the all-pervading Supreme
firmament, the sun of true knowledge that shines as
the real nature of the Guru, constitutes the only
worship worthy of being performed to the Guru
Lord.
When the ice of the ego-consciousness that is
limited to the form of the body melts into the
ocean of Guru-consciousness, the expanse of the
Self that exists and shines as the one savour of
love, know that this is Guru puja.
The polluting ego-view causes the fullness of the
Guru, which knows no lack, to be limited. Only the
behaviour in which this does not appear is the
shining worship to the Guru who stands out like a
mountain in a plain.
After surrendering one's body and possessions to
the jnana Guru, to regard the body as "I" and the
possessions as "mine" is to commit the sin of
stealing back what has been given away as a gift.
You should know that avoiding this fault is the
authentic worship of the Sadguru.
To destroy the form of the mind, enquire into the
ego, the delusion, and enter the Heart. This indeed
is the worship to the lotus feet of the Guru's holy
form who abides in the still silence that is beyond
the mind.
Like a cataract upon the eye, the ego-view plays
tricks on us, masquerading as being-consciousness
even as it moves about in the insentient body. To
prevent its formation and growth is worship to the
graceful twin lotus feet of the Guru who exists and
shines as the transcendental firmament.
Abandoning the protection of the feet of the Guru
Lord, who has extinguished the burning fires of the
triple miseries [tapatraya], the ego
suffers, seeking water in the scorching mirage of
the perceived sense objects. When this mischief of
the ego is stilled and one becomes established at
those feet, that indeed is the worship to be
performed to the twin lotus feet of the pure
One.
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