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 No matter who you are or what you do in life you can benefit from a Guru when you are travelling on the spiritual path. We all begin as lost wanderers in the ocean of life. We seek purpose and fulfillment. We accumulate karmas, which are binding. Until the karmas are exhausted, our soul endlessly goes through the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It can be never ending, without proper guidance, without Divine guidance. On our own we seek fulfillment in wealth, in status, in relationships, but ultimately we must realize the illusory quality of these pursuits. It is only through a Guru, through Divine guidance, that we find true purpose and true fulfillment.
Volumes have been written and lectures have been orated-- all trying capturing the essence of the Guru-Disciple relationship. Some of the major lessons are explained and some of the divine subtleties are acknowledged. However it is only through experience that one will ever appreciate the true greatness of this relationship. This is undoubtedly the most unique relationship one will have in their life. It is Divine, it is selfless, it comes from a place of love that transcends the world as we understand it and holds only the disciple’s spiritual evolution foremost.
A spiritual seeker needs a true Guru more than any practice or sadhana, more than any prayer, more than any temple. It is only with the Guru’s Grace that great spiritual growth occurs. Along the path to liberation there are countless pitfalls. They may come from external sources, but more dangerous than that, they come from the play of the mind and of the ego. The two biggest enemies to self-realization are constantly present. These challenges can create complete disillusionment within a seeker trying to control them on his own. However, the presence of a Guru sheds light on these hazards. The Guru takes on the role of making the disciple see the pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Relationship with the Guru can be in different forms. It can vary from being in the presence of the Guru occassionally to being with the Guru at all times. It can range from following a very small part of the teachings or practices to doing the practices all the time. It can vary from offering seva occassionally to offering seva at all times, and this seva can be in any form.
No matter what kind of relationship you have, the presence of the Guru in your life clears the obstacles on the spiritual path. the Guru's grace is always there upon all the people who are connected with them. It is totally up to the individual to figure out the relationship that best suits them. This relationship is a bond of love and trust more than anything else. The hardest criticism to receive is always about the self and the hardest place to look is into our own reflection. The Guru becomes the mirror and shows us the love and light that has always existed in one’s reflection. The Guru is the Self. Gracefully, the student is shown his self-destructive tendencies and the righteous path. For these teachings to be bestowed and received correctly they can only come from the heart.
Those who are ready can take a full time discipleship with the Guru. It is a Divine bond, and should be done only once, with a true teacher. This ceremonially occurs with the disciple giving a plate to the Guru. This plate and all its contents are representative of every aspect of the disciple’s being. It is a total surrender. It is surrender to the Divine; it is surrender to the true Self. When this happens, the Guru lives for the disciple and the disciple lives for the Guru. The Guru takes on the responsibility of their disciple’s spiritual growth and uplifts the karmas of the disciple. The disciple becomes responsible to care for the Guru and must honor the relationship with love and loyalty. The disciple must understand that even if a situation seems challenging that ultimately there is Divine healing being done, beneath the surface, and the light of one's Self will be revealed. However, this kind of full time discipleship is not for everybody. When the need for such relationship occurs in the spiritual path of the individual, the Divine grace will allow it happen naturally.
The Guru may come in a physical body; they may appear in an astral form or energetic expression there may even be different Gurus for different stages of one’s life. But the one constant is always that the Guru directs the disciple from within. The disciple embarks on a life of contemplation on the Divine and the Guru removes the sheaths of darkness for the disciple. A Guru teaches the disciple to experience the Divine. Ultimately, a disciple experiences that the Divine is within one and within all.
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