In the various posts to date on illusion we have now examined that what ever we perceive is erroneous, our understanding of happiness itself is illusory, our desires and thoughts are also illusory. In fact everything that appears is illusory, as it continually changes and has infinite possibilities. So the question arises, how do we navigate through this illusion, especially if all that appears is not as it seems and is impermanent ?.
We often hear people
talk about teachers, mentors, guides, gurus, masters and divine beings as
beings that can help navigate through the illusion.
Are they all different
names for teachers or guides ?
No, in fact these are
all different roles suitable in different situations.
So what is the
difference ?
Colloquially speaking
people use these terms interchangeably, however usually a teacher is associated
with teaching a certain skillset, or a certain technique. These skillsets are
usually measurable and have a defined outcome. Examples include studying at
school or for a vocation or at university, etc.
A guide or a mentor is
a more loosely defined coaching setup for guidance or advisory purposes only. Usually a
mentor has achieved what the mentee is looking to achieve and the mentor
provides coaching and guidance based on their experiences.
The actual definition of a guru is someone
who takes a person from darkness to light. Colloquially speaking it implies
someone who has mastered a discipline or a field. However in the context of
spirituality it is someone who helps a person realise their true self. The term
master is also sometimes interchangeably used with a guru. Usually gurus and
masters deal with non-physical, non mental realms of practice and are less focussed
on teaching skills or techniques as an end goal, but more as a stepping stone
to help a being realise their true self.
How can I find a guru
or a master that can make me realise my true nature ?
Normally one goes and
looks for a teacher, a guide or a mentor based on their expertise,
qualifications, experience and reputation. However all such measures fail when
searching for a guru or a master, because the true worth of guru can not be
comprehended by the intellect of a normal person or a seeker.
So how can I find the
right guru ?
You don't find the
right guru, the right guru always finds you when you are ready. This may sound
very illogical, however this has been the experience of countless seekers and
gurus and masters themselves. When the time is right, the seeker is ready, the
right guru, the right path will unfold. All that is required is an open mind
from the seeker, with a strong desire to find the truth or find the self and
the right guru will appear.
How do I know I have found the right guru ?
There are some signs that a seeker can observe such as (this is not a complete list) -
- The guru is found as a result of a coincident, but rarely as a result of personal effort.
- The true guru / master will always urge a seeker to trust their direct experience and discourage a seeker to blindly follow them or anyone.
- In a seeker's journey with the guru, a number of coincidental situations will arise or some call it miracles begin to occur. Examples include when you have questions, doubts or confusion, without prompting, the guru will provide you answers, what you need will begin to happen (not what you desire).
- As the seeker evolves, they do not need to speak or ask and the path starts unfolding, people appear in their lives that help the seeker on their journey. No effort is required on behalf of the seeker other than following the directions of a guru.
- There comes a point that the seeker may feel that the guru is consorting with the entire universe to help the seeker evolve. This is a beautiful experience, but will occur at a stage where the seeker has achieved a sufficient level of surrender.
Who is guiding the guru
to find the seeker ?
A seeker seeks a guru for guidance, similarly a guru may seek his / her guru for their own guidance and a universal intelligence, sometimes referred to as the Gurufield or the divine intelligence. Gurus that have realised their true nature have already established this connection with the universal intelligence and as such their every action is being guided by this intelligence. This intelligence is continually guiding the gurus and the seekers to come together.
Once a seeker has found their guru, they may continue to be with their guru, till they have realised their true nature or the work of the guru is complete. In this process a guru may introduce the seeker to the universal intelligence so that
continual guidance from the guru is not required.
What is this universal
intelligence and why can't I access it directly instead of looking for a guru first ?
The universal
intelligence is the intelligence that pervades across all beings, is infinite and is
the intelligence within which all masters, gurus and beings, past, present and
future emanate from and dissolve. It is the source of all knowledge that has been and can ever
be conceived.
This universal
intelligence can be accessed by anyone and everyone, however the body mind
structure requires a certain level of purity to be able to access and
understand this intelligence. This purification process as well as the removal of ignorance is
what a guru will assist a seeker with so the seeker realises their true nature and can comprehend this intelligence.
Another way of looking at this is that most people are so identified with their body mind structure and their egoic identity that they cannot perceive anything but from this egoic perspective. To connect to the universal intelligence, a seeker needs to override the egoic identity and replace it with surrender. This almost always requires intervention and guidance from a guru or a master.
Kabir Das a 15th century Indian mystic and saint summed this up in one of his poems.
Guru Govind dou khade, kake lagoon paay,
Balihari guru aapno, Govind diyo batay
It means that if a guru and the divine are standing in front of you, who should one bow to first. One should first bow to the guru who shows the way to the divine, or in other words without guru access to the divine is not possible.
How do I know that I have access to the universal intelligence ?
To access the gurufield or the universal intelligence, the seeker needs to be in a state of selfless surrender, which is also called the state of presence or being. This is the natural state, no effort is required to be in this state, however lifetimes of conditioning and ignorance has hidden this state under the egoic identity. When you are in this state of being, the egoic identity disappears and instead the being then becomes an instrument of the universal intelligence. A clear indication of this connection is when a seeker reflects on their actions later on in this state, they are amazed at what they said, what they did as something beyond their own intelligence. It is as if a greater power took control of their body mind structure and said or did things that later appear to be impossible for the body mind structure or the egoic identity to comprehend. These are just some pointers, given seekers can often imagine this connection, as the egoic identity can be very strong in some, hence it is best to first find a guru who can guide a seeker through this process or make the connection.
Can I have multiple gurus at the same time ?
Technically there is
nothing stopping one from having multiple gurus at the same time, however lets
examine this in more detail. This question originates from the view point that
you can have multiple teachers at the same time teaching you multiple topics as
it is in the school, so it should be possible to have multiple gurus at the
same time. However the difference as we have seen is that a teacher is teaching
different skills and as long as the skills do not overlap, it does not matter.
For example you can be learning tennis, cricket, swimming all from different
teachers, there is no issue as the skills trained for, largely, do not overlap.
But if you went to two different teachers to learn cricket and they give you
conflicting advice, then there will be confusion. Similarly following directions from multiple gurus at
the same time will only result in confusion, when there is conflicting advice.
Even when the spiritual path followed is different, there will be conflict, as
the goal on all the spiritual paths is the same.
Can a guru make me
realise my true nature ?
No, no one can make you
realise who you already are. But a guru can help you remove the ignorance that
is covering up your true nature. A guru can point you to the knowledge or to
your true nature, but the realisation of the self only occurs through removal
of ignorance and contemplation on the essential knowledge. The guru is like the
sun that is always shining, but it is for the seeker to seek the light of the
sun and remove the ignorance.
What is the best way to
seek a gurus guidance ?
A guru's grace is
always shining like the sun, however to tap into it a seeker needs to approach
the guru with an open mind with complete surrender. In this state the seeker
becomes the most receptive to the guru's guidance.
Does that mean I must
blindly follow what a guru says ?
No not really. One must
still question what the guru says and use their own intellect and
discrimination to incorporate what the guru says into a seeker's life. For
example, in a group setting, the guru might stress the importance of practices
to cultivate prolonged states of attention, however a seeker has to understand
that this is a generic advice to beginners and a more targeted advice is
required based on an individual interaction with the guru for the seeker. So
everything that the guru is saying must be assessed, evaluated and then
applied. On the other hand though, questioning everything that the guru says is
the other extreme and detrimental to one's spiritual progress.
So how can I strike the
right balance ?
Firstly there should be
a strong level of trust between the seeker and the guru. This trust is
fundamental to receiving and benefitting from the guru's guidance. To establish
this trust initially, a seeker may need to ask a number of questions and
discriminate everything that the guru says, but once a level of basic trust is
developed, the right balance is automatically found. It is very important to remember that
developing trust or even respecting the guru is not the same as worshipping a
guru. In fact quite the opposite, one of the worst things a seeker can do is
start worshipping a guru and treat everything that is said by the guru as
gospel. When this happens, the context, the intent, the audience and
applicability of the message from the guru is lost and replaced with blind
faith. This can lead to errors in adopting a guru's message meant for other
seeker(s) causing confusion.