Common question that many Devotees have is how to know who is the real Guru so they can surrender. Guru is the one who removes darkness within us. This darkness can have many shades namely- lack of knowledge, lack of peace, family troubles, lack of Divinity etc. If we want to learn a skill, knowledge, yoga etc in order to earn bread-and-butter, especially when there’s mandatory exchange of commodity like money, we can call them Teacher/Acharya but in India we use word Guru out of respect. This is one of main reasons for confusion since surrender to Guru that we hear in biographies of oriental Saints of past is not applicable here. Difference in semantics between the former and latter is akin to difference in gravity of word ‘thirsty’ between a one roaming in Downtown and one stranded in Desert. When thirsty in a desert with no water source nearby and just found an Oasis, we accept whatever water it has without questions as its about survival while the one in downtown can pick flavored water of their choice from nearby store within few mins.
Adding to this confusion are the innumerable pseudo-Gurus post Industrial revolution period, both in West and East in almost equal measures. Many confuse those possessing siddhis (super natural powers) to be gurus. Surely they’re if siddhis is what the pupil wants to achieve. As examples galore in history, siddhis just like money and power are expendable and can’t remove our innate darkness permanently. One who can eradicate ignorance arising out of illusory world is what scriptures proclaim as real Guru who are worth our unconditional surrender. Just like an Oasis in desert doesn’t need advertisements, one shall find their real Guru when it’s time even if they’re illiterate and can’t use computer to search for one. And when that happens, there’s no scope for doubts. Only about 0.001 % of seekers need such a Guru in their last birth, as mentioned by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. As for the rest, they are still not sure if all they want is realizing Self without any mundane benefits attached.
For majority of spiritual seekers, it’s sufficient to surrender to God to the best of their ability by keeping-up with sadhana daily while fulfilling family responsibilities as a Karma-yogi. As long as we’re in driver seat, troubles are abound as our decisions gets clouded by natural biases bringing us back to square-one every-time we want to change. Let God be your chauffeur by starting and ending the day with God and, in-between keep mantra ringing in your inner ear to help stay in tune with Divinity and not get carried away by the charms or scares of this creation.
~ Swamiji
Pranam Guruji… this is very thought provoking… Sometimes it looks like we are caught in a vicious circle… past karma leading to samskaras leading to more karma …. I wish there was a definite formula to burn past karmas… in bulk!! … May be mantra sadhana does it… but I will not know,,,, only God and Guru knows! or probably they are same…
Thank you Swami ji… the last para helps us focus and keep moving in our direction, with a sense of responsibility with vairagya. Thank you for these mile stones time namaste again. Shri Matre Namah
shree guruve namah
shri maatre namah
Sri Gurubhyo Namah, such beautiful words of wisdom, made me emotional…thank you!
Thank you guruji. The part on pseudo gurus and search for real guru is so relatable to me..I wonder if someone can still pursue material aspects being karma yogi or that constitutes as ignorance