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Is Enlightenment Possible Without A Guru?-Part I
What do you see in the future regarding the Guru/Disciple relationship? Do we need a Guru to attain a state of enlightenment?
To me this is a very important question at the present time. I would like to emphasize the present time. It was in the mid 80's that the spiritual relationship of guru/disciple reached its highest popularity. Since then, there have been spiritual teachers with a more Western approach such as Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Christiane Northrop, who have taken their educational credentials to approach the teacher/student relationship in a more down-to-earth environment. There are many more teachers without the educational credentials who are just as valuable but don't advertise the fact and will become popular in their own communities over the next few years.
We need to consider when the guru/disciple relationship started in order to see where it is presently and where it is going in the future. The best place to start is with the cycles of time called Yugas or Ages in the ancient Vedic texts. There are four ages or Yugas: Satya-yuga or the Golden Age, Treta-yuga, Dvapar-yuga and Kali-yuga. We are presently in Kali-yoga which is the dark age.
In Stephen Knapp's book "The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look Into The Future" , he writes on page 21-The Padma Purana (7.26.15-17) elaborates that "in Kali-yuga, which is the abode of sins, everyone is involved in sinful activities. They censure the Vedas, or spiritual truths, and engage in gambling and stealing. Brahmanas will act fraudulently for a livelihood. Everyone will be addicted to women, sex, and intoxicating liquors. They will be stealing others' wealth. Heretics and atheists will become prominent. Men will possess little luster and will be wrathful, greedy, untruthful, and be filled with jealousy, pride, anger, deceit, and malice."
According to most historians Kali-yuga started after Krishna died some 5,000 years ago. This could be the reason why the relationship between Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita is the most read spiritual book in the East. It sets the tone for how the guru/disciple relationship works in the dark age such as Kali-yuga. In such a dark age it is no wonder that there is such a need to have a teacher of light (guru) to guide humanity. With so many mosquitoes available and very few light bulbs, the guru becomes the central energy source of pure white light that could elevate others to a higher state of awareness that is almost absent in humanity as a whole. The average age in Kali-yuga is 100 years if you're lucky. In Dvapara-yuga it is 1,000 years old. In Treta-yuga it is 10,000 years old. In Satya-yuga you could live to be 100,000 years old in perfect health.
To
write
about
each
yuga
in
detail
would
be
lengthy.
I
recommend
Stephen
Knapp's
book
mentioned
earlier
for
detailed
information
regarding
the
subject
of
yugas.
It
is
obvious
from
my
description
of
Kali-yuga
that
a
teacher
of
enlightenment
is
needed
and
very
rare
in
this
dark
age.
However,
I
am
always
happy
to
mention
the
light
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel.
According
to
most
authors
who
are
experts
on
the
subject
of
yugas,
we
are
entering
a
sub-period
of
Satya-yuga
which
will
last
10,000
years.
According
to
Maharishi
Mahesh
Yogi
who
is
the
founder
of
the
TM
organization,
we
have
entered
this
sub-period
in
July
of
2005.
Guru
purnama
is
a
yearly
celebration
of
the
guru
every
July
on
the
full
moon.
The
full
moon
in
July
of
2005
according
to
Maharishi
is
the
start
of
the
10,000
year
cycle
of
a
sub-period
of
Satya-yuga
in
the
Kali-yuga
age
we
are
presently
in.
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