Guru Gita - Part II

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The letter 'gu' refers to the disease of 'becoming' ''Samsara'' and the letter 'ru' indicates the curing of that disease. Since the teacher destroys the disease of ''Samsara'', he is called 'guru'. (] :45)

From the standpoint of this ephemeral world, the guru who ignites the flame of dispassion and indicates the higher, permanent spirituality becomes our 'Vihita guru' (the noble one). Once anesthetized by dispassion to the ups and downs of life, we are ready to be led by the 'Karana guru', the one who removes the disease of ''Samsara'' by curing the very cause (karana) of it!

In the prayer to Shri Dakshinamurti, we invoke Him as the physician who can cure the disease of 'Samsara', the endless cycle of becoming. Everybody wants to become something or someone. No one seems to be happy with the status quo. People always crave for change, for something better. A poor man wants to become rich, and the rich richer.

An illiterate person wants to become literate and the literate person wants to become a doctor! In the political field, people crave for power. A house-holder wants to become a renunciate; the renunicate wants to become the realized one. The grass is always greener on the other side.

A homeless man used to sleep at night outside the gates of an institute. In the morning he had to leave that place. He felt very envious of the watch-man, who wore a uniform and served within the premises of that institute. The watchman was envious of the receptionist who could sit inside the building, whereas he had to wait at the gate. The receptionist felt that the manager was in a better position. The manager was envious of the CEO, who in turn felt that the chairman was in a better position. In a crisis, the chairman took the wrong decision and had to resign from his post. Immediately his wife wanted to divorce him. She was only holding on to the marriage because of his status. When the chairman finally walked out of the place, he saw the homeless man and felt very envious of him!

The point is that everyone struggles to become something else. The struggle will end only when a person becomes "nothing" or becomes "everything". Then his 'Bhava roga' (the disease of becoming) will end.

But the problem is that everyone wants to become "something" or some one. The path of devotion tells us to become a zero and see God alone as everything. Then we cease to exist, and naturally the bhava roga is gone. The way out is to become Brahman, all in all, having become which there is nothing more to become. Once we realize our infinite nature, our identity with Brahman, we cease to exist as individual entities. There is no more fear of birth, death or change and in this state the guru is looked upon as the 'Parama guru', the Supreme Preceptor.

To be continued

About the author
Swami Tejomayananda

Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. He is an outstanding teacher of Vedanta and an accomplished poet, author, and composer.