We continue to explore the fascinating subject of Guru. Of being able to see Guru not as an individual but as a power, a Tattwa, a Principle in creation that helps us to move from bondage to liberation, from darkness to light. Each day we have been exploring how this Principle can help us in our own lives if we are able to recognize it and to use it powerfully.
Today my focus will be on the physical instrument that expresses Guru Tattwa; we call such beings “Gurus”. There are different kinds of Gurus that can help us in different ways, each one is important. The Guru Gita speaks about different kinds of Gurus and also about those Gurus who teach us lower forms of knowledge, the forms that are involved in deception and illusion (there is a name for those kinds of Gurus). Also it tells us that amongst those who uplift us, there are different kinds of Gurus. This has been a particular fascination of mine, during my spiritual journey - the manifestation of the Guru Tattwa or the Guru Principle in human beings.
I had read so many books, I had so many ideas in my mind; I read all about love, about peace, and about mystical power, about mind control and the subjects were fascinating. However I realized the limitation of books, you can have all the grand ideas, you can read all the wonderful ideas, you can read of all the wonderful techniques in detail, even memorize them and know them fully and still you are inner being may be empty or in darkness. A lot of people go through this. This is what happened to me, I tried everything I knew around me – exercises, devotional things, but somehow there was an emptiness inside of me.
The Impulse of Energy from Guru Tattwa
Then I read a book from a beautiful Swami teacher and he gave me a small clue that really helped me on my journey; he inspired in me the fascination of Guru Tattwa in human beings. The essence of what he said is “no philosophy, no ritual can take you to that place, but if you meet a human being who has experienced Guru Tattwa to the fullest, the impulse energy from that person (today we know it as “quanta” – it is in the quantum field) will do something to you; it will stimulate something in you that will help you on the journey”. I thought “I need to understand this, I need to experience this - this is what I want”.
I packed up the books (because I had read to the point of frustration) and I decided that now I have to meet such a one. Of course being born in the Hindu tradition I began to look towards India. Being born in the Caribbean and being born a Hindu gave me the basic knowledge of these beings, so now I had a fascination. So I decided to go to India; I was 21 years old, and did not go to University but went to India, not for academic education but to meet one of these masters.
Of course I was going against the tide of public opinion from family, friends and well-wishers, but never the less I was determined. So I travelled to India, and I began in south India looking for these beings. This has been a journey in itself, a fascinating journey, a journey with frustration, with heartaches, but also a journey of finding, a journey of understanding Guru Tattwa.
The moment I felt what this beautiful Swami had said, “the impulse of energy”; the moment I felt that, it was as though the spirit within me was released, the heavy burden of ignorance was lifted. He was right, it was about energy and it was about the awakening of something inside of me.
A Fascinating Journey into Understanding Guru Tattwa
Gurus are many in the world and they teach us different things. But the one who can lead us to liberation, the one who can lead us from the ignorance that we are trapped in the human body, the one who can lead us from that, is what we call the true Guru, the supreme Guru amongst human beings. So I was lead on a journey, a fascinating journey, that took me into my inner Self. That made me see the world differently, that made me understand Guru Tattwa differently.
First I was influenced by a place, because I didn’t meet the physical Guru who was manifesting this Guru Tattwa. First I met his students, disciples, and I felt the place where he lived. Guru Gita also speaks about the place where such a teacher lives - “the one that lives in the Self, the one who lives in higher consciousness – even the place is filled with energy.” That is what I experienced.
The True Teacher Leads you within Your Own Being
But the fascination is that the energy field of that space created by those students, disciples who were expressing Guru Tattwa. They were inspired by a teacher who lived in it completely, the place had the power to awaken in me the experience of being guided from inside. Then I understood that the true teacher leads you within your own being to experience the teacher inside, the Guru Tattwa inside of you.
If you have been experiencing the presence of a teacher and working with a teacher but you are unable to feel the Guru Tattwa inside of you, then you haven’t yet learned, or the teacher is unable to inspire you. But the fascination is that these beings allow us to see the most beautiful qualities in the human experience - the most expansive, the most powerful. We see these qualities in and through them, and that held my fascination.
My initial experience was experiencing that guiding power inside of me. I didn’t meet this physical teacher until 2 years after my initial experience in India at his Ashram, but the experience of the Guru Tattwa inside of me was so powerful, it guided me, it lead me every day, in a way that was so beautiful, in a way that no book could lead me. I could actually feel this power flowing through me, guiding my footsteps, guiding my voice, guiding my thoughts as I opened myself up to it more and more. How can I describe this? You have to experience this to understand it.
You will not understand it through mere words; you have to listen to these words from a deeper place to see where my words are coming from. That is what I had to do eventually, when I met the real teacher. I had to move away from, go beyond the physical to see where his words were coming from.
Understanding the Teacher
Initially I wanted to create a relationship with the physical teacher but that didn’t materialize, I needed to be around the teacher but I needed to go inside to really understand the teacher. There was no way I could understand the teacher by looking at the physical gestures, physical movements, physical voice, I had to go deeper and deeper inside and then I began to experience the Guru Tattwa inside of the teacher.
These teachers allow us to see the most beautiful qualities – childlike humility, unconditional love – we see it for real, in a person. No judgment – can you imagine no judgment? Deep peace, they are able to bring you to a place of peacefulness just by their mere presence. They can give powerful guidance in exchange, in dialogue. And these beings can help you even beyond distance, even beyond their physical presence.
So the need to understand them and who they are, the need to understand where they are taking you, the need to understand the process of relating to them, is so very important on the journey.
Choosing the One that can lead us to the Path of Freedom
Gurus in human form, they are so important on our journey. Guru Gita says that we need to examine them, to listen carefully. We need to examine them, and then we need to choose the one who can lead us to the path of freedom.
Today I begin to introduce the subject of the next few days, but it is a fascination of the Guru Tattwa flowing through human beings that can lead us from bondage to liberation, from darkness into light. I will read a relevant verse from Guru Gita that speaks about Gurus and in the next few days I am going to speak on this subject.
This verse from Guru Gita says:
Soochakaadi, prabhedena guravo bahudha smritaah,
Swayam samyak pareekshyaartham, tatvanishtham bhajet sudheeh
“Teachers are various types with different capacities they are know by names such as Suchaka, etc. (I’ll explain this in future days). The student should know and test for himself and follow the one established in tatvanishtham knowledge of the self, the one who lives in oneness with the supreme consciousness, the one who lives in Guru Tattwa.”
So it tells us to test and examine the teacher, don’t just follow. There are many teachers and when you find the one who is established in the inner state of freedom – that is the one to follow.
