Welcome to Day 29 of our 40-Day Retreat 2008.
We have been speaking about the Parama Guru, and yesterday we spoke about those knowers of truth who extend themselves in compassionate service to humanity. Today, however, I want to focus on some other verses of Guru Gita that speak about the abode or residence of the Guru, or the place where the Guru dwells.
We impact the environment with our Energy
This is also extremely important to look at because the dwelling place of the Guru or the residence or abode of the Guru is a very special place. Wherever we are, our energy influences the environment. We may not be aware of it, but we impact the environment based on the energies we give out. So that will be based on the level of consciousness that we are operating from. If we operate from deep love, for example, we create a certain kind of atmosphere around. If we operate from positive mental energy we create a certain kind of environment. If we operate from a space of discipline we also create a type of environment.
You can understand this perhaps when you go to a gym or exercising place and feel the energy there. Or go to a clothing shop with a variety of designs and see how you feel when you are there. When you are in a classroom, see how you feel when you are there. When you go to a temple, see how you feel when you are there. You will realize that the energies you co-create in that space influence the space. So where someone who lives in the enlightened state dwells, can you imagine what kind of field is created there! This is what I want to focus on today.
Verses that extol the abode of Guru
I have benefited from such a field or space. That gave me great respect for the verses I am going to read for you. It made me understand those verses so much more and appreciate what I had to gain from what these verses are speaking about. Here are the verses from Guru Gita:
Sa eva sadguruh saakshaat
Sadasad brahmah vittamah
Tasya sthaanaani sarvaani
Pavitrani na samshayah
He is the real Guru, or Sadguru, who is the knower of Sat and Asat (what is truth and what is untruth, the real and unreal). All his places are holy. There is not even an iota of doubt.
This emphasizes it so strongly.
Next verse says:
Sarva shuddhah pavitrosau
Swabhaavaad yatra tishthati
Tatra devaganah sarve
Kshetre peethe charanti cha
Wherever the ever-pure Guru stays of his own accord, there all the Devas or heavenly beings stay. They move about the place of residence of the Guru.
Energies from other Dimensions
In our meetings at times, I mention that I don’t feel that the meeting is just a physical event. It is a cosmic event. There are planetary influences impacting. There is the impact of all those who are thinking of us at the moment. No matter where they are, their energies are with us. It is like distant healing where we can send energies to a certain place and the energies have impact.
What about the dimension we can’t see but which we believe - the dimension of guides, angelic beings, heavenly beings? What about that dimension that is focused on us on our journey? We draw and attract energies from that dimension and those energies lift us.
Energy Field of Gurus
Why are these energies so concentrated around the Guru? One who is disciplined in his ways, who has risen above the lower self; and who promotes the welfare of humanity carries a very powerful energy field, by virtue of living in that inner space. That space we refer to as God Consciousness, Universal Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness or Selfless Consciousness. One who lives in that space creates such an energy field by virtue of that consciousness, and also draws upon all those heavenly forces that are focused on our spiritual evolution.
If you think about this, you will realize that the residences of these special teachers who are disciplined, focused on the welfare of humanity, promoting the good of all and whose energies are pure, their spaces are very powerful. When you come into such a space it is able to awaken your own dormant spiritual energies, to awaken the inner Guide within you and help you on the journey. It is also a protective field because when you are in that field, you can be sure that guidance can come to you.
Co-creating a protected Field
Sometimes the residence of the Guru is considered to be the larger body of the Guru. The Guru is not just in a physical body; he fills the whole space. Furthermore, all those who are in the space and are aspiring instruments, also all those who are trying to unite their consciousness with Guru Consciousness, they co-create this very protective field. This field can help you to uplift yourself. So everybody in that field, when aligned to the same goal, the same kind of energy, becomes an instrument in helping us to develop.
In such a field you meet the right persons; the conversations also help you. Even the triggers that may bring out the worse in you, are very helpful to you in such a field. I always say that such a field is a protected field because anyone who comes into that field with the wrong intentions, their own selfish nature will push them out of it. True Gurus never have to think “how do I protect this field?” Neither do they have to pray everyday, “Please help me, Lord, to protect this field.” Their very nature, being selfless, pure, and directed towards the welfare of humanity makes the field protected. And the support of all these heavenly energies makes the field protected in magical ways. And I have seen that!
In the powerful spiritual center that I visited in India, I saw people who could not manage their energies, whose intentions were not so pure, who were looking for the wrong things. They did not stay very long in that space. And nobody had to tell them to go. Their own nature pushed them out of the space.
Energy field is like a wish-fulfilling tree
When I first visited India in 1975 looking for great spiritual teachers and enlightened beings, I did not meet one that particular year. However, I came to an Ashram where the energies were so powerful that I could feel this place was filled with heavenly beings. And though I did not actually meet the teacher or Guru, I felt so fulfilled, so satisfied just being in that space, in the residence of the Guru. All my desires were fulfilled. In fact, such spaces are referred to as a wish-fulfilling tree. When we go there with certain good desires, they bear fruit. Mine certainly did.
In that space I found what I was looking for: pure love, mental clarity and mental management. Ultimately, two years after I met the physical Guru, and that was an additional boost. But the environment, the dwelling place, was so beautiful, so pure, so disciplined, so energizing! I know it was not just the physical space. It was all those heavenly forces that were also supporting the space.
Guru’s abode- a sacred uplifting space
If we really understand these verses, we will appreciate the residence of the Guru. We will gain the most from being there by understanding that this is a magical space. This is a sacred space. All those who live there have a purpose in that space. So long as they can manage the energy of the space, are attracted to the energy of the space, and stay in the space, they have a purpose in this space.
The space is a cleansing space. It helps to take away our impurities, and help to lift us to another level. That is a special place. And not only where the Guru resides in a permanent sense, but wherever the Guru settles even for a day or two, that space becomes different. Wherever the Guru settles down for a few days, that also becomes holy ground. And by extension, I would say even where the Guru is remembered by disciples or students, and the Guru’s energy is drawn there, that also becomes a sacred and protected space.
Appreciate and value such a space
When you understand the significance of this, it is marvellous. This tells how powerful environments are where these pure beings live, where they settle down even for a limited time, and where they are remembered. Those are spaces of power. Those are spaces we should appreciate and value. When we are fortunate to be in such spaces, we should take the opportunity to make the most of them. If we are unable to be in the physical space of the Guru, then we should create a space wherever we are, and where the energies are.
That is the power of the abode of the Guru.
Concluding Remark
May you enjoy being in the residence of the Guru or co-creating that energy field that also reflects the energy of the Guru’s Place.
