Welcome to Day 35 of our 40-Day Retreat.
Yesterday we spoke about meditation on Guru (Guru meaning “Guru Tattwa”) - Meditation meaning an experience of going inside to experience our higher self. We chose the verse Dhyaana moolam guror moortih which says that “the root of meditation is meditating on the Guru’s form.” We can take that form to be the physical, which leads us to the energy form, which leads us to the absolute form that we are all a part of. Meditation on Guru is really a meditation taking us deep into our own selves to touch our own inner Guru and that infinite source within us.
Today I promised that I would speak about the other line which says: Pooja moolam guroh padam. This one speaks about admiration and adoration for that which we want to become. The verse is inviting us to look at what is it that we adore? What is it that we like? What is it that we admire in Gurus?
The challenge in this is to assimilate these qualities in our own being. So the idea is ‘admiring so that we can become’. This is very natural in human beings; that when we admire a trait in someone we try to imbibe or assimilate that trait within ourselves. So admiration is the beginning of becoming that which we admire. I want to look at the intent of this verse.
Understanding Ancient Traditions of India
Before I go further, it speaks about padam, it speaks about feet. To really understand the significance of this line we need to go back to the cultural tradition of ancient India (and of course modern India too) and we need to understand the gestures that are involved in this tradition.
One of the gestures that I have taken from that tradition is the idea of “Namaskar”. It is the idea of honouring the divine spirit or source in each one of us. The gesture is putting the hands together which shows non-violence, bringing it to the heart which shows unconditional love and sometimes we make a bow and say “Namaskar” and the other person says the same. We are honouring the Self in each other with this gesture.
In our traditions we have different gestures. Hugging a person is a sign of friendship. When we really appreciate and honour, we open our arms to invite and welcome the person into our space, into our energy and the other person does the same, it is reciprocated. That gesture becomes a warm gesture of welcome.
Then we also use the hand shake. We extend our hands to the person which means it is an extension of friendship and the other person extends their hand and then we shake. So there is a flow of energy in the shake, in the hug.
The Gesture of Touching the Feet
In the ancient tradition in India, they have another gesture. This is a gesture of admiration and respect that admires power and wisdom. This gesture is touching the feet. You will find in the Hindu tradition of India that when you respect and admire the wisdom and power of someone (in a divine sense) this brings out affection - you touch their feet. So instead of just bowing or hugging, you show respect. You show respect to the source of power, the source of wisdom within them by touching their feet. This is a very sublime greeting showing that “I respect your power and your wisdom and I do so affectionately.”
This greeting in India is used for parents, so we greet our parents like that. “I honour you, I respect your position, I respect your wisdom, I respect your experience.” We do it to elders in the community whom we respect and admire, we show honour to their power. It depends on the relationship that we create with the person. We also do this with spiritual teachers, or teachers whom we feel that we can learn something from. We respect their office, we respect their power and we do so with a lot of love and admiration and so we touch their feet.
This is a tradition of ancient India, and this is the tradition in which this verse is written. It is saying “To the one you admire, honour the feet that signifies wisdom and power.” It is saying “When you admire the teacher then you should admire his source of power and his source of wisdom”.
Why the feet? The feet are like a foundation on which we stand upon. The feet signify standing upon something, they are the pillars that we stand on. So in the sense of the Guru, it is the pillar of wisdom and it is the pillar of spiritual power.
We show respect for that. It is a marvellous tradition. I was born a Hindu, so I understand this cultural tradition. When I met the teacher the first thing I did, was to go and touch his feet, this is traditional.
Understanding the Intent of the Gesture
What needs to be understood is not the tradition as much as the intent. So it means that if this is not our tradition, we don’t have to do this. We can show respect in various ways, but it means showing respect to that source of power and wisdom.
Ultimately Gurus don’t care for us to do that, this is an ancient tradition. What they are more concerned with is that we respect the values of love and wisdom and by that respect and admiration we imbibe it into ourselves. The intent of the verse is to respect and admire and ultimately to imbibe it in to our own being, so that we too can attain that sense of self power and that we too can attain that space of wisdom. That is the intent of admiration.
Real spiritual teachers, of the Hindu tradition, don’t care for us to touch the feet. They are more concerned with our respecting and admiring that knowledge and wisdom that they express and that we also become a part of, so that we to own that wisdom and power. That is the intent.
Symbolism of the Gurus Feet
I am going to choose two verses of Guru Gita that really explain this. You will see that Guru Gita goes into further explanation of what the feet represent.
Sarva shanti shiro ratna
Viraajita padam bujam
Vedanta arth pravaktaaram
Tasmaat sam poojayet gurum
“The sacred lotus-like feet of the Guru shine like the two pearls of the entire Vedas.” (Vedas - ancient spiritual knowledge of India). “He is the exponent of the truth of Vedanda” (Vedanta – deep spiritual wisdom of ancient India). “Therefore one should admire or adore such a teacher, such a Guru.” “One who shines with the wisdom of the scriptures” - that means the one who has realized the truth of the scriptures and the one who expounds it. It says “to admire such a one”.
Vande guru pada dvandvam
Vaanmano teeta gocharam
Shveta rakta prabhaa bhinnam
Shiva shaktyaat makam param
“I salute the Gurus two feet which are beyond the reach of speech, mind and senses, which have different lusters - white and red – and are of the nature of Shiva and Shakti which are the highest”.
It says here that the feet represent Shiva and Shakti. Shakti is power and Shiva is the source of power. In the Guru we see that tremendous source of power and we see the manifestation of power in terms of self mastery - the complete mastery of spiritual energy and power.
These two verses tell us that the feet symbolize wisdom - wisdom of the Vedas, the wisdom of expounding. The next verse signifies that source of power and the manifestation of power and spiritual energy. That is what the feet represent in this culture - the source of strength and the source of wisdom. It says “That is what we should admire in the teacher, that self-mastery, that mastery of knowledge and that mastery of spiritual power”.
Become that Which We Adore and Admire
The idea here is to admire in those spiritual teachers these qualities. Have they mastered wisdom? Do we feel empowered by the knowledge they are giving to us? Is that knowledge bringing about any kind of deepening in our consciousness? Do we see in these teachers the manifestation of power, power that is disciplined (which means controlled or mastered), and do we see this power used for the upliftment of humanity? If we do the verse says “Respect that, admire that and become that.” The verse is telling us to become that which we admire or adore in those spiritual beings, who shine their light into our world.
For me this has a lot of meaning because in our world we admire all kinds of people - the ones who preoccupy our minds. It may be entertainer, the one who dances well, or the one who sings well or the one who has a lot of fun and laugher and we admire them, we have their pictures all over. You see how youths have pictures all over and they want to become like them too. We admire sports people who have mastered the physical skill, like Olympians. We admire those who are into physical exercise, the huge bodies or the very lean and skillful bodies. We admire those with wisdom and those with divine energy.
It is saying that amongst all those we admire we should admire those who have spiritual strength and have spiritual wisdom. Admire them because in admiring them we will want to become like them, and in wanting to become like them, this will take us into a deep journey into ourselves.
My admiration of this wonderful being that I met, led me into a deeper understanding of myself and a deeper experience of myself. It is marvellous. I personally love the gesture of touching the feet. I have come from that tradition and I love the gesture because it means that I am showing a sign of respect. I don’t see that sign of respect in the Western culture, but I see it in the East where we go back to the source of power and wisdom that we see. We touch the lowest point – the base, the foundation, the source. We touch it in the person and we show the sign of respect. It is a wonderful gesture that we see in this tradition. It is a gesture that I love to see.
The Gesture of Touching the Feet - continued
Being in India I have seen where people touch your feet and it seems like a transgression, they make this gesture, they take their hands and they say “Forgive me” and they come to your feet for forgiveness. It is marvellous to see. You have seen musicians as well when before they start to play their instrument they make this gesture as though they are saluting the instrument, showing respect for the source of power.
Some do it to the Holy books; they touch the book to their head or to their heart. All these gestures show respect. It is marvellous to see these gestures that we don’t normally see in other traditions. Of course the gesture of “Namaskar” is a beautiful gesture of saying “I respect you.” These are gestures in a culture and we need to look for the intent of the gesture and honour and admire them.
I want to thank you for being able to appreciate this. It has been a joy for me to express or clarify this because there have been a lot of misconceptions when we think of the feet - that we are giving our power away. It is not that we are giving our power away; it is that we are showing deep respect for the person. We are indicating without saying it that, that is what we want to become.
Post meditation remark
Now that I have explained this beautiful culture of India and its wonderful gesture of admiration and respect, please don’t rush to touch my feet! (laugher) I would much rather you touch the source of wisdom and love and power within me. Touch that, and become that, then you will make me most happy. It is not about touching the feet; it is about touching that source of power inside of us.
Namaskar everyone.
