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© 2005 Sanatan Sanstha

Principles of Spirituality

Path Of Guru's Grace (Gurukrupayoga)

True nature of the Guru

• The Guru depends on the 'disciple's faith':
      “The Guru depends on faith. In one's faith itself lies the greatness of the Guru. The Guru too depends on your faith. He lies in your faith.”

  Implied meaning:

      In the statement, “The Guru depends on faith. In one's faith itself lies the greatness of the Guru,” the word Guru refers to the Guru's external (physical) form, an individual. Only if one has faith in that individual, can He function as a Guru. In the next statement, “The Guru too depends on your faith. He lies in your faith,” the word, 'Guru' refers to the Omniscient Guru, or the Guru principle, that exists within oneself.

• The Guru is 'The clarifying reply'
      The 'question', which is expressing doubt, is in itself the disciple and the 'answer' giving the clarification is the Guru. As long as the darkness of ignorance in the form of questions is not eliminated, and the genesis of wisdom in the form of answers giving clarification does not occur, the debate or doubts shall continue. In reality, the Guru and the disciple are one and the same, as both the question and answer originate from the same source.

• The Guru principle is one
      All Gurus are the same internally though externally Their physical appearances may differ. Just as the milk oozing from any udder of a cow is equally pure and clean, so also there is only one Guru principle in all Gurus, and the frequencies of Bliss (Anand) emanating from all of Them are the same. Just as sea waves advance towards the shore, the waves of Brahman / God, that is the Guru, come towards society. The taste of water in all the sea waves is the same. Similarly the principle in all the Gurus is one and the same, that is Brahman. If a water tank has many outlets whether small or large, the same water from the tank flows out from all of them. However varied the shapes of bulbs maybe, when electricity flows through them only light is emitted from all of them. In the same way, though Gurus differ in physical appearance, yet the Guru principle, that is the God principle in Them, is the same.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

• Seekers in the initial stages of spiritual practice (less than one year) can repeat The Name of the Lord as per their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for details).

• Seekers who have been doing regular spiritual practice for over a year or so can determine the appropriate chant for them from the experiment given in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section.