well, about gurus...
I find that many many Americans, friends, people I know, students, whoever, have a misunderstanding about the staggering difference between teachers and gurus.
teachers are fine, there are many awake people with common sense and beautiful values who're bringing a certain measure of relief and insight to peoples' lives -- but they are NOT gurus.
a real guru is a spiritual being who is willing -- happy -- to take on the thankless task of transforming & purifying the karmas of people they come into contact with (and souls, on the subtle level). it means, they are selfless beings who are willing to go to any lengths necessary, even physical sacrifice, like Christ did, or Ramakrishna, or Ramana Maharshi, in order to further the divine evolution and enlightenment of their students & the souls they're responsible for.
a real guru knows what is beyond the life-death cycles because they traverse that distance, through soul traveling, leaving their body behind for dead while they're out of it, frequently. they know how to take the soul out of the body and they know how to put it back in.
'immortality' isn't just a word they've learned; they are embodying it in their actions and awareness because they know what is the soul, what is the divine, what is the life, what is the death.
this is an utterly terrifying concept for most people -- to throw in their lot with a guru -- because on one hand, that guru may turn out to be an untrustworthy charlatan (it happens often enough), or, on the other hand, the guru may just turn out to be the real thing in which case a normal person HAS to, at some point, admit that they are, themselves, clueless about how this creation really works. and that the guru actually DOES know that stuff.
that means, the ego has to die.
(and y'all know how much we love our egos!!!!!!!)
and we have to be able to walk beyond our fear of death.
that's a tall order, not many are called to jump in those deep waters.
of those who do, few can stand the water after a while.
even fewer are willing to learn how to swim in it.
why? because it's hard work.
T.S. Eliot wrote:
"a condition of utter simplicity,
costing not less
than everything."
teachers are fine, there are many awake people with common sense and beautiful values who're bringing a certain measure of relief and insight to peoples' lives -- but they are NOT gurus.
a real guru is a spiritual being who is willing -- happy -- to take on the thankless task of transforming & purifying the karmas of people they come into contact with (and souls, on the subtle level). it means, they are selfless beings who are willing to go to any lengths necessary, even physical sacrifice, like Christ did, or Ramakrishna, or Ramana Maharshi, in order to further the divine evolution and enlightenment of their students & the souls they're responsible for.
a real guru knows what is beyond the life-death cycles because they traverse that distance, through soul traveling, leaving their body behind for dead while they're out of it, frequently. they know how to take the soul out of the body and they know how to put it back in.
'immortality' isn't just a word they've learned; they are embodying it in their actions and awareness because they know what is the soul, what is the divine, what is the life, what is the death.
this is an utterly terrifying concept for most people -- to throw in their lot with a guru -- because on one hand, that guru may turn out to be an untrustworthy charlatan (it happens often enough), or, on the other hand, the guru may just turn out to be the real thing in which case a normal person HAS to, at some point, admit that they are, themselves, clueless about how this creation really works. and that the guru actually DOES know that stuff.
that means, the ego has to die.
(and y'all know how much we love our egos!!!!!!!)
and we have to be able to walk beyond our fear of death.
that's a tall order, not many are called to jump in those deep waters.
of those who do, few can stand the water after a while.
even fewer are willing to learn how to swim in it.
why? because it's hard work.
T.S. Eliot wrote:
"a condition of utter simplicity,
costing not less
than everything."
posted by Alx Uttermann @ 3:25 AM
3 Comments:
At 4:44 AM,
Truth Seeker said…
A True Guru is the way to the light... He doesn't ask for anything material or worldly in return... just gives... all He wants is True love of the deity ...
Even better is the True Guru who is the way to the Supreme deity... called in the world as Aum (Om), Waheguru, God, Almighty, Khuda, Akal Purakh... who either Himself is enlightened or follows the path taught to Him by past Enlightened Masters...
Bliss!
At 2:27 AM,
Alx Uttermann said…
yes, that's entirely my point. Western people in general and Americans more specifically and folks in my neck of the woods in California especially seem to be convinced that any spiritual teacher who walks in the door with some shakti is a guru.
we throw the word around casually quite a lot, as in 'he's my tennis guru, or my software guru.'
having a real guru... entirely a different level. it's beyond the imagination, I guess, of a lot of people and even 'spiritual' people, sincere folks whore are truly honestly seeking more divine connection in their lives.
it's a real confusion in the West.
Alx
At 12:05 AM,
Alx Uttermann said…
hi, Lightbringer -- yes, I quite agree about the Western fear and diminishment. one thing I've learned in the vaastu is that the west direction is all about expression, not internal search. east, in the directions, is about internal growth.
it's the same in the human energy system.
& guru -- well, the thing I love is that the guru is simultaneously an externalized being, someone in form who's doing the hard work of herding us all to the light (that's inside us already!) AND the guru is, like everything else, inside us as well.
tricky.
tricky.
Alx
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