GURU GIVES US WINGS

 For a beginner the confusion lingers but as the disciple loses his self to his love for his Guru, he is able to look beyond the simpler façade that the master has created. Still, the doubts linger in the minds of the disciples, both new and old; consequently they are not able to merge the difference between the divine and the Guru.

Such is human nature that we accord more importance to individuals and entities that are beyond the comprehension of senses. Therefore, the moment near and dear ones depart to the unknown world, they become a bundle of virtues and are remembered in glowing terms. Similarly, God whom most of us have not been able to fathom remains on a higher pedestal than the Guru. However, hard and fast the disciple is in reciting the prayers and chanting the Guru mantra, imbibing those values take time. Literally, for most pupils they need to give time, time to experience the wholeness of the Guru.

And as the grace of the Guru flows, the disciple loses his ego and attachment to the superficial façade, he is able to distinguish the difference between the Guru and the creator and the reality dawns on him that Guru is far superior to the divine, because he has introduced the disciple to the reality of cosmos governed by the God. Around 600 years ago, the mystic poet Kabirechoed the same sentiments when he assigned Guru a higher pedestal.

Why the Guru has sought us? Correction, the disciple doesn’t seek the Guru rather the Guru takes the disciple in his fold when he feels he is ripe to be initiated. The grace flows and the student becomes capable to rise above the challenges that confront him in his everyday life. Such is life that joys and sorrow coexist, without discrimination. And it is true for everyone, even when the gods have sought human forms they have not been immune from the existential upheavals. Had it not been the case, Rama wouldn’t have been sent to exile and Pandavas wouldn’t have faced innumerable hardships. Even the battle that the Pandavas won after defeating Kauravas came at a heavy price. They lost their near and dear ones in the process.The huge price paid to win the war haunted Yudhishthira for a long while.

The point to be reiterated is that everyone’s life is riddled with worries and challenges, even for those who’ve achieved immense success, as defined by the societal norms. Just because we have no idea of their challenges, doesn’t imply that success came easy to them. As they say, ‘Grass is greener on the other side of the fence.’

Reflect for a moment on the life, we all are living. Joys and sorrows alternate and we allow sorrows to affect us more than it’s worth. The truth is that as human beings we’re more fascinated with miseries. Just look at our newspapers and the conversations that surround us. It’s vitiated with negativity. This is what exactly happens when difficulties it strike us. It corrodes our spirit and optimism and somehow we begin to wallow in miseries. The Guru cuts the chord and gives us the courage to strike back with vengeance and win over the problems that surround us.

 Typically, most of us get daunted by the challenges thrown by life and pray fervently to the Guru to deliver us from these challenges that are integral to living. The Guru gives in to our incessant stream of desires.    He has to because he loves deeply all those who seek him and even a quiver in the voice of his pupils upsets him no end. And, such is human life that sorrows keep interrupting joys and rather than responding to these events, we react exaggeratedly.

They say, as you see so is the universe. Our thoughts decide our perspective to life. When we are born we are happy as if we are surrounded with abundance. As we mature abundance thrives and happiness dwindles. Research studies have found that on an average a child laughs 300 times in a day, as compared to an adult who laughs less than 20 times. Life becomes a struggle in adulthood and is an endless chase to accumulate money, more of it. Somehow, money is never enough and we’re sad. We reach out to the Guru. How many of us seek the Guru for spiritual uplift? Practically none, for most of us Guru is the talisman, the magic lamp of Aladinwho will wipe away the worries encompassing our lives.

It’s not that the Guru is not capable of pushing the worries aside, but by doing so he will be driving away an opportunity of our spiritual growth and the Guru wants us to fly.

Once a little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He brought it home and began to take good care of it. He put it in a large jar and everyday brought him fresh leaves to eat. Then one day, he saw the caterpillar creating a cocoon. The boy’s mother told him that the caterpillar was soon going to transform in a beautiful butterfly. The boy was thrilled. One day, the boy saw a tiny hole in the cocoon and inside the caterpillar was struggling to emerge out. It seemed to be in pain. The boy was pained to see the caterpillar’s struggle and he cut the cocoon a bit to facilitate easy exit of the caterpillar. As the butterfly came out of the hole, the little boy was surprised to see that it had a swollen body and shriveled wings and the butterfly spent rest of its life crawling!

By circumventing the struggle of the butterfly, designed by the nature the little boy unknowingly took away from the butterfly the gift to fly.

Whether its school or life, struggle is an important element for growth and gives us the wing to fly.

Let’s pause for a while and reflect on the purpose of human birth. It is to merge with the God. Whether we do it one lifetime or in multiple lifetimes, the purpose remains the same and the Guru will help us navigate the path to the divine.

Tatvamasi diksha is the process through which the Guru gives wings to our capabilities and helps us integrate with the universe, because there is no distinction between the cosmos and the atman.Tatvamasi diksha ignites the process of integration with the divine and the disciples realize that though separated from the whole, we all are an expression of the whole, and are complete from the very beginning. Just like a pot of water from the sea has all the attributes of sea water, similarly human beings though separated from the whole, are complete entities and expression of the divine that resonate in the universe.

Perfect. Flawless.  The credit goes to the Guru whose grace ignites the divinity dormant in each of us. What is in the cosmos resonates in each of us and the Guru has the key to unlock the divinity residing in each of us.

Tatvamasi diksha seeks to awaken the brahma within each of us. And how do we do it? To achieve it, we need to access the subconscious, the seat of emotions through meditation, which will enable us to access the zone of the soul and enable the soul to evolve.

Something, magical unfolds the moment we integrate with the universe. We begin to accept the simultaneous existence construction and destruction and the reign of impermanence.  Take a walk around the woods, where withering leaves and blooming flowers coexist. The seasons change in nature and the same way they do in our lives. The soul has incarnated in the human form to learn lessons and move on to a higher pedestal. The lessons to be learnt are usually in the form of renouncing anger, greed, inculcating forgiveness and above all equanimity. The upheavals in life present an opportunity to learn these. The quicker we learn and move on nonchalantly, the soul gets to benefit.

When the God created human being, he was very happy. It was the perfect creation He had made, which was almost like him. The new creation had a mind and a heart. The mind could remember, reason, negotiate, rationalize, differentiate and argue. It was the repository of knowledge and the heart was the seat of love. While God was celebrating his success, the angel appeared to him, a bit disturbed. The angel was upset because the newly created human being was god like, as he had access to the eternal truths of the universe. The angel advised the God to hide the seat of knowledge in the human being deep inside in his soul, because the human would look everywhere else for answers except himself, where the solutions would lie. The only way to find answers to the life’s puzzles is to meditate.

As human beings, we rely a lot on our sense organs, particularly eyes for perception. What meets the eye is important and what doesn’t is profound. As we grow engrossed in mundane, we begin to lose touch with ourselves and cease to live, rather begin to exist. Tatvamasi diksha reminds us that we’re not different from the whole that reverberates in the cosmos. Just like a pot of water from the sea has all the attributes of sea water, similarly human beings though separated from the whole, are complete entities and expression of the whole that resonates in the universe.

There is mind over the matter, but quietness reigns over the mind. Interplay of thoughts is the domain of mind. Within a fraction of second, the mind meanders to a new territory. The constant stream of thoughts going in the mind disrupt inner peace and meditation quietens the mind. Until calmness descends and thoughts evaporate, it’s hard to access the realm of the soul, where answers lie for the challenges that we encounter in our life. To reach this stage, we need to tap in the zone of sub consciousness and access the Sub conscious mind to achieve what we desire. The stronger conviction you’ve in your success, easier it is to attain it, because the sub-conscious mind complies with the thoughts of your conscious mind.

In order to keep the courage and conviction alive, we need to ignite the force of hope, the super-glue in the lives of all of us. The undefeated spirit gives us courage to win in the most trying situations and keeps the flicker of hope alive amidst odds.

It is said that a human being can live for a few days without food, he can survive for four days without water, a few minutes without air, but the moment hope ceases, life finishes.

However, the question remains, on what do we pin hope? That element on which all of us pin our hopes is called the pranathat resides in our core. Tatvamasi diksha enables us to access the prana lying deep within us.

Spare a moment, how do you perceive yourself? Is it just the body or something deeper? Obviously, beyond the existential activities of the body lies the strength of the character that comes from the deeper recesses and allows us the strength to overcome the challenges. The force that gives us courage, conviction, strength and above all the hope to keep going even in the most adverse situations is called Tatvamasi.