Swami Shivapadananda on the need for, and the role of, the Guru
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY
Taken from Mother Radha’s
notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Day 299
We must reflect our Ideal [personal Deity] in our daily lives. Thoughts
of the past, if glorious, will inspire you today. Otherwise bury them.
The diksha guru, the guru who initiates you, shows you the path to
realisation. There can only be one diksha guru. The siksha gurus, the teaching
gurus? Serve them, love them and meditate on their teachings. They may be many.
It is more difficult to get a guru than to get God.
Mirabai said, ‘Hari brought me to the guru’s feet, and the guru took me
to God.’ In the Bhagavad Gita it says, “Let me know the spiritual teacher as my
own Self.” All are equal manifestations of God.
The murthi [image, sculpture, statue] in the temple, if you think it is
stone, it will be stone. If you enter there with reverence, thinking it is God
or Krishna, it will be. You will forget the
stone and remember
think the guru is a man, he remains a man to you. If you think the guru is God,
your mind is uplifted to that level and you will become God. The guru is a
clean mirror reflecting God clearly.
If you think you are impure, what you think you become. So if you think,
‘God, God, God,’ you become God. If you think, ‘Stone, stone, stone,’ you
become stone.
Think your guru is divine. The guru sweeps the dirty places clean and in
the end you realise you are the guru. Then you can throw him away. Then there
is no guru, no chela [disciple, follower]. All you see is God, God, God. To the
guru there is only God everywhere.
We think we have surrendered but we have not. If we had, we would be
humbler than a blade of grass.
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Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham