In plain words
To satisfy Arjuna's mind, he asked for Ekalavya's right thumb as the fee. Is this the act of a guru! No, no. Such worldly gurus make use of it for selfish ends and their own gain, and put true knowledge of the Ātma far off. All these are gurus of worldly dealings, not gurus of the Ātma. Learn the skill from anyone; there is nothing wrong in that. But the offering must be made to God alone. That is true Bhakti. That is true spirituality.
The mind that knows the secret is the guru
Vyāsa gave the world many teachings. ‘Vyāso nārāyaṇo hariḥ,’ they said. He is the very embodiment of Nārāyaṇa, they said. Thinking that what existed as many Vedas would be very hard to uphold, he divided it into four Vedas and gave it to the world. After making such a division, Vyāsa's heart became pure. He was content: ‘I have given this world the sacred Mother Veda, have I not?’ The day he felt that contentment is the Pūrṇimā. The moon is full. There is a bond between the moon and the mind of man. The Veda itself: ‘Candramā manaso jātaḥ, cakṣo sūryo ajāyata’; the moon and the mind, the two are one. They are object and reflection. Just as on the full-moon day the full moon is full, so the mind must stay full. It must stay pure and clear, without any fault, without any blemish, without any bad habit. Because on this day he divided the Vedas with a sacred feeling, they named it Vyāsa Pūrṇimā. Not Guru Pūrṇimā. The day we purify the heart, that very day is Guru Pūrṇimā. ‘The very moment one knows the secret, the mind itself is one's guru,’ they said. The day one comes to know the secret, that day one's own mind becomes the guru.
The body is a fort with seven walls
Rāmadāsu said.
The fort has seven circuits, inside the fort a garden; we would go into the garden, but we do not know the way; how then? The sure thing is the tree, what you hold is the branch; lose your footing, let go your hold, and you reach Parabrahman itself!
Humanness has seven kinds of forts. What are they? There are six forts called desire, anger, greed, pride and envy. The biggest fort of all is the seventh, attachment to the body. In the midst of these seven forts dwells God. Below is the tree. In your hand you hold the branch. If the branch breaks, what will become of you? God alone is like the tree. Gurus are like branches. No harm comes to those who take refuge in the tree. God alone is the real guru.
Fix the gaze at the point between the brows
Embodiments of Prema! The power that fills the whole world is in you too. God is not separate from you. There is no God other than you. I and you are one. Holding the one oneness in mind: God dwells in me itself. You must strengthen the faith, ‘I am God.’ If you think, ‘I am such-and-such Rāmayya, Kṛṣṇayya,’ there is no gain. The parents gave this name. They are names that were given, not names one was born with. The parents themselves gave birth to this body. So you must keep God safe. The Rāṇā told Mīrā to go out. Because, as he saw it, he had been dishonoured. But leaving Kṛṣṇa was hard. She reflected for a while. This temple is the one the Mahārāṇā built. My heart itself is the temple of God. ‘Cal re man gaṅgā yamunā tīr.’ O mind, do not go here and there. Do not shrink at all before these people or those. The point between the brows lies between the nāḍīs Iḍā and Piṅgalā. There you will find Śānti. Fix your gaze at the point between the brows. Do not fix your gaze on this temple or that temple. What is Śrī Kṛṣṇa's body like? A body that knows no destruction. A pure body. A sweet body. A body that gives Ānanda. That Śrī Kṛṣṇa dwells at the point between the brows. ‘You go there,’ she said.
All is in man himself. Everything is in our body itself. Keeping everything with you, why search somewhere else? When there is a feast of five kinds of food and sweet rice in your own house, why do you ask for stale dal in another's house? When the lamp in the house is burning, why go to others' houses for fire? Why should you go? The light is right with you. Why go to someone else's house and ask.