Guru-Bhakti YogaHis teaching on the Guru
BASES OF GURU-BHAKTI
The Role of Faith
1. Faith in Guru is the first rung in the ladder of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
2. Faith in Guru inspires hope in the disciple to attain the divine grace.
3. Have perfect trust in Guru, abandon all fears, cares, worries and be at perfect ease.
4. Faith in the words of Guru is power, strength and abundant energy. Doubt not. March on heroic disciple.
5. Strengthen your faith in the Guru through association with the wise and study of sacred ancient scriptures.
6. Have intense faith in the teachings of Guru. Understand clearly the nature and glory of the Satguru. By serving Guru, lead the divine life. Only then you will be able to do total self-surrender to the holy feet of Satguru who is a living image of God.
7. It is better to die than to be a nuisance to Guru.
8. Devotion to Guru subdues all lower propensities and impulses and removes all obstacles.
9. Devotion to Guru is the greatest factor in the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
Aspects of Devotion
10. Unswerving devotion to Guru is regarded as a very efficacious method of attaining God-realisation.
11. True devotion to Guru is constant remembrance of Guru’s glory and spreading his divine message to one and all.
12. Devotion to the holy feet of preceptor is the flower, and his blessing is the immortal fruit.
13. The aim of life is to avoid bad company which gives misery at the end and to serve the Lotus-Feet of holy Acharya who bestows immortality.
14. Real life begins when a man takes recourse to Yoga of Guru-Bhakti which bestows on the practitioner the everlasting happiness here and hereafter.
15. Is there no escape from the unceasing cycle of birth and death, pleasure and pain, joy and misery? Listen, O disciple, there is one sure way, turn away your mind from the sensual objects which are perishable and take recourse to Guru Seva Yoga, which takes you beyond dualities.
16. True lasting happiness can be had by taking recourse to Guru Sarana Yoga, but not in external perishable objects.
17. Guru-Bhakti Yoga, Guru-Seva Yoga and Guru-Sarana Yoga, etc., are all synonymous terms of Guru-Bhakti Yoga. They are one and the same.
18. Some people think that Guru-Seva Yoga is inferior type of Yoga. They have thoroughly misunderstood the secret of spirituality.
19. Practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga means an intense pure love for Guru.
20. Devotion to the Lotus-Feet of blessed Acharya must be gradually cultivated. There is no short-cut.
21. Guru-Bhakti Yoga is the science of all sciences.
22. The Lotus-Feet of the blessed Acharya are the chief object of meditation, for a true disciple.
23. Guru-Bhakti Yoga is the king among all other Yogas.
24. When the dissipated rays of the mind are collected by the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga can work wonders.
25. All great souls, all master-minds have done great work through the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
26. According to the ‘Guru-Bhakti Yoga’ school of thought Guru and God are one, hence total self-surrender to Guru is very essential.
27. Guru-Bhakti Yoga includes all other Yogas. Without taking recourse to Guru-Bhakti Yoga nobody can practise other Yogas, which are hard to tread.
28. Guru-Bhakti Yoga school of thought gives a great instance in obtaining “Guru Kripa” through “Acharyopasana.”
29. Guru-Bhakti Yoga is as ancient as Vedic and Upanishadic period.
30. Guru-Bhakti Yoga cult, greatly stresses upon the service of Guru for attaining the purity of heart, to meditate and realise.
31. He who is devoted to the well-being of his glory, Guru is a blessed being.
The Function of Grace
32. Grace of Guru is a transforming force.
33. Where the Grace of Guru is, there victory is.
34. To adore the blessed feet of Acharya and to abide by his divine law is to live truly.
35. Annihilate the fluctuating potency of the mind through ceaseless practices of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
36. The chief purpose and the goal of your life here is to obtain Guru’s Grace which bestows immortality.
37. Remember the triplet “Faith, Obedience and Self-surrender” while serving Guru.
38. Let the ideal of Guru Seva penetrate into your heart.
39. Detach your mind from the evil company and attach to the sacred feet of Acharya, who is a pattern of perfection, knower of truth, a centre of universal love, a humble servant of humanity.
40. Have unremitting spiritual practice with the help of wise Guru.
41. A true aspirant rejoices to practise Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
42. Cultivate devotion to Preceptor to a maximum degree; then only can you enjoy his choicest blessings.
43. True aspirant’s joy knows no bounds when he comes across sacred feet of Blessed Acharya.
44. Never waste a single moment; life is short; time is fleeting; death is uncertain; arise, awake; apply yourself diligently in the service of Acharya.
45. Plunge yourself in the service of Acharya.
46. Arm yourself with faith in Guru, and in his words of wisdom.
Spiritual Path and Life
47. Spiritual path is sharp-edged razor path. A Guru is absolutely necessary, who has tread the path.
48. Renounce all your egoism and surrender yourself unto the Lotus-Feet of the Master.
49. The Guru will guide you, and inspire you only. You should yourself tread the path.
50. Life is short. Time is fleeting. Arise, awake, approach the holy feet of Acharya.
51. Life is short. Time of death is uncertain. Apply yourself seriously to the service of Guru.
52. Maintain daily the spiritual diary and record correctly your progress and failure and send it to your Guru at the end of the month.
53. Don’t complain to your Guru that there is no time for Sadhana due to overwork to him. Reduce sleep and tall talk. Eat a little. Then you will have plenty of time for Sadhana. The highest Sadhana is service of Acharya.
54. Let the service and thought of the Guru keep away the thought of the world.
55. Do not boast or make sure of your ability with your spiritual Teacher. Be simple and humble. You will grow spiritually in leaps and bounds.
56. Give up back-biting, criticising and fault-finding about preceptor’s actions. Beware of reaction.
57. Be prepared to suffer any amount of pain on account of service to Acharya.
58. Admit your faults plainly before the Guru who is the embodiment of compassion and love.
59. Serve your Guru more than what he is expecting from you.
60. Have intense connection with none but Preceptor. Mix little with others.
61. The love and compassionate looks of Guru can transform the disciple’s lower nature.
The Spirit of Discipleship
62. Recognise and realise the greatness of Guru. And spread his message of love to the humanity. By this, Guru’s grace will descend upon you.
63. Never swerve from the duties to the preceptor.
64. Valuable gifts must be given to Guru with faith, in plenty, with modesty and devotion.
65. Give the preceptor the fee he desires. Give the preceptor the best gifts.
66. Disciple should not take back the gifts given to Guru even by carelessness.
67. Scrutinise your inner motives while doing service to Guru. Service must be done to Guru without expectation of name, fame, power, wealth, etc.
68. When you deal with your teacher, be honest and sincere.
69. No spiritual progress is possible without honesty, in the Yoga of Guru-Bhakti.
70. Through the hope of Guru’s grace and grace alone a disciple can march forward on the spiritual path, just as the Chataka Bird lives on the hope of Swati rain drops.
71. The highest Yajna or a sacrifice is the hospitality shown to Guru. Even Asvamedha and other great Yajnas are nothing before this Guru Seva Yajna.
The Easiest Path to God-Realisation
72. Be inspired by taking shelter at the feet of Master.
73. Love is the golden link or tie which binds the heart of the disciple to the Lotus-Feet of Master.
74. Guru-Bhakti Yoga is the easiest, purest, quickest, safest way for God-consciousness. May you all attain God-consciousness in this very birth through the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
75. Take refuge in the name of the Guru. Sing and chant his name always. In Kali Yuga singing the glory of the Guru and meditation on his Lotus-Feet is the best and easiest way for God-realisation.
76. Devotion to Guru is the Master-key to open the door of Moksha or eternal bliss.
77. Life is a sweet flower of which the devotion to Guru is the sweet honey.
78. Devotion to feet of Master is the very life-breath of a true disciple.
79. Practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga bestows immortality, supreme peace and perennial joy.
80. The Guru is an embodiment of love and compassion. He is an ocean of love.
81. If you wish to get his blessings you must also become an embodiment of love and compassion.
82. In his devotion to Guru there should not be a tinge of selfishness in the heart of the disciple.
83. Devotion to Guru must be ever-enduring and permanent.
84. Whole-hearted willingness to serve the Guru is the very essence of devotion.
85. Love of body or skin is passion; love of Guru is devotion. It is love for love’s sake.
86. Devotion to Guru is the stepping-stone to devotion to God.
87. Cultivate pure devotion to Guru in the garden of your heart through Japa, Kirtan, Prayer, meditation, service of saints, study and company of saints.
88. Service of thy Guru must be the sole concern and aim of thy life.
89. Love your Guru more than yourself.
The Development of Universal Love
90. Love your enemies, love your inferiors, love animals, love your Guru and love all saints and sages.
91. Develop universal love gradually through selfless service to Guru, Satsanga with great souls, prayer and recitation of Guru-Mantra.
92. What others have achieved with great effort the same you can attain through the Guru’s grace.
93. Blessed are the meek because they will soon attain the Guru’s grace. Blessed are the pure who have sought refuge in Guru for they shall verily attain the bliss.
94. Meekness is the only Royal Road to lead you to the grace of Guru.
95. Guru is the “Open Seasum” with which you can unlock the mystery of life and salvation.
96. The first Test of spiritual teacher or a truly great man is his meekness. It is his fundamental virtue.
In Tune with Guru
97. It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle; but, lo, it is far more difficult for one without the Grace of Guru to enter the Kingdom of God.
98. Just as water, when added to milk, loses its own identity, becoming one with the milk, so too should the true disciple utterly surrender himself unto the Guru and be one with him
99. Just as small streams and rivers by joining the great and sacred Ganga come to be regarded as sacred and worshipped, too, and finally reach the goal–the ocean, so shall the true disciple by seeking refuge at the Feet of Guru and by becoming one with him come to attain the Bliss Everlasting.
100. Does the child learn to speak or to walk in a single day? Does it not need long association with the parents and proper attention and the interest, which alone can teach the child to speak or to walk? So, too, the true and sincere disciple should remain and stay with the Guru for sufficiently long time, rendering him all service, by Than, and Man, all the while evincing true and genuine attention and interest to learn the Supreme Vidya. Thus alone will he attain the great Knowledge….. not otherwise.
The Bestower of All Boons
101. Verily like Kalpaka Vriksha, like Kamadhenu, like Chintamani, verily as these grant the boon that is desired by its seeker, so too does the Guru grant the seeker whatever he desires… Therefore shall the true disciple seek but the Great Knowledge of the Upanishads to attain Moksha.
102. Just as the baby, when it totters around, tries to walk all by its own, now falling down and again getting up, needs and calls for the help of its mother, the disciple also in the earlier stages of his Sadhana needs and should seek the guidance of the Merciful Guru.
103. Like the child too, the true disciple should have intense desire for liberation (Mumukshutva) and express this in all possible manner, only that he may be helped by his Guru in the realisation of this desire. This desire may well be called the effort and the Guru’s Merciful Help is the grace like the kindness of the helping mother.
104. Two things are necessary for a beautifully-finished Idol or an Image… one is a perfect, faultless good piece of marble; the second is the expert Sculptor. The piece of marble should but unconditionally remain in the hands of the Sculptor in order to be carved and chiselled into the fine Image… So too, the disciple has but to cleanse himself, purify himself, and make himself a perfectly faultless piece of marble and placing himself under the expert guidance of his Master, allow to be carved out and chiselled into the Image of God.
105. Just as with the rising of the Sun the entire darkness is at once dispelled, so does the Avidya and Avarana in the mind of the disciple get dispelled immediately with the descent of his Guru’s Grace.
106. Just as one who is burnt by the scorching rays of the sun finds immense relief and happiness in the cool shades of trees and just is after a hot day, one finds immense happiness in the cool moonlight, so does one burnt by the scorching rays of Samsara and all athirst for peace find the desired peace and happiness at the Feet of a Brahma-Nishtha Guru.
107. Just as the ‘Chataka’ bird, after waiting for long, quenches its thirst only by drop of rain-water, so should the true disciple serve his Guru and await the ‘Word of Upadesha’ that shall quench all his agonies and free him for ever.
108. The Grace of Brahmanishtha Guru will, verily burn all the sins of the one that seeks such a Merciful Guru whatever may be the worth of this one even as the fire, by its very nature, burns away whatever that comes within its fold and within its aura.
Need For Spiritual Preoccupation
109. Everyone who longs to transcend misery and obtain joy and happiness in life should sincerely practise Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
110. A very effective method of eradicating all evil qualities is to put into practice the Yoga of Guru-Bhakti.
111. Devotion to the holy feet of Guru is the cardinal virtue, which, if assiduously cultivated, transports a disciple from the morass of misery and ignorance to the paradise of perennial joy and bliss supreme.
112. Sexual propensities though they at first are like ripples acquired the proportions of a sea on account of bad company. Therefore shun evil company and approach the life-saving feet of Acharya.
113. Service of Guru is a sine qua non in the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
114. You can overcome worries if you keep yourself always very busy in the service of Guru. This is the surest antidote for all worries.
115. A noble disciple should not suspect or disregard, his Guru on any account.
116. Shyness to do ‘Sashtanga’ prostration to the sacred feet of revered Guru, is a great hindrance in the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
117. Self-sufficiency, self justification, vanity, self-conceit, self-assertion, procrastination, obstinacy, fault-finding, evil company, dishonesty, arrogance, lust, anger, greed, and egoism, are great stumbling blocks on the path of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
118. Guru-Bhakti Yoga is the foundation of all other Yogas viz., Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga etc. The disciple who thinks that he knows everything will not learn anything from his Guru, due to self-conceit.
119. A very dangerous habit for a disciple is to justify himself before the Guru.
120. Be gentle, be sweet, be soft and polite when you serve your Guru. You will win the heart of Guru. Never show rudeness in speech or action with your Guru.
121. Pig-headed student cannot have any definite progress in the practice of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
122. Disciple should look on the bright side of life of the revered preceptor.
123. Inflict self-punishment, if the mind thinks ill of Guru.
124. All that is wanted of you is sincere and earnest effort in the path of Guru-Bhakti Yoga.
125. Write down your Guru Mantra or Guru’s holy name daily in a clean note book for an hour.
126. Repeat always your Guru Mantra even while walking, eating and working in the office.
Elevating Presence of Guru
127. Words cannot adequately express the deep debt of gratitude for the wonderful transformation brought in the disciple by the miraculous spiritual power latent in the great Guru.
128. Truly it is said that the Satguru is God Incarnate. His greatness is indescribable.
129. Guru’s presence elevates and inspires the disciple with tremendous spiritual vibrations. The greatness of Guru rests in transforming the lower nature of the disciple.
130. To take refuge in the adorable feet of Satguru is the way of life.
131. The way of Saranagati or self-surrender to Guru is the way of God-realisation.
132. None can enjoy eternal bliss unless he is having an unwavering faith in his Guru.
133. Whatever Guru does, though it may appear to be unjustifiable, is right.
134. Unswerving and unflinching faith in the teachings of Guru is the root of real Guru-Bhakti.
135. Guru always dwells in the heart of his disciple.
136. Kabir says, “Guru and Govinda, both of them, stand before me. To whom shall I bow? Blessed is the Guru who showed me the Govinda.”
137. Only a Guru can show divine light to his worthy Chela.
138. Guru takes his disciples from the unreal to the real, from the mortality to immortality, from darkness to light, from the materialism to spirituality.
Guru–The Benefactor of the World
139. A real Guru can change the destiny of the disciple.
140. Satguru is a prophet and a messenger of God, is a cosmic friend and benefactor of the world. He is a guiding star to the suffering mankind.
141. By serving the true Guru the noose of time is destroyed, the sacred words of wisdom of Guru enter the heart of disciple. There is no release without Guru’s Grace.
142. He who has turned his face from the path of Guru-Bhakti Yoga goes from death to death, from darkness to darkness, and from ignorance to ignorance.
143. It is only the word of the great teacher that like thrashing sunbeam, lights up, through the darkness of the illusions of the world, the path of humanity which men and women try to follow according to their inherited capacity.
144. The Guru’s Grace itself will enable one to understand true purpose of life and to have a burning desire to realise the Self.
145. Guru Kripa is the most vital internal antiseptic, universal antibiotic against the bacteria of all the vices in the heart of the disciple.
146. Grace of the Guru will flow as easily as water flows from the one pot to another if one establishes continuous unbroken contact with his Guru.
147. Guru Kripa or Kataksha cannot be attained by mere mechanical prostration to Guru. It can be obtained only when one translates Guru’s teachings, in life.
148. Before retiring to bed, disciple should introspect as to how far he has obeyed in carrying out Guru’s orders.
149. Every day the disciple before he starts his service to his Guru, should resolve that he would serve the Guru with more devotion and obedience than the previous days.
150. Even the little faith in Guru and scriptures will vanish in no time by bad company.
The Need for Moral Perfection
151. Those who want to cultivate true devotion to the sacred feet of Master should overcome all sorts of evil habits viz., smoking, betel-chewing, snuffing, drinking, gambling, film-going, novel and newspaper-reading, fashion, jilli-jallying, meat-eating, pilfering habit, sleeping in day time, dilly-dallying, using slang terms, back-biting, criticising, etc.
152. Those who want to practise Yoga of Guru-Bhakti should develop all divine virtues viz., truthfulness, justice, non-violence, will-power, toleration, sympathy, self-reliance, self-confidence, self-restraint, self-denial, self-analysis, perseverance, patience, mercy, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, forbearance, endurance, equanimity, determination, discrimination, dispassion, renunciation, courage, cheerfulness and moderation in everything.
153. Why do you search in vain for pleasures outside. Approach the feet of Satguru and enjoy the bliss eternal.
154. Faith and devotion to the feet of Satguru are the two wings which enable the disciple to ascend the peak of perfection.