Guru-Bhakti YogaHis teaching on the Guru
HOW TO OBTAIN GURU-KRIPA
Swami Chidanandaji’s Speech on 2nd September, 1952.
Revered Immortal Selves,
I shall just put before you all a few worship words, especially as today is most auspicious to the divinity manifest as the Guru. Therefore I shall speak on Guru and Guru Kripa. Here in this Ashram we are looking at Guru and Guru-Kripa topsy-turvy. Guru serves the disciple; and the disciple gives instruction to the Guru and he has to obey. If this is true, then I think we have to try to once again set right this topsy-turvy attitude.
We have been told by our scriptures that Guru-Kripa is a wonderful, mysterious factor, that will enable the aspirants to seek and to attain the summum bonum of life, Self-realisation, Darshan of God, Moksha or whatever it is; whether the disciple does Sadhana or not, whether he is deserving or undeserving, the Guru-Kripa sets aside all normal laws that operate in the spiritual self and takes one to the transcendental bliss. If we are to believe the scriptures, we should say that besides Guru-Kripa there is nothing needed for us to attain perfection in life.
Side by side, if this factor also is true that Guru is an Infinite Ocean of Mercy, that His Kripa ever showers upon all seekers whether they are worthy or unworthy, whether they are qualified or not, then by this time we must all have been already Apta-Kamas full of Bliss. Is that so? No. We find very much to our vexation that we are caught up: ignorance is there; illusion is there; we are deceived at every turn by our own lower self.
Wherein lies the defect? Which is the untruth? If both the above statements are true and yet disciples are still very much earth-earthy, something else must be wrong somewhere else. What is that something else? We don’t have the temerity to say that the scriptures are untrue. At the same time, we do not also assert that the Guru is not compassionate, the Guru does not shower his Kripa upon us.
If we reflect upon this some factors come up before us which are worthy of serious consideration. Guru Kripa is undeniably a divine force that can turn even a stone into the Infinite Satchidananda, leave alone a conscious being. There is absolutely not the least bit of exaggeration in the statement and the fact that the Guru is always gracious. But, then, Guru-Kripa has not only to be bestowed, not only to be given; but it has also to be received. In receiving it, we immortalise ourselves; divinise ourselves.
Unlimited charity may be bestowed by a generous-hearted donor who calls upon all who are in need to come and take. But not all the wealth of the world will be of any avail to an indigent one if he will not avail himself of this great opportunity and become a receiver. And therefore it is that the great Lord Jesus said: “Seek and it shall be found; knock and it shall open unto you; ask and it shall be given.” It was not as there was any dearth of the divine munificence, divine grace or Guru-Kripa. Light was not lacking; but then there was a Law that we have to ask, we have to seek and we have to knock and having done it we must be ready to receive it. If this is present, then Guru-Kripa is all the wonders; it will flow into us and raise us to the highest realm of immortality, eternal light and infinite bliss.
But, then, how can we receive it? How should we conduct ourselves if we are to be ready to receive this Grace? By discipleship. For, the question of Guru and Guru-Kripa arises only for the disciple. For such as are not of the category named disciple, it is not denied that mercy, compassion, grace and Ashirvad will not be given; but not Guru-Kripa. When I say Guru-Kripa, it is something special, something mysterious, something that bestows not anything merely of this earth, but gives the Highest Thing for which human life is there for. For a devotee may get the Ashirvad of a saint, the Kripa of a saint. He may also be blessed. He may also partake of the power of his compassion. But, for the attainment of the gift of Guru-Kripa, we have first to be disciples. Then alone have we taken the first step to qualify to become a proper recipient.
How is it that one may be a disciple? It is not the Guru that accepts the disciple; but the disciple has to first accept the Guru. If the disciple has first of all to render himself the Sishya, it is immaterial whether the Guru says “Yes, you are my Sishya” or does not; he becomes deserving of and a rightful claimant to Guru-Kripa.
We have to understand what the sacred thing disciple, constitutes. In asmuchas Guru-Kripa takes us to the Highest State, discipleship is qualifying ourselves to receive that highest state or the realisation of ourselves as Satchidananda. Therefore, first of all, we have to feel that our present state is something which is not part of our real nature, which is something undesirable, something which we have to get rid of, and that then alone we shall have peace, happiness. Let us reflect and analyse: how many of us have got this feeling. When I say our present state, I mean our present state as the Jiva, Spirit enmeshed in a very agonising cage of flesh and bone. How many of us feel that we are in a cage stifled, not able to breathe freely, and sincerely wish to break out of this cage? If we have this feeling, then we are trying to grow into discipleship. Then we can approach the Freed One; for the Guru is the Freed One and One capable of freeing us also. If we feel this pain and this agony of Jivatva, then we approach this Freed One and pray to him: “Oh, free us from this body.” This prayer may not be expressed or articulated; but this prayer must ever be recited from the innermost core of our being, every moment of our life. Then alone can we expect Guru-Kripa. If this pain and agony are not there, it is worthwhile trying to generate them. But, such is the covering wall of dark Maya that we are perfectly satisfied with our position! To feel the necessity of Mukti, Freedom, Divine Consciousness of the Higher Spiritual Life, we should resort to Satsanga, to study of scriptures, and we should paint vividly before our mental eye, the wretchedness of human life on earth. These things will generate Mumukshutva. Mumukshutva is the first step if we have even to think of Guru-Kripa. If we do not have this fiery Mumukshutva, let us not think of Guru-Kripa. Let us not talk about Guru-Kripa. We are unworthy.
First of all acquire this Mumukshutva. Then we have to serve the Guru. Service is that mysterious something which pulls down the barrier that stands between us and the influence of Guru Kripa. For, if we have to be the proper receivers, it is service that removes the obstacles to this Bhava of the receiver. Ego is the greatest barrier. Our old set of self-conceit, preconceived notions, these form another formidable second barrier. For all this service is the effective barrier-breaker.
What is service of the Guru? Service of the Guru is to try our level best to carry out his Upadesh. Carry out the teachings of the Guru. Upon his sublime instructions we have to mould our life. We should also try to mould ourselves into that pattern which he himself is a visible ideal of. What is the secret of carrying out the instructions of the Guru to our humble best; it is a willing obedience of spirit. That is the most important thing. Readiness to bow completely down to earth. Accept him as the leader and obey him. This obedience should be assiduously cultivated: for, every aspect of our old nature, of our lower nature, our mental part, our Indriya, Antahkarana, try to see that we are prevented from developing this spirit of obedience because every time we move towards this attitude of obedience, the prompting will come from our old habit from our preconceived notions, “Let us go the way to which we have been accustomed.” This instinct of ages has to be overcome and broken down. There must be joy in obedience to the Guru and there should be a real craving in the spirit that ” I should obey.” To be a disciple, you should obey even in dream; the idea of doing anything which is contrary to the spirit of the Guru’s Upadesh should never arise in our consciousness. Day and night our Sadhana should be to cultivate this attitude to perfection. If this is done, we are sufficiently on the way to qualify ourselves to receive Guru-Kripa. This is the external part of the Sadhana.
Inwardly we have also to break down the old set of ideas which somehow or other has crept into us regarding the Guru, His Grace and its functions; what is GuruKripa and its function. It is a hard task. But this task has to be done. Because, to the disciple, the nature of the Guru is not human. We should be blind completely to the human side of the Guru and we should be conscious only of the divinity that he is. Then alone will we be able to partake of this Kripa which will transform us from the lower human into the transcendental divine. Our relationship with the Guru is purely divine, purely spiritual; and as long as we have not completely rubbed out the least vestige of human relationship with the Guru, we shall not be able to enter into the divine spiritual relation with the Guru. For being our Guru, we expect that he should relieve us of small troubles, bodily ills, financial difficulties, domestic problems, little paltry matters of this earthly life. We will get all that if we pray to the Guru. But that is all that you will get; nothing beyond that! No, that mysterious lofty thing called Guru Kripa–that will not flow into us. Therefore, first of all we shall try to efface all human relationships with the Guru. For that, subjectively, we have to work out an inner transformation; until that is done, his divine nature will not become fully revealed to us. As long as we consider ourselves to be human beings, earthly beings with all the wants, limitations and weaknesses of earthly beings, we cannot fully enter into the awareness of the Guru in his absolute, divine essence. Therefore, our Sadhana should be to generate the divine consciousness and shed off first our human consciousness. If we begin to live here as divine beings with a divine destiny, then gradually the Guru-Kripa and the divine aspect of the Guru will begin to manifest, and we shall begin to partake of the Guru-Kripa.
We have to make the start. Even in this prayer to the Guru will make our task easy. From the very beginning to the very climax, all have to be got from the divine source. Until we make ourselves fit and generate the divine consciousness that we are not the human beings, but we are souls in bondage who only need a little transforming touch of Guru-Kripa, we will not be able to fully make use of the Guru as the divine being.
To illustrate this point: A prince who has lost his heritage does not know that he is a prince, happens in his wanderings to stand before his father’s palace, being cowed down in the consciousness of a beggar. What is the maximum he will ask? He will ask: Give me shelter for night, give me food for the day. And, that is what he will get. Supposing this very prince is made to realise: ‘You are the heir to the kingdom’; then he will demand the whole kingdom. He will not demand food and shelter. He will go up to the king and say: O father! Make me king. Give me my heritage.
Similarly, we have first of all to develop in us the consciousness that we are immortal beings, we are in essence Satchidananda. Then we can demand that Satchidananda-consciousness from Guru and Guru will be able to give.
Ultimately, we have to take consideration of one more factor. Even if someone were to tell the prince that he is a prince and he is to go to his father and demand the heritage, perhaps, if he is a minor, the king may say: All right, give him a palace, and he will become entitled to his heritage, the kingdom, when he attains majority. Even so, there may be certain inner qualifications which are necessary for the full and effective reception of divine grace; until that is attained by the disciple, he will have to wait. Therefore, even after having seemingly attained all the qualifications of the ideal disciple, we have to wait in humility and in patience. We cannot arrogate to ourselves a perfection which is only visible to the discerning vision of a divine light. Patience and humility in the spiritual realm may have to extend over a period of a decade. We have to wait as a dog at the doorstep of the Guru for a whole lifetime, if need be. There is no loss here. For the goal is immortal life, freedom.
If we have become willing servants and willing obedient disciples, then it is the natural law that Guru Kripa will flow into us unasked. But, let us not commit the mistake of dictating to the Guru how his Kripa should flow into us. For, we have within ourselves desires, our own old traits and ambitions, our own ideas of what is good and bad, what is pleasant and unpleasant, desirable and undesirable; and we want Guru Kripa to conveniently adjust and adapt itself to our needs and fancies. Guru-Kripa may come in an unpleasant form. It may come in the form of a series of disappointments. We may think that Guru has not bestowed his Kripa upon us; but, that disappointment itself will be his Kripa! Many things may be seemingly good and pleasant; but it may be heartful to our own spirit; and that the Guru alone can perceive and judge. As a fond careful mother, he may deny us that desire, by subjecting us to seeming cruel disappointments. But it will be the greatest manifestation of Guru-Kripa, meant to remove all the obstacles and dangers that are on our path, and to take us nearer and nearer to the consciousness of Satchidananda. We are not fit to judge whether we are ready to receive Guru-Kripa or not and what form it would take.
The best thing is to humbly leave everything to the Guru. “I do not know whether I am even a disciple or not. Therefore O Ocean of Mercy and Compassion, pray, make me a proper disciple. Generate in me that Mumukshutva which makes me a disciple and give me the spirit of willing obedience. Help me in trying to follow thy instructions. Help me in trying to mould myself upon the pattern set up by thee”–this must be our constant prayer. And, by this alone shall we be able to draw the Kripa of our Guru and make our life fruitful. And the perfect way of praying is trying out best to be real disciples.