Hariḥ Om, everyone. Wishing you all the best on this auspicious occasion. Guru Purnima - Some Reflections- Swāmi Paramārthānanda ji Om. Spiritual seekers who have read books, attended lectures and acquired some knowledge may get a doubt - do we require a guru for Self-Knowledge? Can we not gain the knowledge of the Truth with our intuitive power and independent effort and with Gods grace? We gain knowledge - both spiritual and secular - with the help of our intellect. If we reflect a little, we realize that our knowledge of the world is limited. Even after many centuries, scientists are still struggling to gain knowledge of our own body. It is only recently that the genome, the basic building block of the human body, was decoded and that too after many years of intense effort. The implications are yet to be understood. When we have not fully understood the world in all its facets, how is it possible to gain knowledge of the absolute Truth that is beyond time & space? With our limited intellect, we can never understand the ultimate reality. The scriptures mention six limitations of the human intellect : Ajnanam, Samshaya, Viparyaya, Pramada, Vipralabdhi and Apatukaranathyam. Ajnanam (ignorance) : The intellect in an ignorant intellect. Ignorance precludes understanding. Only a few top scientists can understand the theory of relativity. The more knowledge we acquire, the better will be our capacity to understand. Samshaya (doubt) : Human knowledge will always be characterized by doubt. The more we study the more doubts we will get. We cannot be sure whether we are right or wrong. This is especially true in science. A scientist puts forward a theory only to be refuted a few years later by another scientist. Light was believed to travel in straight lines until Einstein discovered that the path of a ray of light is influenced by the presence of dense objects such as black holes. Viparyaya (error) : We acquire knowledge with the help of our faculties ( eyes,ears,etc.) and instruments and in using these, we are liable to make errors. The eye is prone to parallax error, improper use of instruments will lead to error. Errors arising out of the use of our faculties or instruments lead to errors in observations that inturn lead to erroneous knowledge. Even if our observations are accurate, we can make errors in judgment. Since the sun appears much bigger in size during sunrise and sunset than at noon, we may think the sun is closer to the earth during these times than at midday when infact the reverse is true. Paramada (negligence , oversight) : When we study a particular phenomenon, there can be negligence, carelessness, oversight etc. Meteorologists study many factors and predict the weather. Sometimes they issue a new forecast (invalidating an earlier forecast) stating or rather admitting that they neglected to take some factors into consideration while preparing the earlier forecast. Vipralabhdhi (deception) : Our vision, knowledge and ideas are often influenced by other peoples opinions. We blindly believe what we read in the newspaper especially if it enjoys a good reputation. Are large dams beneficial? Do the advantages (capacity to store a large amount of water, electricity generation etc.) outweigh the disadvantages (enormous cost, submerging vast tracks of land, uprooting entire communities etc.) ? Our knowledge and opinion is invariably based on the articles we read that may not be objective but prejudices or biased. Apatukaranathram (limitation of instruments) : Our knowledge and ability to study a phenomenon will always be restricted to the capacity or limitations of the instruments we use including our own faculties. The ear can hear sounds only within a certain frequency range. Dogs can hear sounds inaudible to humans. Animals can discern smells ,humans cannot. Every instrument has its own capacity. Even with the most powerful microscope or telescope we cannot see objects smaller than a certain size or beyond a certain distance. Thus we will never know the world as it really is. Due to the limitations of the intellect, we can never know the truth by ourselves, be it secular or spiritual. We require a Guru. When we require a Guru (teacher, coach) for music, dance or sports, can we even even imagine acquiring spiritual knowledge purely by self effort? Sankara says even the most intelligent person should not try to acquire Self - Knowledge independently. What will happen if we attempt to study the scriptures on our own? Our efforts will not lead to knowledge but only confusion.Vidyaranya says in Anubhutiprakasa : Vedantanamanekatvath Samsayanaam bahutvataha : | Vedyasyatisookshmatvaath na jaanati Gurum vina || There are many scriptures and these contain many statements that are seemingly contradictory. The reality to known is extremely subtle ( it is subtler than the subtlest ) that cannot be known without a Guru. How are we going to interpret or resolve these contradictions? We need a Guru. We can never learn the scriptures by independent study. A question may arise. Some mahatmas have attained the knowledge without the help of a Guru or the scriptures. How is this possible? Every rule has an exception. When we cite a rule, we do not consider the exceptions. Perhaps these mahatmas acquired knowledge in a previous birth. Or perhaps they had a guru whom we may be unaware of. Who is a Guru? Some people say the atma is Guru. The atma will teach me. This is a big misconception. The atma has always been with us but it cannot do anything including teaching. If the atma can be a Guru, we would have already gained Self-Knowledge. Others claim the world as a guru. The entire world is a university and every experience is a lesson. What we learn from the world depends on what on what we already know and our state of mind. The same experience is likely to be interpreted by people in different ways. The knowledge gained from the world is subject to ones own bias and limitations. So the atma or the world can never be Gurus . A Guru is a live person who communicates the teaching of the truth contained in scriptures to shisya. An acharya who has departed from the world can never be our Guru however great he may be. It is to emphasize this aspect that in many scriptures including Upanishads, Self-Knowledge is presented in the form of a samvaada or dialogue between Guru & shisya, the most well-known example being Bhagavad-Gita. Scriptural teaching is initiated by the shisya who approaches the Guru and says I want to know the truth, please teach me. The Guru imparts knowledge of the ultimate reality to the student. We may wonder - will there not be defects in the teaching since the Guru ( and the knowledge he teaches ) also suffers from a sixfold limitation of the intellect? The Guru cannot expound his philosophy. He must communicate the teaching of the scriptures that he acquired from his Guru who acquired it from his Guru and so on, the adi Guru or the first Guru being the Lord Himself. Why is the teaching presented in the form of a dialogue ( and not a monologue) ? If a student sincerely listens to the teaching, he will surely get doubts (since the subject matter is subtle). The student is enjoined to ask questions and get the doubts cleared. When the teacher explains, the student may get new doubts. Again the student must ask the teacher. Thus the teaching is a conversation that goes back and forth between the teacher and the taught : in other words a dialogue. In Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna puts many questions to Krishna, sometimes asking the same questions again and the Lord patiently answers them all. The scriptures discuss three types of Gurus: Uttama,Madhayama and Kanishta.An uttama Guru is one who has studied the scriptures systematically from his Guru. He is called a srotriya meaning one who is well versed in the scriptures. He must have understood the teaching, assimilated the teaching and also enjoyed the benefits of the knowledge. He is a role model and a saddguru. He is a Brahma-nishta meaning one who abides in Brahman. Such a Guru is called srotriya Brahma-nishta. He is an example of Self-knowledge and his teaching gives ananda(fulfilment). A Madhyama Guru is one who has studied the scriptures very well but due to some obstacle is not able to assimilate the teaching. He has the scholarship but is unable to enjoy the benefits of the knowledge. He is not a Brahma-nishta but kevala (mere) srotriya. Even though he has not assimilated the teaching, he will not misguide because he has learnt. He is like a professor of finance who explains and teaches very well but is unable to manage his own finances. A kanishta Guru is one who has gained Self-Knowledge and abides in the Truth as an exceptional case without the help of Guru or the scriptures. Since he has not studied under a Guru, he does not have the methodology of teaching and since he has not studied the scriptures he is not srotriya. Such a Guru is called kevala (mere) Brahma-nishta. He mind is an extraordinary mind. He is a spiritual genius. Such Gurus are mystic people. They have not traveled by the ordinary road. Such a Guru has the knowledge of the Truth but does not have the mode of communication because he cannot understand the ordinary mind. As a teacher, a Kanishta Guru will fail because he has not had the benefit of a Guru or the scriptures. We can approach such a Guru prostrate to him and seek his blessings but not ask for knowledge. To acquire spiritual knowledge we must go to a uttama Guru or a Madhyama Guru. How can we identify a Uttama Guru? Only one strotriya Brahma-nishta can identify another strotriya Brahma-nishta. It takes one genius to appreciate another. Our search for a Uttama Guru will be an exercise in futility. We get a Guru purely by the grace of the Lord. When our thirst for spiritual knowledge becomes intense it will become the Lords responsibility to provide us with a Guru. A Guru does not have greatness of his own. A Guru is great only because of the shastra. The shastra has its own greatness. A Gurus greatness is conditional greatness. A shastras greatness is unconditional greatness which the Guru is aware of. Initially the shishya approaches the Guru attracted by the Gurus personality. The teacher tells the student I am great only because of the shastra and holds the mirror of the scriptures wherein the student sees his own self and his own glory. Thereafter the shishya holds the mirror. The Guru drops the mirror and leaves, meaning the student must hold on to the scriptures and not the Guru. In advertising it is common to use models or celebrities to promote products. Sometimes we may find the model so attractive or the celebrity may be so well known that we remember the personality not the product. A model must be sufficiently attractive or a celebrity sufficiently well known to capture the attention of the audience but not overly attractive or too well known to divert their attention away from the product. A Guru is like a model or a celebrity promoting the product of Brahmavidya. A Guru who attracts students must ensure that their attention and focus is always on the teaching and not on the personality. If a Guru is revered more than the shastra, it becomes a cult. In a cult the person becomes superior to the teaching. In our tradition, a teaching is superior to the person. A Guru who has a created a cult has failed. Human birth is rare. Desire for self-knowledge is rarer. Getting a Guru for self-knowledge is rarest. Such a Guru is worshipped on Guru purnima. On this day we do not worship our Guru alone but the entire Guru parampara, the emphasis is on the scriptures and the shastric tradition. We seek the grace of the Guru parampara so that we can learn the shastra. We look at ourselves in the mirror of the scriptures and learn to enjoy our own beauty.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 12:33:03 +0000
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