Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Guru Gita Discourse Two

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sri Guru Gita
(The Guru Disciple Paradigm)

Achintya-avyaktaruupaaya Nirgunaaya Gunaatmane
Samastha-jagadaadhaara Muurthaye Brahmane Namah

Salutations to Brahman, the Supreme Being, who is incomprehensible and of unmanifest form and who is with and without attributes and who is the support of the whole universe!

Comments: Sant Kabir once said that if God and Guru were to come together before him, he would first bow at the feet of Guru; for it was Guru who made him experience God! Though the Supreme Light of Consciousness (Nirguna Brahman, Brahman without attributes) is the changeless Reality, it can be experienced only through the existential binary - the Jeevatma (Individual Soul) and Paramatma (Saguna Brahman, the Supreme Manifested Self with attributes).


The individual soul is only a relative truth in as much as that it has no independent and permanent existence of its own. Jeevatma is tethered to the Supreme Manifested Self, like the wave is to the ocean, like the child is to its father. The universe comprising of all souls has its support and sustenance in this Supreme Manifested Self, the Saguna Brahman. It is the cosmic projection of Nirguna Brahman and indivisibly cohabitant. That is the reason, Guru, the Saguna Brahman, is realized and worshipped as Brahman itself. Guru Gita tries to project this truth throughout its discourse.

This mantra is both the invocation and definition of God. In beautiful terms, it tries to define God as the Unknowable and Indefinable Support of the Universe, the Eternal Truth, with and without Attributes.

Mukundan

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Sri Guru Gita -Discourse One


Gurucharanam Saranam

Sri Guru Gita
(The Guru Disciple Paradigm)

Paramaachaarya Padapraaptam, Paramaatma Swaruupakam
Karunaakara Gurum Vande, Bhavaroga Bhishagwaram

My obeisance to Sri Karunakara Guru, who has attained the seat of Supreme Guru-hood and who is the embodiment of the Absolute Truth and is the healer of the affliction that is life on the earth plane!

Comments: This mantra is an invocation to Guru seeking his blessings. It is an ancient practice that when we commence a work, first we pray to Guru and at the end, the whole action is submitted at the lotus feet of Guru. All our actions and thought files are submitted at the Divine Server called GURU so that he might keep them safely in our folders available with Him.

It would also be beneficial if we recollect all our thoughts and actions of the day before going to bed, so that we can analyze them in our mental screen and make subjective amendments wherever required. Please remember, virtue or vice, pain or gain, right or wrong, everything has to be submitted at the lotus feet of Guru. It is a subjective process that could help in our harmonious mind-soul integration. The residues of conflicts work subjectively and create ripples of disharmony in the mind and body level leading to ailments in the form of worry, tension and so on.

We must understand that GURU is the Supreme everlasting Consciousness Screen of the universe. Every phenomenon in the universe is ultimately integrated, harmonized and supported in this universal screen called Guru. The afflictions arising out of the binaries of existence could be harmonized only on this plane of Absolute Truth. The thoughts and actions of ours that are not submitted at the feet of Guru are lost like forlorn and fallen leaves tossed about in the natural wind.

Mukundan

Sri Guru Gita- Introduction

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sri Guru Gita
(The Guru disciple paradigm)

An Introduction

The grand narrations of ancient India are mostly found in Sanskrit verse, have a meandering form and are made up of numerous interconnected stories and advices. They often enshrine laws of life, great mystical truths and cosmic visions. Skanda Purana is one such grand narration depicting the ancient saga of Skanda, the mighty warrior who fought with skill to overcome the dark powers that troubled the world. Skanda, whose many other names include Kumara, Shanmukha, Subramanya, Karthikeya and Muruga is fabled in Indian mythology to be the son of a greater father, none other than the Siva, lord of dance, the conqueror of death and the powerful deity of dissolution and destruction.

Guru Gita occurs as part of the Uttarakanda of Skandapuranam. In spite of being only a part of a larger text, it is complete in itself. Further, it is an Arcanum containing the most vital law of life – the cosmic law of GURU – and is therefore perennially relevant to the world. It would not be wrong if we conclude that such visionary literature was made possible by a great tradition of spirituality that thrived in those times in the distant past as a result of austerities of a long line of rishis, who were seekers of Truth. Such is the uniqueness and grace of this treasure trove in world literature.

It is not the literary quality alone that makes this text outstanding, nor its sacredness. Guru Gita contains that sense of direction which is crucial to save planet earth itself from the man-made disasters it is riddled with. The human race has to return to the righteous path by restoring its connection with the Light of the one Universal God and through this finding, its proper relationship with Nature. Needless to say that this involves the purification or cleansing of the human content.

Only when the human factor is correct can life be renewed with the infusion of compassion at all levels, ending violations of all kinds. All human affairs including politics, government and international relations need to be re-oriented on this basis. According to Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru, the powerful in the world is ‘conforming to the Vaisya’s way, a life-view clouded by ignorance and apathy’. The Vysya being the trader, who has created the market economy, considers only what is expedient. Expediency is the key word in today’s market culture. This can change only through individuals who change subject to spiritual intercession at the subtle planes and get oriented to basic values.

There is an interesting point to be noted here. Siva and Parvati are bonded in an ideal relationship. In sharing the secrets of god head Siva, the husband becomes Parvati’s guru. Parvathi, the wife is such an evolved disciple as to elicit those spiritual secrets from him. Conventionally Indians fancy that a wife should treat the husband as a deity. That the husband has to earn such a position is never highlighted. Guru Gita by the very form it is conceived implicitly conveys this idealistic message to householders.

Guru Gita is in the form of a dialogue between Siva and his consort Parvati – the parents of Skanda. Again, the dialogue is conceived as a retrieval from the past (possibly from what might be termed as ‘aakashic records’) by sage Suuta who is endowed with the faculty of transcendental vision of a higher order. Sage Suuta was a disciple of Vyasa and the son of sage Loma. He was approached by a group of rishis who were eager to go into the depths of the law of Guru. Suuta, then contacts through his visionary wisdom the knowledge that was given by Siva to Parvati on the mystery of GURU. And Suuta relates it to the eager rishis. This exchange between Suuta and the rishis, it is said, took place in Naimishaaranyam, a forest endowed with great natural beauty where a number of spiritually evolved sages lived and strived for perfection. (This area is supposed to be the present Nimasar in Sitapur district in Uttarpradesh).

The number of verses in Guru Gita appears to vary from version to version. To wield a metallic stylus on palm leaves treated for the purpose of inscribing in order to make a copy of any book must have been a time consuming task before printing was invented. Patient and expert scholars only could have undertaken such a task. In the process of making such copies, omissions and additions could have naturally taken place.

The editorial team, who made this selection of verses from Guru Gita has examined some available versions of the text (with 356 verses and 182 verses etc.) Most of the 180 verses we have selected are common to all versions with negligible variations in the wording. However we have largely depended on the texts we have published earlier with interpretation of the verses in Malayalam. The first edition was prepared by Sri P.R. Nair and has 193 verses. The second edition was prepared by Sri K.P. Vaidyar and has 273 verses.

The most important criterion we applied in our selection of the verses was the closeness a verse has to our experience of our Guru, Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru. We have selected every verse that appeared to us as a description of our Guru. We have selected every verse that appealed to us as pointing to the mode of his work, vision and far reaching impact. We have also selected those verses that tell us how to relate to GURU. Among disciples there are many with awakened faculty of inner vision. The most evolved of them, Sishya Poojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini is the present spiritual head of the parampara. A mantra was revealed to her from the Supreme Light:

‘ AUM Sri Karunakara Guru Ateeva Satyaprakashaya Namah’

This is being chanted by the Santhigiri parampara for the last 14 years along with two earlier lines repeated from around 1968-69.

‘ AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Parabrahmane Namah
AUM Sree Karunakara Guru Sathyapradaya Namah’

These three lines show GURU as: 1) the ocean of mercy, 2) the Absolute Brahman, 3) the giver of Truth (Jnana) and 4) the Light Supreme. Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru represents the Light of God.

Guru
Guru – the two Sanskrit syllables ‘Gu’ and ‘Ru’ means the dispeller of darkness. That is a fully realized Guru is the Light of God. Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru is such a fully realized Guru who brings the Light of God to our world. An experienced disciple Carloz Guzman who came to Guru, like the three Maji of the East went to infant Christ, without address or information, was led by this Light. Gifted by strong extra sensory vision Carloz vouches for the greatness of Guru’s Light. He speaks of the process of transformation individuals undergo in Guru’s presence thus:

‘By simply being near Guru his immense Prakasham – Light will immediately start purifying your soul in a very powerful way’.

This experience of Carloz can be related to following verse from Guru Gita:
Abhyastai Kimu Deergha-kaala-vimalair-vyaadhi-pradair-dushkaraih
Praanaayaama-satair-aneka-karanaih Dukhaatmakai Durjayaih
Yasminnabhyudite Vinasyati Balii Vaayuh Swayam Tatkshanaat
Praaptam Tat Sahaja-swabhaavam-anisam Seve Tamekam Gurum

(What is the use with practices like Pranayama and several hundreds of other means that cleanse the soul prolonged, that produces affliction, that are strenuous, miserable and unattainable? On whose appearance (or presence), the uncontrollable life force (the Prana) becomes immediately subdued on its own, only that Guru, who has attained the ever abiding form, should be served always).

Guru is the Master of not only our soul but all the influences that affect it. He is the Master of our destiny, our ancestors and successors. Hear what Herman Nenning; another disciple of Guru has to say about it.

‘The complexities of the spirit world have direct influence on this life on the earth plane. Spirits of our ancestors (pitrus) and the deities they worshipped while they lived have astral links with us. From their various spheres, these entities could be good or evil. Guru severs their links with us, and they are helped at the astral level by Guru. According to what they deserve, some of them are even liberated by Guru, some others are guided to be reborn. Those who are irretrievably evil could be even destroyed’.

Mr. Nenning had an issue to tackle:
‘My younger brother had taken to heavy drinking. He had closed up and after repeated efforts and much coaxing, he let his secret out. He was being haunted by evil apparitions. These entities even entered his body and tried to push him out of his body. No matter where he slept, these forces followed him. Every night he had these terrifying experiences. His way out was alcohol, even as a temporary solution, from this astral tyranny…’

Nenning had approached several adepts before for a solution to this problem. All of them had prescribed elaborate rituals in temples… Guru when informed of this responded differently. Your brother is attacked by spirits’, He said, ‘there is a solution here – Guru Pooja. But it is not easy. Means a lot of responsibility for you, you have to understand many things as well’.
In the Guru Pooja, there was no pooja, rites or ritual involved. The disciple ordained by Guru to do the ‘sankalpam’ to effect this spiritual intercession, did it at Guru’s behest. All Nenning did was to attend all the prayers in the Ashram prayer hall on the day this was done.Here is what Nenning had to say about the result.

‘After two weeks I reached Germany. My brother came to receive me. I asked him: ‘How are you?’ He answered, ‘I don’t know how, since two weeks I could sleep well and am completely free of the fear which troubled me’.

On hearing this Nenning introduced Guru to his brother for the first time. He was naturally astonished. Herman says that ‘Guru could, from such a distance and, without ever seeing effect a remedy to his problem was unbelievable!’

Later when Herman got closer to Guru he mustered the courage to ask Guru how many souls were freed from their stagnation through Guru Pooja. ‘Between five to ten thousand’ was the answer.

The Ashram does not have an exact account of families Guru has accorded this rarest of the rare act of grace. The number runs to several thousands. This act of grace had started in 1972. This aspect of Guru can be related to:

Kulaanaam Kula-kotiinaam Taarakah Tatra Tatkshanaat
Atastam Sadgurum Jnaatwaa Trikaalam-abhivandayet
(It takes mere seconds for the Guru to save clans of men, millions of them. Therefore, knowing that perfect Guru, worship him during the three turns (sunrise, noon and sunset) of the day).

This work of unparalleled grace is going on ever after Guru left his physical form and merged in the Supreme Radiance of the Almighty. His Will works through Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, his closest disciple who is the present spiritual head of the parampara. Guru’s picture comes to our mind in the lines:

Hridambuje Karnika-madhya-samsthe Simhaasane Samsthita- divya-moortim
Dhyaayet Gurum Chandra-kalaa-prakaasam Sachit-sukhaabheeshta-varam Dadhaanam
Swetaambaram Sweta-vilepa-pushpam Muktaa-vibhuusham Muditam Dwinetram
Vaamaanga-peetta-sthita-divya-saktim Mandasmitam Poorna-
kripaa-nidhaanam
(That divine form of Guru is to be meditated upon, who is in the throne, situated in the middle of the petals of the lotus-shaped heart, radiating like the luminous moon, and giving the coveted boon of transcendental joy. I ever salute that Guru robed in white, wearing white flowers and pearls, who is the basis of absolute compassion, who is with jubilant eyes, and ever abiding ‘divine power’ and pleasant smile).

He did not customarily wear white flowers and pearls but was always dressed in immaculate white. We get a clear picture of our Guru in:

Mohaadi-rahitah Saanto Nitya-tripto Niraasrayah
Trineekrita-Brahma-Vishnu-vaibhavah Paramo Guruh
(Free from all delusions and sorrows, calm and eternally satisfied, needing no support, and wielding incomparable power that makes naught the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara, is the Supreme Guru).

We have realized:
Na Guroradhikam Tatwam Na Guroradhikam Tapah
Na Guroradhikam Jnaanam Tasmai Sree Gurave Namah

(My salutations to that auspicious Guru, other than whom there is no greater truth, no greater penance and no greater knowledge).

As far as we, Guru’s disciples, are concerned there is no philosophy, no law that is above our Guru. Guru’s words are the mantras that rescue from life’s crises. Guru’s form is a reason for us to meditate. We spontaneously keep on remembering Him. His sacred lotus feet inspires all our worship.

Dhyaana-moolam Guror-muurthih Poojaa-moolam Guroh Padam
Mantra-moolam Guror-vaakyam Mukthi-moolam Guroh Kripaa
(The basis of meditation is the form of Guru. The basis of worship is the feet of Guru. Mantra results from the words of Guru. The basis of liberation is the compassion of Guru).

In short we are convinced that our Guru Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru is none other than God – the Absolute Brahman:

Durlabham Trishu Lokeshu Tacchrunushwa Vadaamyaham
Gurum BrahmaVinaa Naanyat Satyam. Satyam Varaanane.
(Oh beautiful one! I will tell you that which is very rare in the three worlds. Please listen. Guru is none other than the Absolute Brahman – God Himself. This verily is the truth).

Our Guru is God, though he himself said:

“ I am only a means......”

How else can we experience God except through the perfect, fully realized, true GURU. And a number of persons who came in contact with our Guru have realized that He is a perfect, fully realized Guru.

The spiritual head affirms this through her exalted vision. Other visionary renunciants affirm this. Several householder disciples affirm this. All have seen Guru being worshipped by countless devis, devas, angels, prophets – souls of great evolution. Rishi Ratna Jnana Tapaswini gives an account of her experiences thus:

‘Once during our school excursion it was planned that we would be visiting Dharmasthalam, which is famous for its ancient temples and other holy places. Along with my friends when I came in front of the sanctum where the idols were placed, I saw the deities in reality and they were standing with folded hands in the prostrating manner. A question crept up in my confused mind why should these powerful deities offer namaskaram to me, when lacks of people all over the world came here to offer salutations to them. The teacher from back started to call us to come fast. When I turned back, it was then that the doubts in my small mind were cleared. Guru with his gentle and consoling smile was standing in a bright radiance greater than that of these deities just back of me. Then only I realized that these deities were actually prostrating to Guru. In a similar manner, I started to receive visions where I saw crores of Devi-Devas, rishis, sanyasins, and prophets of all religions with their entire parampara surrendering to my Guru. It was from then on I started to realize and recognize the greatness and the mission of my Guru”

As a mark of devotion to our beloved Guru, we offer this selection of Guru Gita verses at His lotus feet, the most holy abode of all knowledge, dharma and experience.


(Note: This is an introduction by Smt. O.V. Usha to Sri Guru Gita)
Courtesy Santhigiri Publications, Santhigiri Ashram