Guru and Disciple by Dada Bhagwan (web ebook reader .txt) 📖

rule as a blanket rule. If a person does not have a guru in this life, then he would have definitely met one in his previous life!

Questioner: In Eklavya’s case, he did not learn from Dronacharya guru, but instead he learnt in front of the guru’s idol!

Dadashri: He learned everything in his previous life. The idol was his nimit in this life. One needs a guru in every lifetime.

Questioner: Then can one say, “Only the guru from my previous life will do everything for me.” So is it necessary to have a guru in this lifetime?

Dadashri: But you may not be able to find him in this lifetime and you may not even need him. You may even meet him in another lifetime.

Nevertheless, you still have a very long way to walk ahead of you. You will need many gurus. You will need a guru until you attain moksha (final liberation). You will not need a guru after you attain the right vision (samkit). These talks about a guru are very serious. You cannot do without a guru.

‘Guru is not necessary’ is a false statement

Questioner: Many saints say that there is no need to have a guru.

Dadashri: People who say such a thing are only talking about themselves. The world will not accept what they say. The entire world accepts the guru. Sometimes you may get a bad guru, but eradicating the word ‘guru’ altogether, will not do.

Questioner: Many people do not make a guru.

Dadashri: That is never so. The reason behind India’s current predicament is that people have started to preach, ‘Do not make a guru.’ Otherwise, India has always been a country that believed, “No matter what, you must have at least one guru (spiritual master).”

Guru is necessary in worldly and spiritual endeavors

Questioner: What difference does it make whether there is a guru or not?

Dadashri: If you do not have a guru, what would you do if while walking on a road, you come across seven more roads? Which road will you pick?

Questioner: I would take the road that my mind accepts.

Dadashri: No, the mind will accept the one that will make you wander. You cannot call that a path. That is why you need to ask and make someone your guru. Make someone your guru and ask him which way you are supposed to go. One cannot take even a small step in this world without a guru.

Did you have teachers when you were at school?

Questioner: Yes.

Dadashri: Wherever you go, you need a teacher. Tell me an instance when you have not needed a teacher.

Then did you not need a professor in college?

Questioner: Yes I did.

Dadashri: Therefore,one will need a guru above him the moment he is born as a human. He will need a guru when he goes to school and he will need one when he goes to college. There are so many kinds of gurus. Those studying high school will need a high school guru; at that level, a first grade teacher will not do. There are many different types of gurus. No one has just one type of guru. The kind of guru one will have, will depend on what he is studying.

Then when you read a book, is the book not your guru? Unless a book is your guru, you will not read it. Do you not read something only if it is educational and beneficial to you?

Questioner: Yes, that is right!

Dadashri: You have been learning from books and you have benefited because of them. If a book shows you the way and gives you directions, then is that book not your guru? Therefore, even a book is your guru.

You learn from teachers, from books, from people; all are considered gurus. So is the whole world not your guru?

Questioner: Today’s psychology says that one should leave the outside support and rely on one’s own support. The outside support, whatever it may be, makes a person dependant. If a seeker uses external support he becomes dependant and therefore handicapped.

Dadashri: That should not be the way; one should not become handicapped by relying on external support. One should leave the external support and live on his own support, but until one can rely on his own support, he must rely on external naimittic (instrumental support). Does a book become a nimit (an instrument) or not? Is everything not in a nimit form? That is why if today’s psychology tells you to let go of your support, you should let go of that support to some extent. However, you do need to take support to some extent; you need the support of books and many other things.

One man was saying that he did not need a guru, so I asked him, “Tell me who did not have a guru? Is your mother, who instilled noble values within you, not a guru? The one who said to you, ‘Son do this way, okay? Be cautious. Be careful here’ etc.; if she is not a guru, then what is she?”

Questioner: That is true.

Dadashri: So the mother is the first guru. She will teach the son how to wear clothes. A child has to learn even that and his mother teaches him. She teaches him how to walk and do other things. In which lifetime has he not walked? He has walked for infinite lifetimes, but he has to learn the same thing again and again.

If the wife is not at home and you want to make kadhee (thin gravy made out of yogurt and various spices, usually eaten with rice), you will have to ask someone about the ingredients! Whomever you ask is a guru. So there is a need for a guru wherever you go. You need a guru for everything. Now, if you need some legal work done, your lawyer is your guru. Do you agree? So regardless of what you do and where you go, you need a guru. The guru is necessary everywhere.

Questioner: So if one wants to go all the way to moksha, he will need a guru.

Dadashri: You need a guru for wherever you want to go. If you are traveling by car and want to take the highway, then you (may) need to ask someone, if not, you will end up traveling in the wrong direction. A guru is necessary in matters related to the worldly life and a guru is needed in matters of nischay (spiritual path). Therefore, it is important to understand what a guru is and who can be called a guru.

A Guru is anything or anyone you learn from

Questioner: So as far as religion is concerned, should we have just one guru or should we have multiple gurus?

Dadashri: It is like this: You should maintain the intention (bhaav) of being a student or a disciple in every situation. In reality, you should make the whole world your guru. You can learn from even the trees. What do we do to the mango tree? In order to pick the mango off the tree, we use a stick and beat at the branches, but even then, the tree gives us its fruit. If we learn just this virtuous attribute from the tree, how well we would progress spiritually! The tree too is a jiva (embodied soul)! It is not just a piece of wood.

Questioner: Dattatreya made some animals his guru. In what sense was this?

Dadashri: Not only Dattatreya, everyone does that.

Everyone makes animals their gurus, but these people do not call the animals their gurus, whereas Dattatreya did! If someone were to beat an animal, it would flee. That is what people have learned; they have learned that if someone beats them, they should run away. People have learned this from the animals.

Moreover, you will not attain liberation by calling just the animals your guru; you will have to make the entire world your guru in order to attain liberation. If you make every living being your guru, and learn whatever you can from them, you will attain liberation. God is present in every living being so if you embrace and learn from them, you will attain liberation.

Did you understand the concept of a guru?

Questioner: Yes.

Dadashri: Your experiences too are your guru. Your experiences will guide you from within. The experience, which does not become a cause to guide you, is not an experience. That is why these are all gurus.

One man was limping and another man began to make fun of him and laugh at him. A little later, he happened to meet me and told me that he had made fun of someone, but then suddenly he realized what he was doing and asked himself whether he saw the Soul within the limping man. He said he immediately became aware of Gnan.

So everything teaches us. Every experience teaches us something. If just once, someone were to pick your pocket, that experience will teach you a lesson and that lesson will remain with you.

If you can learn from a dog, you should learn from it. Even dogs can be considered gurus. A dog can be sitting here for an hour and half, then if we give him some food, he will eat only as much as he can and will leave the rest. He will not be greedy or have

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Text: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Images: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Publication Date: 07-07-2017

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