De discipel moet eerst de innerlijke Guru laten ontwaken

Amma’s boodschap voor Gurupurnima. 16 juli 2019 – Toronto – Canada

From the moment of our birth on this earth, through all the various phases of life that we travel through, up to the very moment of our death, there is always a Guru there to impart us knowledge. Our journey into the world of knowledge begins at home where we receive our first lessons from our mother and father. After that, throughout our life, we have so many Gurus. Knowledge is light; ignorance is darkness. The day that we remember with humility and gratitude all the Gurus that held our hand and led us from the world of darkness into the world of light is Guru Purnima. But most of the Gurus in this category are those give their students information regarding the ever-changing world and its objects. They don’t have the ability to give their students true knowledge about the world or the real nature of the Self. Attaining knowledge about the external world is merely gathering information. On the other hand, knowledge of the true essence of the world and our Self is knowledge born of discernment; that is the rise of true knowledge. The first type of knowledge continuously changes. The second type is the permanent and eternal truth. As disciples, the Guru holds our hand and guides us into the world of that knowledge that is the source of all other knowledge.

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The Guru-disciple relationship exists in all spheres of life. But the spiritual Guru-disciple relationship is incomparable. It is the greatest and purest of all relationships. It is the disciple’s love, devotion and faith in the Guru that maintains that purity and greatness. The spiritual Guru is detached and ever liberated—devoid of ego and likes and dislikes. Yet, the Guru is also the embodiment of limitless compassion and patience. This compassion and patience keep the disciple close to the Guru. This doesn’t mean that the Guru will forgive all the disciple’s indiscretions.A self-realized being has two facets—that of a Mother and that of a Guru. In this Kali Yuga, they are forced to stick to their Mother aspect over that of the guru. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to uplift the disciple. This is why AMMA often says, “Here, there are no disciples, only a Mother and her children.” The Guru is within the disciple. But in order for the disciple to awaken the Guru, the disciple first must awaken the Guru within the realized being. But in Kali Yuga, if the Guru truly manifests, only those with sincere dispassion and intent of the goal will be able to hold on. This is why AMMA gives more importance to the Mother aspect. It is like giving anesthesia before surgery. Only a Mother can compassionately forgive and tolerate all her children’s mistakes. This may not be possible for the Guru. Just as Nature requires us to abide by her laws, certain rules and traditions need to be followed in the presence a Guru. Mother Nature forgives all her children’s mistakes. But after a certain limit, she starts warning man’s ego by sending strong warnings. When the Guru tries to break the hard shell of the disciple’s ego, it can be painful. The disciple has fallen in love with his ego, nurturing it, thinking, “This is the truth.” But the Guru knows the real truth—the truth that there is an enormous tree hiding within the shell of the small seed. In order for the tree to break free, the shell of the ego must break open. But for this to happen, the disciple must cooperate. If a patient kicks and screams, how can any surgery be done? And even if a surgery is attempted, it will never succeed. This is why the doctor administers anesthesia. Similarly, the Guru’s love and affection are the anesthesia given prior to the surgery for saving us from samsara—the disease of the delusion that we are separate from God.

In the olden days, when disciples would live with the Guru during their schooling, the scriptures would be taught to them in detail. So, spiritual life wasn’t so difficult for them. Before jumping in those waters, they already knew the basics of swimming. Thus, the Guru would only have to watch them from a distance. One only really knows swimming, when they can stay afloat in deep water. If we don’t how, we can drown. The disciples of the past would already know how to swim—just not how to stay afloat in deep water. So, the Guru would just have to be like a lifeguard, making sure they didn’t drown. If we try to count from the beginning of the Guru-disciple tradition, tens of thousands of Gurupurnimas’ must have been celebrated by disciples. Celebrations are mere road signs, pointing us in the right direction. To understand the meaning of these celebrations, we need to go beyond the external pujas and traditional practices performed on this day. There are many relationships in human life. But, the relationship between a Guru and disciple cannot be counted as one of these worldly relationships. In reality, the only bond of love that is eternal and indestructible is the Guru-disciple relationship. In other relationships, the predominant factor is bondage. But, there is no bondage in the Guru-disciple relationship, because the Guru is the doorway that leads us from all bondage to ultimate freedom. All human relationships are like two small streams flowing along side of each other. The Guru-disciple relationship is entirely different. The disciple’s experience is that of a person standing under the powerful flow of the Ganges as it falls from the heavens onto the hair of Lord Shiva and from there onto Earth. The Spiritual master’s divine presence and endless flow of grace helps to purify the disciple.

In reality, the Guru is a mere presence. If someone were to ask, “Is the Master the body or the Self?” there would be no correct answer. The Guru is always in a state of oneness with the Supreme Self and hence has no feeling of ‘I’ or ‘mine’. Once the ego is destroyed then the physical body becomes like an empty shell. It has no connection with the Self. So because of this, the Guru cannot be the body. But, this is also incorrect, because we can only see the Guru’s body. The truth is that the Spiritual Master is merely a presence, like the infinite sky. For the Guru who has gone beyond likes and dislikes, there is no thought of, “I am the Guru and you are the disciple. I am superior and you are inferior.” The Master has no demands or requirements. Looking at it in this way, we will see that there is actually only the disciple in this relationship. The Guru should become the light of the full moon that never sets within the heart of the disciple. The Guru-disciple relationship is the everlasting connection we make with this divine presence.

The Guru tattwa (Guru principle) is eternal. Gurus lived these ideals in their lives. The disciples observed this and tried to live those ideals in their lives as well. God and the Guru are one. However, the Guru principle that elevates the soul to the state of liberation is beyond the divine principle. There is nothing whatsoever that the Guru needs to gain or do. He guides the disciple out of compassion alone. “The disciple has innumerable weaknesses and tendencies. It takes boundless patience to lead such a disciple. Sacrifice and austerity are ever ablaze in the Guru’s life. Every word from such Gurus is scripture. Their very life is scripture. They are also the ones who impart vitality to the scriptures. “Spirituality starts with compassion and ends in compassion. When we put a stone in a pond, ripples radiate from the stone and touch the shore. They then come back and reach the center. It begins with the center and ends with the center- the bindu. This central point is Love. ”

One may ask, “The scriptures say that God is within us and not different from our true nature. Then why should we seek refuge in a Satguru?” It is true that God is within us. We are, in truth, the embodiment of Sachidananda—pure existence, pure consciousness, pure bliss. But have we experienced this truth? No, it is being veiled by our ego. We hold the key to the massive treasure chest within us, but that key has become rusty due to a long period of lack of use. Just as we remove rust from a regularly key by applying grease, so too we have to remove the rust of our ahamkara and vasanas—our sense of “I” as a limited body and mind and our deep-rooted tendencies. This will help us realize our true nature. It is for this purpose that we seek refuge in a Satguru. This physical body of ours is nothing but a bundle of meat wrapped up in skin. It has nine doors. And we think “This body alone is me.” Moreover, we continually nourish this misidentification. The ego wants to make us feel superior to others and wants others to show us respect.Everything is God’s creation—except the ego. That is our creation. We have to find a way out of this creation of ours. A wave or a bubble in the ocean is, in reality, not different or separate from the ocean. But what if the bubble clings to the idea that it is just a bubble, not the ocean?In a similar way, we need to remember: “I am not just this bubble of body, mind and ego. I am the ocean itself.” This remembrance can be achieved only through engaging in continuous spiritual practices.

When we bow down to a Satguru, we become free from the ego.The truth of our True Self gets revealed. We experience that we are not different from God. God is our true nature. Everything else can be attained by self-effort, but the only way to be freed from the ego is through humility and surrender. The seed and the tree are not different from each other. The whole tree is contained in the seed. But unless the seed goes under the soil and germinates, it will never become a tree. Similarly, when the spirit of surrender dawns in a disciple, freedom from the ego takes place naturally. However much the guru tries to awaken the disciple, unless the disciple is ready to awaken from within, it will never happen. It’s easy to awaken someone who is sleeping, but it is impossible to awaken someone pretending to be asleep. When you break an egg by force, it puts an end to a life, but when the shell breaks from within, life is created anew. In a similar way, when the disciple awakens from within, it is like a rebirth happening. He or she awakens to their true nature. Being with a Satguru is like being a chick being warmed by the body of the mother hen. The guru’s presence creates the favorable climate in which the seeds of divinity within the disciple can sprout. The guru provides us opportunities. It is up to the disciple as to how they are used.

Once a guru knocked on a disciple’s door with a lamp in his hand. The disciple said, “Open the door and come in.” The guru said, “I cannot do that. This door can only be opened from within.” And so it is: the disciple has to open the doors of the heart to permit the entrance of the guru’s light.” Once we find a true Master, the scriptures are reborn. The Vedas and Upanishads are repeated. When we find such a Master our search ends there. All we need to do is to live in their presence and try to imbibe their sacrifice into our own lives. “In reality, there is no new message to deliver about spirituality. ‘Everything is God, there is nothing else but God.’ This is the only message. This is the single message in the Upanishads, Vedas, Bhagavad Gita and Puranas. When we say that there are 108 Upanishads, we should understand that it is actually, 108 different ways of conveying the same message.

“Amma’s only desire is for Her children to be happy. Happiness is within everyone, but we are not able to experience it. This is because of our likes and dislikes. We are in the grip of our ego and because of this we hold on to our likes and dislikes. In order to break away from the ego, we need the help of a Satguru. Amma’s goal is to give her children this strength and love. If we let go of our likes and dislikes, we will become fit vessels to receive the Guru’s ever flowing grace. We can become freed from our mind and become a blessing to the entire world.

“Today, each of you should take some kind of vow. Sharing with others, taking only what we need, this is spirituality in practice. Every night we should contemplate, “What good did I do today? Did I hurt anyone? Did I get angry with anyone? How can I prevent myself from making this mistake tomorrow?” In case we have done something good, we should think, “How can I do better tomorrow? How can I speak even kinder words tomorrow? Can I help someone? Can I donate 10 minutes of my time to the poor or needy?” When we contemplate like this, our entire life becomes filled with light. When we have light within, no darkness can affect us.

“All your actions and duties should be filled with the sweetness of love. It is that sweetness that transforms ordinary action into Guru Seva, or service to the Guru. Devoid of the sweetness of love, action is mere labor. Action that is performed only for material growth is also mere labor. However, action that is performed to develop love within and attain spiritual growth is Guru Seva. Such actions are worship of the Inner Self. That, indeed, is true devotion. This is the key to open the doors to our True Self. The purpose of this human birth is to know God, or our true Self.

“Each and every living being in nature is part of the Guru’s body. Loving and serving such a Satguru is the path to reach our true Self. It is the key to open the doors to our soul. It is the way, it is the goal, it is the path. May all Amma’s children awaken and rise in this love, may we all become lamps of love shedding light to the whole world.

May grace bless us all.”

“Ik ben het oneindige, ik ben volledigheid zelf”

Amma’s boodschap voor Guru Purnima. 27 juli 2018 – Amritapuri

De grootsheid van de Satguru ligt in zijn of haar onvergelijkelijke en oneindige aanwezigheid

Amma’s boodschap voor Gurupurnima. 9 juli 2017

“Er bestaan zoveel verschillende op liefde gebaseerde relaties in de wereld. Echter, de relatie tussen de Satguru en de discipel overstijgt al deze vormen van relatie. Gurupurnima is een dag om te contempleren op de grootsheid van een echte discipel, samen met die van een ware Meester. Dit komt omdat de Guru zich in het hart van de ware discipel bevindt. Een moeder of vader bestaat slechts wanneer een zoon of dochter bestaat. Op gelijke wijze schept een ware discipel de gelegenheid om de Guru in de Gerealiseerde Meester wakker te maken.

“De Guru is compleet en perfect. Dit is een staat van opperste gelukzaligheid waarin er niets meer gewonnen kan worden voor zichzelf of voor anderen. Net als de weidse lucht, de oceaan, de wind of de oneindig stromende rivier, is de Guru slechts een aanwezigheid. Wanneer de discipel deze aanwezigheid in zijn of haar hart doet ontwaken, ontspringt daar de relatie tussen de Guru en de discipel.

“De Meester heeft geen gevoel dat zegt: ‘Ik ben de Meester.’ Er is niets dat de wind, de zee, of de hemel hoeft te bewijzen of opeisen, omdat alle bewijs zich louter in hun aanwezigheid bevindt. Zo ligt het bewijs van de grootsheid van de Satguru in zijn of haar onvergelijkelijke en oneindige aanwezigheid. De liefde, devotie en het vertrouwen van de discipel, trekken zijn of haar aanwezigheid aan, en doen het Guru principe (Guru Tattva) in hen ontwaken.

“In werkelijkheid, kan het Guru Principe niet in woorden worden beschreven. De Guru is een manifestatie van het gehele universum in een menselijke vorm. Net zoals het onmogelijk is om de eeuwigheid te beschrijven, ontstijgt de Satguru alle beschrijving.

“We kunnen wind niet zien; we kunnen wind slechts ervaren. Op dezelfde manier kunnen wij de grootsheid van de Meester alleen in onze harten ervaren. Wanneer de oneindige energie van de Satguru naar de discipel stroomt, bloeit deze op als devotie, liefde, vertrouwen en overgave binnen de discipel.

“Alle handelingen van Amma’s kinderen zouden vervuld moeten zijn met de zoetheid van liefde. Liefde transformeert al onze acties in ‘Guru Seva’ oftewel het dienen van de Meester.

“Alleen een Guru weet hoe een discipel aan te pakken. Alleen de Meester weet hoe ons van onze luiheid te ontdoen. Wij willen altijd toegeven aan de grillen en fantasieën van de geest, maar de geest haalt ons altijd naar beneden. De geest zal ons volledig naar beneden halen, naar een hels bestaan. Daarom moeten wij het bewustzijn van het Zelf wakker maken en als vuur worden. Zelfs wanneer je vuur ondersteboven houdt, zal het zich naar boven bewegen.

Mogen al Amma’s kinderen gezegend zijn met dit bewustzijn. Mogen jullie allen innerlijke kracht hebben. Moge de genade jullie allen zegenen. Amma offert dit aan de Paramatman.