Q: What is the grace of Guru?
Today, let us contemplate the grace of Guru. What is this grace? We know about gravity. Gravity pulls us. You throw anything up, it will always fall down. Water flows from a mountain top to a river. Gravity always makes anything flow downwards. Grace is something that makes move upwards. It is not about stone or water but makes the mind move upwards. Nature of mind is always, to go outwards, towards the sense objects. Because the world is very attractive. We chase objects in the world. To make the mind go inwards and go upwards, to realize your Divine nature, a force is required. That force is called ‘Grace’.
The natural tendency of the mind is to go outwards. It is like a downfall because you get attracted to sense objects. When you get attracted to sense objects, you get involved in one or the other sort of activities that will yield karmic impressions or fruits. Karmic fruits are responsible for our life, afterlife, afterlife taking birth, to experience the karmic cycle. Grace uplifts us. First, it helps us to make the mind move inwards and then lift the mind towards the Self. It helps us to realize our own nature. This is called ‘Grace’.
Let us understand the grace in a bit more detail.
dhyaana-mulam gurur-murtih
pujaa-mulam gurur-padam
mantra-mulam gurur-vaakyam
moksha-mulam gurur-krpaa
‘dhyaana-mulam gurur-murtih’; We are attracted towards so many things in the world. When the mind is attracted to anything, it is a sort of meditation only. Somebody is attracted by a girl, somebody is attracted by a boy, somebody is attracted by money, somebody is attracted by sports. These are all meditation states. Only thing is that this is a meditation on the objects outside. So, you can call girl meditation, money meditation, cricket meditation, football meditation, movie meditation, movie star meditation etc.
Our mind is engaged in so many different types of meditations. Will these meditations lead to our upliftment? Some of these may lead to our material improvement. But spiritual upliftment starts when the mind is attracted to the form of Guru. Mind is attracted to the form of the Master, a Realized person. That is the beginning of the inward journey of the mind. That is the beginning of the spiritual journey. Otherwise, you may go to many holy places, you may visit some temples but still your spiritual journey has not begun. Many of them are more of religious activity. The spiritual journey is your inward journey. Inward journey starts, when you meet a realized person, a Sadguru.
‘dhyaana-mulam gurur-murtih’; our mind gets attracted by the form of the realized person. By the exuding peace, by the words, by the Divinity which manifests in that person. So that is the beginning of our spiritual journey. That’s why ‘dhyaana-mulam gurur-murtih, pujaa-mulam gurur-padam’. Pooja means to worship. We worship a lot of things in life. We may say that I worship God. That is only half an hour or 45 minutes a day which you do in your pooja room. But what do you do for the rest of the time? The rest of the time, I think of making money most of the time. No! No! I am very attracted to sports. So, you are worshipping that sports or sports personality.
So, we worship a lot of things in life. But the real worship starts when you worship the feet of a realized Master. ‘pujaa-mulam gurur-padam’: now the moment you say feet, it is the feet of a realized Master. It is the path he takes. When we say feet, it is more related to the stand. A realized person stands on love and wisdom. Love and wisdom are the two feet of the Master. Prema and jnana. The footsteps or the path he takes, is the path of service, the path of loka Kalyana, path of jnana.
These are the footsteps of the Master. Your spiritual journey progresses when you are able to worship the feet of the Master, which is Jnana and Prema. The wisdom and love. Your journey continues when you follow the feet/path of the Master, which is the path of service.
Now, what is this ‘love’? Everybody experiences love. Love related to mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Everything related to me! Whoever related to me, that I love. But the love of the Master is universal in nature. It is not for a particular person or particular being. It is for the entire universe. The radiating universal love is one of the feet of the Master. The second feet of the master is jnana/wisdom. We have jnana. We know about knowledge. I have read hundreds and thousands of books, novels. I have done a doctorate/PhD in such and such a subject. They are all knowledge related to the outer world, for making a living.
Jnana here refers to the Atma jnana, knowledge of the Self. The knowledge of the Self which leads, which uplifts you. The knowledge that you are not the mind, body or intellect, you are Pure Consciousness, you are Divine in nature. That is called Jnana. These are the 2 feet of the Master. With these 2 feet, he makes a move in life, and that move is service, loka kalyana, for all living beings, bringing peace and love. When you start worshipping that, your spiritual progress happens.
‘mantra-mulam gurur-vaakyam’; we have heard so many different types of mantras. This mantra, that mantra, that mantra, that mantra. Nowadays, you go to a music shop, you will get packaged mantras. You can get one CD with 14 mantras, another CD with 28 mantras. Mantra means ‘manana trayate mantraha’. Trayate means protect. One which really protects, one which really uplifts you is called a mantra. What really protects you, what really uplifts you is the knowledge of the Self, Atma Jnana, knowledge of liberation. That is the real mantra.
That is actually not the repetition of any syllable or any sentence. It is the essential teaching of all Upanishads and scriptures. The teaching that you are not a body, you are not the mind, you are not an intellect, you are Pure Consciousness.
nanu nanembudu naanalla
ee deha mana buddhi naanalla
sachidananda atma shiva naanu naane,
shivoham, shivoham, shivoham.
A realized Master is able to give this teaching in a clear fashion, in a way you can understand, with examples, which you can understand, so that you are able to realize your inner Self. That alone is a mantra. One which protects you.
‘moksha-mulam gurur-krpaa’; the grace of the Master only can liberate you. Now, the grace of the Guru comes in the form of clarity of teaching. With absolute clarity, the message of Upanishad is delivered. The message of enlightenment is delivered, which brings the conviction in you and liberates you. The teaching is the real grace of the Master. Meeting the Master is the grace. Listening to the word of the Master is grace. Following the path of Master is grace. Ultimate grace is teaching received from the Master.
The teaching received from the Master is called paroksha jnana or indirect knowledge. When you experience, then the teaching becomes internalized. You have a direct experience of truth. That is called aparoksha jnana. That aparoksha jnana will liberate you. So, this is the essence, the Grace. Grace is the teaching.
Pranams
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Self Knowledge Talks_T27_Grace of Guru_20Apr2016