What is the importance of a Guru in your life?
How important it is to have a Master or a Guru in our life?
A Guru is the One who gives us guidance in life; who gives the right direction to our life.
Guru removes the ignorance and disorder from our life, and brings meaning and discipline into our life. Without a Guru, one cannot progress! Be it a Teacher in school or a Master in spirituality, if there would be no Guru in our life, we would lose out in life, for it would have made life unruly and directionless.
Come, let’s verify this through an Akram Science experiment:
Assumption:
- Paper clip = us, human beings.
- Surface of the water = World and Worldly life
- Tissue paper = our Guru or Teachers
Procedure:
Take a bowl of water, a tissue paper, 2 pencils and some clean paperclips.
Now, drop a paperclip in the bowl of water. It sinks in the water, right?
Next, gently place the tissue paper on the surface of the water. Then, place another paper clip on top of the tissue paper. Now, with the help of the 2 pencil ends, pull the tissue paper out of the water without touching the paper clip. To your surprise, the paper clip placed on the top of the tissue will be able to float in water for a few seconds.
Observation:
What happens when we do not have a teacher or a Guru?
We sink in life or move downwards, just like the paperclip in the first instance.
But if we have the right guidance of our Guru, we learn to sail through and move ahead in life!
Conclusion:
Thus, we conclude that a Teacher or a Guru is important to stay afloat and move ahead in life.
What are the qualities of a true Guru?
A real Guru is the One who has love for us and is beneficial to us.
Where can we find a real Guru?
The One whose mere sight makes our whole body bow down spontaneously in reverence towards him, without having any second thought in our mind.
That is why it is said:
‘Who can be called a Guru? It is the one whose very sight makes our heads bow.’
Just upon seeing him, our head bows down automatically. That is the definition of a Guru.
In other words, a Guru is such, who dissolves our ego. Only then can we attain liberation, not otherwise; isn’t it?!
Importance of a Living Guru.
It is important to have a living Guru who can help us at every step of our life.
One can be defined as a Guru if he is living and present for us, and we can absorb his teachings with unmatched intensity such that over a few months there develops an ideal Guru-shishya (master-disciple) relationship between the two of us.
A Guru is useful if he is living and present. If we have met the Guru and have spent ten or fifteen years together, having served him for several years and become one with him, we will reap benefits from that Guru even if later, he passes away.
A picture or a murti (idol) cannot be a substitute for a Guru. Today, if we were to take a picture of Mahatma Gandhi, will it have any power to sign any documents? We want the One who is living today. The One in present and in power will be able to help us because the signature of that who is present will be acceptable. Even if we do not have their full signature but just their initials, it will do; vis-à-vis the full signature of someone not alive, which will not be of any good to us.
Whom should I make my Guru?
Param Pujya Dadashri has said,
“Where your heart rests; make that person your Guru. Do not call him your Guru until your heart becomes completely still.
And if you make someone your Guru; make sure it is someone whose image does not leave your ‘eyes’. It means that he is acceptable to your eyes in every way. His speech fits you as if it is customized for you, his conduct also fits. This is the kind of Guru you need!
A Guru is such who can dwell in your heart and you like everything he says. Only then you can become dependent on him. And thereafter, you will be free from all suffering.
A Guru holds an important place in one’s life. With him, you should feel that you are at peace and that you have come home; your heart rests there. Just by looking at him, you forget the world, you become oblivious to the world; such a person can be made a Guru.”
What difference did Guru make in my life?
Because of my Guru, my way of viewing things has completely changed now and I have gained mastery over things I never even knew. He showed me my faults and also gave me the right understanding to be free forever from those faults. Furthermore, my Guru has helped me know the importance of my human birth by making me aware of the nature and role of the Soul, which is my real Self. All-in-all, I’m experiencing a miraculous life because of the presence of my Guru in it!