Guru Poornima
I am surprised at my prolonged absence from the blogging world. I do not know why it has happened, but I have decided not to let it continue. To resume on an auspicious note, here is a write-up on Guru Poornima I wrote in July for the Mata Amritandamayi Centre in Singapore. My pranams to Swami Chinmayananda and Mata Amritanandamayi for their inspiration and guidance.
Imagine darkness…darkness so dense, so impenetrable, and so nauseous as to suck away our very life force. Now imagine in that darkness a beam of light, thin at first but gradually growing effulgent as to rival the sun itself. How much more will we value that initial thin beam of light, which gave us hope amidst the darkness, lifted our spirits, gave us direction and accustomed our eyes gradually to the effulgence that was to follow?
My dear brothers and sisters, allow me to liken that beam of light to our beloved Guru, Amma. ‘Gu’ in Sanskrit means “darkness of ignorance” and ‘Ru’ means ‘one who removes’. Indeed, Amma’s shining radiance reaches us in these gloomy times, as a much needed ray of solace and enlightenment. Today is the day we pay obeisance to this beacon of hope and guidance. It’s interesting to note that today is poornima, or full moon day. Here is a personal interpretation why: the full moon is a symbol of perfection, of completeness, of ultimate fulfilment. From its beginnings as the new moon or total darkness – which I would liken to total ignorance – the light of the sun reveals a little of the moon day-by-day until fourteen days later the complete glory of the moon is revealed. I would liken this to Amma, who firmly but with infinite compassion, cleanses us of our negativities until one day we become complete, fully realised and at one with the Eternal. Naturally, once we achieve this state, we shall not wane into nothingness like the moon, or descend into total ignorance.
Guru Poornima is traditionally held on sage Veda Vyasa’s birthday. Veda Vyasa, seeing that in the coming ages men would lack the capacity to learn and retain the Vedas, compiled them into four parts – the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas. He also wrote the Puranas so that the common people could also benefit from the knowledge of the Vedas. He conveyed the same spiritual principles through the medium of stories and parables. He is also the author of the Brahma Sutras, which is the quintessence of Vedanta. So it is fitting that his birthday is celebrated as Guru Poornima.
Ancient India used to follow a guru parampara or lineage where disciples or shishya-s became gurus themselves and continued to pass on the knowledge from generation to generation. If we trace this lineage to its source we find that God himself must have been the first Guru. In today’s world however, this lineage is almost untraceable. Instead, we have been blessed with avatara gurus – gurus who take birth at critical junctures in history in order to redeem dharma or righteousness and effect an all-round spiritual renaissance, as Bhagawan Krishna declared in the Bhagavad Gita (“Yada yada hi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bhaarata; dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya sambhavami yuge yuge”).
Like the sun in the sky, they illuminate the whole world with their glorious light of Divinity. Our beloved Amma belongs to this rare category of gurus, and certainly is the divine answer to the need of an age, rampant with materialism, fear and hostility, and dearth of love among mankind. Her Divine Love and Grace know no barriers. The gates of spirituality are open to all who wish to enter and be awakened to the glory of pure love and supreme wisdom.
For sincere seekers of Truth, the Guru is the embodiment of their goal. The Guru is nothing but Sat-Chit-Aananda –pure consciousness, absolute bliss and eternal wisdom. Anyone who can elicit a continual feeling of faith and devotion in us is our Guru. However, self-redemption must ultimately come from with us. The external props, such as temples, deities and gurus, are all encouragements and aids. They must be intelligently used to help build up inner perfection. Liken it to the new moon, which positions itself so that it can receive more of the sun’s light with every passing day.
With inner purity, the student becomes increasingly guided by the intellect. In fact, the real guru is the pure intellect within; the purified, deeply aspiring mind is the disciple. When we come to deserve a Guru, the Guru shall reach us. Let us stick to spiritual practices; be good, kind and sincere. Let us refine our motives by building life upon the enduring values of love, mercy, charity and purity. Through constant remembrance of the Lord, we will rise in spirituality.
Guru Poornima is a day for celebration and worship – a day on which we remember our teachers, both spiritual and academic. None of us would be where we are right now without the guidance of our teachers in school and at home, our parents. Let us express our gratitude towards them.
On this auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima, we offer our salutations and love at the lotus feet of love incarnate, Amma, the Jagat Guru, teacher of the universe, Jagat Janani, mother of the universe, and to the illustrious Gurus of the great Guru parampara.
Imagine darkness…darkness so dense, so impenetrable, and so nauseous as to suck away our very life force. Now imagine in that darkness a beam of light, thin at first but gradually growing effulgent as to rival the sun itself. How much more will we value that initial thin beam of light, which gave us hope amidst the darkness, lifted our spirits, gave us direction and accustomed our eyes gradually to the effulgence that was to follow?
My dear brothers and sisters, allow me to liken that beam of light to our beloved Guru, Amma. ‘Gu’ in Sanskrit means “darkness of ignorance” and ‘Ru’ means ‘one who removes’. Indeed, Amma’s shining radiance reaches us in these gloomy times, as a much needed ray of solace and enlightenment. Today is the day we pay obeisance to this beacon of hope and guidance. It’s interesting to note that today is poornima, or full moon day. Here is a personal interpretation why: the full moon is a symbol of perfection, of completeness, of ultimate fulfilment. From its beginnings as the new moon or total darkness – which I would liken to total ignorance – the light of the sun reveals a little of the moon day-by-day until fourteen days later the complete glory of the moon is revealed. I would liken this to Amma, who firmly but with infinite compassion, cleanses us of our negativities until one day we become complete, fully realised and at one with the Eternal. Naturally, once we achieve this state, we shall not wane into nothingness like the moon, or descend into total ignorance.
Guru Poornima is traditionally held on sage Veda Vyasa’s birthday. Veda Vyasa, seeing that in the coming ages men would lack the capacity to learn and retain the Vedas, compiled them into four parts – the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas. He also wrote the Puranas so that the common people could also benefit from the knowledge of the Vedas. He conveyed the same spiritual principles through the medium of stories and parables. He is also the author of the Brahma Sutras, which is the quintessence of Vedanta. So it is fitting that his birthday is celebrated as Guru Poornima.
Ancient India used to follow a guru parampara or lineage where disciples or shishya-s became gurus themselves and continued to pass on the knowledge from generation to generation. If we trace this lineage to its source we find that God himself must have been the first Guru. In today’s world however, this lineage is almost untraceable. Instead, we have been blessed with avatara gurus – gurus who take birth at critical junctures in history in order to redeem dharma or righteousness and effect an all-round spiritual renaissance, as Bhagawan Krishna declared in the Bhagavad Gita (“Yada yada hi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bhaarata; dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya sambhavami yuge yuge”).
Like the sun in the sky, they illuminate the whole world with their glorious light of Divinity. Our beloved Amma belongs to this rare category of gurus, and certainly is the divine answer to the need of an age, rampant with materialism, fear and hostility, and dearth of love among mankind. Her Divine Love and Grace know no barriers. The gates of spirituality are open to all who wish to enter and be awakened to the glory of pure love and supreme wisdom.
For sincere seekers of Truth, the Guru is the embodiment of their goal. The Guru is nothing but Sat-Chit-Aananda –pure consciousness, absolute bliss and eternal wisdom. Anyone who can elicit a continual feeling of faith and devotion in us is our Guru. However, self-redemption must ultimately come from with us. The external props, such as temples, deities and gurus, are all encouragements and aids. They must be intelligently used to help build up inner perfection. Liken it to the new moon, which positions itself so that it can receive more of the sun’s light with every passing day.
With inner purity, the student becomes increasingly guided by the intellect. In fact, the real guru is the pure intellect within; the purified, deeply aspiring mind is the disciple. When we come to deserve a Guru, the Guru shall reach us. Let us stick to spiritual practices; be good, kind and sincere. Let us refine our motives by building life upon the enduring values of love, mercy, charity and purity. Through constant remembrance of the Lord, we will rise in spirituality.
Guru Poornima is a day for celebration and worship – a day on which we remember our teachers, both spiritual and academic. None of us would be where we are right now without the guidance of our teachers in school and at home, our parents. Let us express our gratitude towards them.
On this auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima, we offer our salutations and love at the lotus feet of love incarnate, Amma, the Jagat Guru, teacher of the universe, Jagat Janani, mother of the universe, and to the illustrious Gurus of the great Guru parampara.
posted by Unknown at 6:22 PM
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