As a spiritual seeker, you have, no doubt, been on the quest for that one true Guru. I’ll admit that I have been on that quest before, often desperately.
But, where is the Guru?
See this outpouring from Kabir, about the Guru:
“It is the mercy of my true Guru that has made me to know the unknown; I have learned from Him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings; I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night. Without eating, I have tasted the sweetness of nectar; and without water, I have quenched my thirst. The Guru is great beyond words, and great is the good fortune of the disciple.”
~ Kabir
Passages like this, as well as beautiful stories of the mystical Guru, have had many a seeker yearn for the Guru in their lives.
You are probably familiar with the modern spiritual classic of the 20th century “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Swami Yogananda. If you haven’t, this is probably well worth a read if you are going to read something in this area. In it, among the mind blowing miracles that are revealed, is the revelation of Yogananda’s Guru’s Guru’s Guru, Mahavatar Babaji. Babaji is said to be over a thousand years old, and still in the youthful form of a late teenager, and is said to be there in the upper reaches of the Himalayas. After the publication of the “Autobiography of a Yogi”, literally hundreds and thousands of westerners went to the Himalayas in India, and have been seen by locals, running up and down mountain slopes calling out “Babaji!”, “Babaji!” in hopes of finding that great Guru!!
But who or what is a Guru?
I have not said that a Guru is not necessary.
~ Ramana Maharshi
But a Guru need not always be in human form.
First a person thinks that he is inferior
and that there is a superior, all-knowing, all powerful God
who controls his own and the world’s destiny,
and so he worships Him or does bhakti (devotional practices).
When he reaches a certain stage
and becomes fit for enlightenment,
the same God whom he was worshiping
comes as the Guru and leads him onward.
That Guru comes only to tell him this:
`God is within yourself. Dive within and realize’.
God, Guru and the Self are the same. “
So, sometimes the Guru is in human form, perhaps in the form of a teacher.
Sometimes, the Guru may appear in the form of an author or speaker, who brings a message to us.
Sometimes, the Guru comes in the form of a friend, a colleague, a neighbor, a stranger on the street, with exactly what needed to hear to get that inner clarity, so that the inner light that we are, can shine that much more.
But when we look closer, the Guru comes in the form of nature itself, like a river that reminds us of the purity in flow, or water that changes form but retains its essence, or air that moves with ease and nourishes and sustains, or trees that teach us about being firm and being flexible or about generosity by their continuous giving of shade, fruits, flowers and so forth.
In fact, literally every object of experience, and in turn, every experience in our lives in our dual human form, is a mirror shining that which we need to know in that moment, to awaken to our real nature. In that sense, the entire world that seems to arise and be there in our experience, is that Guru.
Guru is everywhere.
And it HAS to be so.
For Guru and Self are the same. Infinite, ever present. Within and without. The One without the second.
As one who is still stuck in separateness, literally all of duality shines back the Truth in infinite forms, in the perfect manner in the moment, each moment. To me, this is the compassion of the Guru that Kabir speaks of.
Can we truly turn anywhere and not see or hear or feel or smell or touch or sense or know the wisdom that shines to wake us up to our real nature, the true self?
You ask, “Where is the Guru?”
Dear One, where is it not?
Love
Sundar.
~~–
* Check out the book, “What is Enlightenment? A Simple Guide.“ It clarifies what Enlightenment is, and what it is not. It also addresses preparatory practices vs direct paths to Enlightenment.
* Available now, “Awaken: An Experiential Exploration of Enlightenment” – this book guides you on the direct path of Self-Inquiry, to the experiential realization of Reality, your true nature.