Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!ptimtc!nntp-server.caltech.edu!mustang!data.nas.nasa.gov!news From: radams@cerritos.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern Subject: The need for a Guru Message-ID: <1991Jun7.032851.9694@nas.nasa.gov> Date: 7 Jun 91 03:28:51 GMT Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov Organization: Cerritos College, Norwalk CA Lines: 59 Approved: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov There has been a tendency of some of the posters to this newsgroup to proselytize or subltly imply that their guru is the most highly evolved being around or simply "MY GURU IS BETTER THAN YOUR GURU naa naa naa naa naa!!!" or at least that their guru is more evolved than anyone else's. I think this is absolute nonsense and I think we should stay away from this kind of self-serving or guru-serving combativeness and proselytizing. But I _would_ like to make the point that a Guru is necessary on the spiritual path. We need to get rid of the disturbances to our Being the Self - ie. get rid of the delusions that prevent us from Being who we already are - the Self. If you need to learn anything else, you go to a teacher who has already mastered the subject or at least knows more than you, but when you decide you want to be enlightened or self-realized (whatever), you say that you don't need any help even though getting rid of all this delusion, which is like a mudball covering up the diamond inside or Self, appears to be much more difficult than the other tasks we routinely go to teachers for. Even Sri Ramana Maharshi, who is said to not have had a guru, said that a guru is necessary. When he was questioned about the seeming contradiction between him not having had a guru and his saying that a guru is necessary, he said that he did indeed have a guru but this guru was not in the ordinary physical form that most of us would expect. One many occasions he said that the mountain that he found enlightenment on was his Guru! At any rate, he said that the Guru in physical form is none other than your own Self projecting itSelf outside of your self to try to direct you inward to find the Source of that Guru which is your own Self. As long as we are in delusion, we need the Self to project itSelf outside of us as God and Guru etc. until we are ready to discover the ultimate truth (this is what Ramana Maharshi taught even though he was most known for being a non-dualist). I would like to also mention that Ramana Maharshi mentioned Two paths to enlightenment: either surrender completely to God which includes surrendering your ego or sense of separateness from God (thus surrendering you are non other than God or Self) or inquire as to who is in need of enlightenment and trace this source of 'I'ness back to its Source since when you look for the basis or support for this ego, you find its nonexistent and what remains is the pure Self. I mention Ramana Maharshi because he has been said not to have had a guru and also is known for his non-dualist teachings and yet even he said the guru was necessary (thus making my point easier to make). But since in modern times when there seems to be alot more people who are on the spiritual path but not enough gurus to go around, then it appears to not be possible to have a physical guru by oursides in most cases. Yogananda often said somewhat facetiously that "there are many sinners and few saints" so he came up with the idea of letting the teachings of a realized master be the Guru, and organizing these teachings in a format that allows gradual for gradual exposure to liberating techniques of meditation. It appears that other organizations such as Sri Aurobindo's, Ramana Maharshi's, and Swami Sivananda's have also served spiritual seekers in a similar manner by preserving the teachings in their original form available for all to study. Roger Adams radams@cerritos.edu To those in whom love dwells, Cerritos College the whole world is one family. 11110 Alondra Blvd A Hindu Proverb Norwalk, California 90650 USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------