Do you have a guru in India?

lotus blossom

My friend just left for India last night, her third trip to India to see her guru. Not to sit at her feet, but to chop vegetables (chop wood, carry water sort of thing.) She goes on tour with her and works in the canteen. The curious thing to me about their relationship is that my friend does not make a move in life without Amma's permission. Whatever Mother says goes! It seems a strange dependence to me, but then I've always been a rebellious sort and do not like being told what to do!

For me it's like the Ayurvedic doctor that I studied with said; 'everyone that we meet from the mechanic that fixes our car to the beggar in the street is our guru'. Amen.

Yet, I find the whole allegiance to one guru interesting, and am curoius how many im'ers go to India to spend time with their guru.

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Not all who wander are lost

Nick-H

Amma is not my guru, but I think she is wonderful and I think about her regularly.

Whilst her speaking and writings offer lots of advice, I don't think that "[do] not make a move in life without [my] permission. Whatever Mother says goes! " is part of her teaching. So I think the nature of your friend's dependence is more to do with your friend than with her guru. (I could be totally wrong about this).

I do have a guru: my music teacher. It is not the same thing as a spiritual guru/disciple relationship, but it is also totally different from having a Western music teacher. Actually, maybe not so different: I do feel a connection to his teacher, and his teacher's teacher, etc... ...

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IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

cyberhippie

I think all hindus strive to find their one guru, the mistake we in the west make is thinking that they are only to be found in Ashrams!

Maheswara_shishya

There are two kinds of Hindus when it comes to Hinduism and Guru's.

Type A: Cultural Hindu, they go to the Guru because they feel obligated, these are the same people who show up only for Darshan and Prasad.

Type B: The True blue Hindus. These are the ones that show up at the ashram/temple @ 6am for morning arati and stay till after prasad to do seva.

On looking in an ashram or temple for the Guru, here in the west they are few and far between. I always had romantic dreams of finding the True Living Guru somewhere in the Himilaya, funny I found the Guru in Missouri, USA through a friend

By the way, which Amma is your friend's Guru? There are quite a few Ma's.

Sama

I totally agree with Nick. Attachment to a guru is still attachment, and attachment is what spiritual seekers strive to overcome, at least, that is what I have been taught by my Buddhist teachers. A guru is a teacher, and all students must leave their teachers eventually, and a wise guru will make it possible for the student to "detach".

Besides, the true guru is within.

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My India, 2005-2008

"a clear conscience is the sign of a bad memory"

Maheswara_shishya

The living Guru is a Light House. The Adi Guru shines through the living Guru to dispell the darkness of his/her shishya's.

If my Guru said "Jump on one foot for 24 hours then go chop down a couple trees", I would do it in a heart beat without question. Why? People would say "Oh you're attached to the Guru" etc.. This is not the case. If there was not something to be learned in it Guruji would not make me do it for his benefiet , possibly for someone in need though. The True Living Guru, is Guru, there is no trace of ego, there is nothing for him to achieve. The Guru does not make devotees do things for his/her's own pleasure, it is done for the student.

The people like Osho, Sai Baba and others do such things because well.... use your imagination.

Sadgurunath Maharaj Ki Jai!

-Dan

mira4bai4

We cannot detach from one thing unless we can attach to something else, this is the nature of the mind. We also cannot live in a vacuum, do 'IT' ourselves, if we try to do 'it' ourselves we get lost in the mind, too attached to ourselves and all our misguided mental acrobats. To detach from the mind we attach to the Guru, in the first instance to the Outer or Physical form of the Guru, with Love and Devotion we become less attached with the physical form and become attached to the Inner or Spiritual Form. We are always 'attached', there is no complete 'detachment'. We change horses or cars or baggage but we are still attached to something. The Guru trains us to detach from worldly things and become more attached to spiritual things. When we are competent or ready the Guru finally shows us how to detach from our own physical form and be only attached to the 'Pure' spiritual form. As we are universally part of the 'Shabd' we are attached to it constantly, and as the 'Shabd' is the source of God then we are constantly attached to God. The Guru teaches us to only see the 'Shabd', be detached from all else and merge with it.

The Drop is in the Ocean as the Ocean is in the Drop.

Maheswara_shishya

Shabd?

Is this a Sikh or Muslim word? i've never heard it before

mira4bai4

The word shabd is used by the Sikhs to mean chapters or paragraphs, sacred texts from the Adi Granth Sahib. It can also be likened to bhajans or devotional songs.

But Shabd as is used in texts is definitely Punjabi, which then is influenced by Hindi and Urdu. It is the Word; Sound; Spiritual Sound; Audible Life Stream; Sound Current, has synonyms with the Word as in the Bible, Kalma, Ism-i-azam, Bang-i-Asami or Kalam-i-Illahi among the Muslim mystics, the Nad or Ugit in the Vedas, and Nam, Ram Nam, Hari Nam, Gurbani, Bani, Ajapajap, Akathkatha, Har Ras, Har Jas, Har Simran and Dhun in the Adi Granth Sahib.

Maheswara_shishya

Ahh thank you very much.

Don't forget "Sauh" in Kashmiri Shaivism

Paravak? or Spanda can possibly be likened to it as well, methinks?