who can reccomend a good guru?

the tourist

hello there folks im travelling soon to india, making my way to the beloved country of spirituality and cows.
im looking for a guru, one you can trust.
is the somebody with a past experience or do you know a good one
please let me know..


later all...

AvidTrekker

The ONLY REAL way to find a Guru is to pray sincerely to God with all your heart. If your prayer is intense and wilful, God will do the guiding. You will get the Guru.

I do recall IVAN saying that this could be a troll..... but what the heck; even trolls may require Gurus.

May you find that which ye seek.

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

Ikuru

Law of Nature. You get what you need.
Or maybe not.
What is it that you think you want from this guru then?
Tell me this.
What Can HE do for you?
Do you really think HE (or she) can help you?
Help you to achive what?
ask yourself this. and you will find what you are looking for.
Whos looking and what for?

__________________
http://www.ikuru.se My art.

Kiki

What kind of guru??? Hindu? Buddhist? New Age? Yoga? Moslem? etc etc

the tourist

what kind a guru im looking for?

just somebody who can tell me how i have to live my life.
who can tell me whats the best way of meditation and/or yoga to get out of the circle of life and death.

im just ready for a spiritual talk with a high enlightened one!

seventies'hippy

Gurus are teachers,
We are all potential Gurus,
A Guru lives their life in such a way as to be attractive to you,
Their actions, Their mannerisms, Their behaviour, Their words,
You might not realise at the time that you have found a guru, But if the chemistry clicks spend time with that person and learn their ways.
A Guru doesn't have to speak to you, Their actions speak much louder than words.

Just my thing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the tourist

im just gonna make my way, and something goods will come out of it.

im planning to go to the amritapuri ashram of amma and spend there some months and do some vipassana courses.

but em thanks for the reactions though..

Ikuru

Seriously.
Like Seventies' say. The people you Need are There, they are not hard to find. They will come to you, allot of things will come to you once in india (weather you like it or not ). It does not need to be some dude in robes taking you money calling himself a "guru" etc.

Vipassana will give you a really good start on what you might need or might be looking for...

Word of advice:
Trust noone.
Qustion everything.
And allways relly on your heart.

IVAN

...I found out that cows in India are great Gurus.
Just look at them... Equanimity in almost every situation.

If I were you tourist, I would just try to sit in silence near a cow for a while and see what happens.
Could be an interesting experience.

__________________
** Humor is Freedom **
Check my Links -> http://www14.brinkster.com/jnana/links.htm
cum grano salis

prince_anurag

Hello the tourist,

I'm extremely delighted to tell you about my spiritual Guru, his teachings & his mission, as follows-

By Yoga is meant unison of the individual self with the Divine. The self suffers from various limitations, feels unhappy and craves for attaining everlasting happiness, peace and bliss; something that is possible only when the heart and the mind are rendered pure and all internal veils are uncovered (or pierced) to let the Divinity shine out. And 'Naveen Sadhana of Ramashram Satsang (New spiritual practice of Ramashram Satsang)' presents a new line of pursuit.

Ramashram Satsang (a spiritual organisation) was founded in 1923 by Paramsant Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji at Etah U.P., INDIA to propagate the teachings of his Samarth Guru, Paramsant Sri Ram Chandra ji Maharaj of Fatehgarh who had evolved a novel but simple new method of imparting spiritual education; true knowledge and wisdom. At Etah, he continued this work with unbounded zeal up to 1950; thereafter considering the poor means of communication to that town, Etah (which sometimes caused great inconvenience to the incoming visitors), he shifted his headquarters and that of Ramashram Satsang in 1951 to Mathura (U.P.).

With a view to spread the message of his Master to all parts of the country, the idea of bringing out a monthly magazine was born. It was in August 1932, when he published the first copy of the monthly “Sadhan”. “Sadhan” now enters the 70th year of its publication. Many seekers of truth came to have his Darshan and learn the new system of Sadhana (spiritual practice), after being inspired by reading this monthly magazine. Paramsant Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji was a deep thinker and a writer of high caliber. He wrote extensively. His numerous publications in simple and lucid Hindi are monumental contributions to the proper understanding of the various aspects of Yoga. Rev. Doctor Sahib also travelled very widely and founded numerous centres of Ramashram Satsang, in towns and villages in different parts of the country, where seekers of the ultimate knowledge could gather and practice Sadhana on the new system.

While leading the life of a Grihastha (house holder), this great saint of modern India depicted by his personal example that it was not a condition precedent to leave the household and the family for ultimate realisation of God. He maintained that any setting was good enough for the purpose.

What impressed people most, was his simplicity, deep sense of humanity and utter humility. He never appeared to feel any difference between himself and others, and was never in the least obsessed with notions of distinctions that he himself was the Enlightened One, while others around him were languishing in bondage or immersed in darkness or ignorance.

He was a real Tyagi (one who renounces all) in the full and real sense of the term. Whenever he took somebody under his guidance, he held himself responsible for the spiritual advancement of the initiated. His personality exuded a unique charm, which attracted people towards him so much so, that they would simply cluster round him just to have a glimpse of him. He was so serene and so handsome that everyone’s eyes fell on him. Besides, he had a deep and abiding sense of humour and a disarming smile.

He was an embodiment of peace and tranquillity. In his presence, one could feel these as emanations; all doubts would vanish, the turbulence of the mind would cease and peace would reign both within and without. No effort was needed to attain these qualities. It was not the hard work and long meditation on the part of the disciples but His grace that elevated the disciples unto such spiritual heights. Love and affection flowed from his heart, unabated and alike towards all. Everyone felt that he was probably the most attached to the Great Master, much more near to him than anyone else. While that was so, the Great Master kept himself completely detached from everything, identifying himself only with his Lord. That Light, which is the life of all men, continued to emanate from him intensely and unabatedly; the flame never flickered. It enlivened all those who sat near him. In his presence the vision of the Absolute lay unfolded beneath one’s own mortal eyes, and, happiness, peace and bliss radiated out unceasingly, reflecting complete harmony and unison with the Nature.

All powers of the Universe seemed to emanate from him. He was indeed a true image of God, nay, probably the God himself, before our very eyes. The end of Sadhana seemed to be the beginning of it.

Indeed so many were his qualities that it would be impossible to enumerate them or to dwell upon them in a short article. One may legitimately ask where did he get that perfection. The answer is to be found in his Master. He was truly a perfect disciple, an exact replica of his great Guru-Paramsant Sri Ram Chandra Ji Maharaj (of Fatehgarh) whom he followed most faithfully and whose great qualities and elements of perfection fully reflected in him.

Paramsant Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji was born on 3rd November,1883 in a well known family of Etah District U.P. When he was only 2 or 3 years old, his mother left for her heavenly abode leaving his upkeep solely to the care of his father-Sri Ram Prasad Ji. After completing his education, he came to Fatehgarh to practice in medicine at the age of 18 years. He met his Guru in the year 1910-11 in connection with the treatment of Rev. Gurumata Ji (wife of Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji). Gradually thereafter, he came into closer contact and received all the spiritual knowledge from his Master. Soon he left his private practice to devote himself fully to the fulfilment of the command which his Master, Paramsant Shri Ram Chandra Ji Sahib gave him. The great changes and simplicity introduced by the great Master in the system of initiating one into spiritual Sadhana were fully brought home and explained in a clear and scientific manner. No quarter was given to a dogmatic or orthodox ritualistic approach.
Uniqueness of His Satsang

(i) His doors were open to all (sixteen years and over), irrespective of gender, race, caste, creed, religion or faith. There was no question of adhikari or anadhikari (the deserving or the undeserving). He maintained that it was the intrinsic spiritual strength in the Master that determined the pull on the Sadhak to lift him from his present mental plane of existence.

(ii)The age-old tradition of Master-disciple relationship was set aside; an informal family-like relationship was established, he treated those who were about his age as his brothers or sisters, the younger ones as sons or daughters. He introduced an era of informality without impairing discipline.

(iii) It was not the hard work and long meditation on the part of the Sadhak (who does spiritual practice) but the grace of Him that elevated the new Sadhak It was not so much as taking from the Sadhak, as it was more of giving to him. The responsibility for the spiritual advancement of the Sadhak rested more on the teacher than on the Sadhak The teacher had to maintain himself continually at the highest level of spiritual attainment.

(iv) The Sadhak had only to receive, in the region of his heart, the light which emanated from the Enlightened One and watch how that brought illumination within and dispelled internal darkness and rendered the whole being pure, charged with peace and bliss. Indeed that illumination could be felt in his presence all the twenty-four hours. It was apparent that his mortal frame was but a thin veil over the light of the Atma (Soul) that blazed within.

(v) To begin, 5-10 minutes of daily abhyas (practice) is prescribed, which may gradually be raised to 15 to 20 minutes in the mornings and evenings that was enough for this Sadhana (spiritual practice). Everyone can easily afford this little time. Gradually the time may be extended further upto 30 minutes at a time(not more is required). For ladies, 5-10 minutes are sufficient. Besides, one had not to leave any puja (system of worship or meditation), in case he was practising one . The new Sadhana was to supplement what was being practised, if at all. Three initial sittings with the Master are advised, thereafter one can do his/her exercise anywhere, maintaining contact with the Master through occasional meetings or through letters.

(vi) The system prescribed is simple, devoid of rigour and affords universal adoption by people in any walk of life. No special sitting style was necessary. The practice could be done while staying in any convenient posture.

(vii) All Sadhaks old or new , attained in his presence same levels of spiritual heights; of course, the capabilities of the young and the old Sadhaks differed in the matter of retaining themselves at those levels.

(viii) A balance was always advocated between one’s conduct in both the worlds - the physical and the spiritual. Due attention was required to be paid towards the two, and all the duties in both the domains were to be fulfilled faithfully.

(ix) The realisation of the exalted plane of perfect peace, tranquility and bliss was constant and fully real. The ultimate goal in Sadhana was laid open to every eye and heart. The end of Sadhana was the beginning of it. The seeker of Truth got his vision and knew what stage had to be reached by constant practice. In this process, there was no room for suspicion and no room for imagination. One had to start concentrating on the real. And in case of difficulty, one had only to go to the Master to get that light again.

(x) No defects were pointed out verbally. They come to be noticed within, the Sadhaks see them disappearing gradually with the grace of the Master. Great time was thus saved in fighting to remove what the internal mind (Mann) had come to acquire erroneously.

(xi) Deep affection towards all and a sense of renunciation and detachment gradually gets inculcated within.

(xii) It was first the love and affection, all for the Master, then for all those who came to him and sat near; lastly towards all beings of the Nature as every thing appeared to be a manifestation of Him.

(xiii) These things still form the edifice of Ramashram Satsang (Mathura). Having shown the path to thousands of men and women going astray and after completing his part of the job, Paramsant Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji left his mortal frame in the early hours of September 24, 1957 and became one with his Lord. He still guides the work of the Mission through his cosmic form, though new professor (Acharya), who are nominated from time to time. Presently, Parampujya Hemendra Kumar Ji (son of Sri Guru Maharaj Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahai Ji Sahib) is the Sanchalak (head) of RAMASHRAM SATSANG.

Address of Ramashram Satsang, Mathura is as follows:

Parampujya Shri Hemendra Kumar Ji
Ramashram Satsang,
Sadhan Prakashan,
Dampier Nagar,
Mathura (UP), INDIA

Tel: +91-565-2404545, 2404949
Email: ramashramsatsang@rediffmail.co m

Ramashram Satsang: It is a non-profit/not for profit organization, rather solely to learn spiritual way of life. The Acharyas (trainers) work voluntarily with seva-bhav (selfless service).

IVAN

You deleted it too late Ikuru... God only knows what will happen now.
Anyway, why would a cow go on a desert island with you?

Digital Drifter

Touche! :-)

a) likely to get run over. from both directions!
b) One hell of a traffic jam.

Ivan, have you told tourist where the cows are likely to be found. I think, you should. It's wicked of you to suggest a good thing but not where the Gurus can be found.

cheers,
Digital Drifter

the tourist

namaste holey cows,


thanks for all the reactions though.

that about meditating next to a cow i will consider it

to come back at a good guru, my friends one is pilotbaba, he`s realy impressing he`ve doen samadhi under water and in airtight glass and many things like that.

you can also do a wide variety of courses but they are quite expensive though its something like 35 euro a day

to get a closer look at "what is samadhi"

her an explenation of pilotbaba:


Samadhi is the last limb of the yoga, which opens all the gates of supreme consciousness. When you reach in the samadhi, means you have traveled from beginning to the end, it means that you have enjoyed, you have entertained and you have experienced each and every act of life and every stage of this life age.
But when you reach beyond the death, it becomes a celebration. Now it is no more death, you have already experienced the death, so all the fears disappear. And whole space is open to you, all the distance disappears, there are no more directions of east, west, north, south, there are no more ups and downs and there is no more birth and death, the whole universe i.e. "Brahammand" become home in the Samadhi.

Samadhi is a total liberation. When you experience the Samadhi it means that you have gone through the physical body experiences, astral body experiences, cozal body experiences and you have experienced the self also and you have become experience less also, it means you become the "Brahamannd" i.e. the universe.

When you want to go through the Samadhi it means you have become oneness to your body, when you are oneness to your body it means you become a "Siddha" of physical power. You can become the elephant power and then you can become very small fly power too because when once oneness to your body is completely in your control so all kind of physical power can be under your control. Once you become experienced of your astral body it means you are oneness to your mind, oneness to your "Gyana" i.e. wisdom bodies and you are oneness to your "Pranic" life force (vital energy), because astral body has three dimensional power, it has a pranic body that is called as pranmaya kosh, second is mental body called manomaya kosh and third is the vigyanmaya kosh which is the gyana body i.e. wisdom body, this is the most powerful and useful body. Physical body is dependent on this three-dimensional body. So when you are in the second stage of the samadhi that means you have siddhi of becoming highly intellectuals and you can fly, you can travel to the astral worlds, you can leave your physical bodies and can go anywhere in this universe and can come back as per your will.

As the philosophy of yoga says that it is a stage of "Sampargat Samadhi" which is known as Savichar, Savikalpa, Ananda and Asmita samadhies. It is most useful to living a best life in this universe, with an objective and subjective realization, when you can go beyond your body and mind and you can go beyond gyana also and after all these experiences you can go totally beyond all these things and become a self, oneness to your karan i.e. kozal body, it has a memory of millions and millions of life travelling. It is your real house where you are residing. It is a house of the self and being known as being, which is known as atma.

Having all this experiences one can live with the earth energy. Living with earth energy means making oneness to the whole earth, that means a man who is in samadhi become oneness to everything that is created by the earthly energy, for that you have to sit inside the cave, in the underground pit and you have to become bodyless. You have to hand over your body to the earth. It means that you have become detached from your body, you have separated your physical body. In the modern age it is called as "Bhoomigat Samadhi" i.e. under pit samadhi, it was known as samadhi in the caves in olden days. Everyone can do it because it is nature of every kind of jiva i.e. living being. It is just like sleeping experiences in everyday life and dreaming and then going beyond everything in deep sleep having no experiences of anything. If you can create yourself to be in deep sleep and becoming nobody and no mind that key should be in your hand, then it can be possible to go into underground samadhi for long days. It is a great "Tapas" becoming a mantraless, kriyaless and pranaless, so the yogi only practices this.

Another way of samadhi is also practiced by sitting in the water. Handing over your body to the water and becoming oneness to the water, and then you can contact everything in this universe which has contact with the water. Water becomes the media of that yogi to travel in this universe. This is called as Jal Samadhi, very few people in history has this experience like Vishnu living in the water, Varun live in the water and there are many saints who has lived in the water even in the mahabharata Duryodhana went to hide in water samadhi, sita went to earthly samadhi and rama went to water samadhi and nowadays only pilotbaba lived in the water for many many days.

There is another type of samadhi in the air tight glass i.e. becoming airy body, becoming oneness to the air, it means you can travel through the air. You can make your body like wind and can live anywhere in the space. Mostly these types of samadhis are practiced by these yogis to come and go from this planet to any other planet and to get experience of many other planets and other types of lives to bring in the minds of people that how human life is superior, to make human being understand that you have everything in yourself. Just like this universe to meet the universe and to go anywhere in this universe is very easy if you meet yourself and if you become a pilgrimage to yourself.

Your body has everything, the root to the all planets and the gateway of all heavens, the gateway of your consciousness and the door to the god is within your body. There is no door to a realization in this outside world, there is no any door to reach to the heaven in the outside, there is no any route to the satisfaction, fulfillment, silence, peace, ananda in this outside objective world. Only it is inside your body.

You can travel the whole world and you have to come back to your home, you will find peace and happiness, ananda only at home. Same things you have traveled from silence to the physical body, which is not your real home. You have to go back to your real home, so you have to go, that’s why as a human being you have to practice samadhi yoga to go back to your real home, only samadhi will open the door of the real homes from where you have traveled to this home. That is your real inner mechanism, which is, called "Anthakaran" can become a root, that’s why yoga has a limb.

That’s why many people in the society practice to open your minds, samadhi is not a religion, samadhi is a science of self-discovery. And what you know science is an invention, it is a material journey, it is atomic journey, a nuclear journey and organic journey. But science of self-discovery is a taking you to the center of everything.

Samadhi is a womb of all creations. It is a total silence from where everything has evoluted, you can't fusion the nucleus, you cannot diffuse the last mini atoms, but in the samadhi you can go beyond this mini atoms also because samadhi is space of everything. So your yoga is a samadhi because yoga has a limb, it is yam and niyama, it has asna and pranayama, and it has pratyahar. All are the systems and techniques of purifying and making a clear road to go into the dharna. From the dharna, "concentration" we have only one word Dharna. But for dharna we have to use contemplation, concentration and meditation, you are using three words but it is dharna only. You cannot translate dhayana as meditation because meditation is dharna only.

Samadhi becomes from dharna, dharna is also samadhi. Through the dharna you can develop your mind in many dimensions. Dharna is developing your mental power. All the knowledge, all the experiences, all the civilizations, education and all the work either in the kitchen or in the school, industry, fields or anywhere dharna is there. Without dharna you cannot do it because it is a mental power.

In the dharna there is "sayanma" which you are using as awareness, this is also not dhayana; it is a part of concentration, dhayana. Dharna is the root of all the sidhis of this world and it is home of inventions of science. After dharna you naturally fall into dhayana. Dhayana is a field, which has no boundaries and no limitations, you will fall into dhayana or dhayana will happen, you cannot practice dhayana. It will be your greatest mistake to say that I am meditating because dhayana always happen but dharna is practiced.

for more info of pilotbaba click here

cheers

Kiki

Definitely!!

I think, tourist, that you are maybe making a mistake thinking that India is the place to find this person. You never know, of course. But, there are a lot of masters in the west these days, and there are a lot of charlatans everywhere (east and west). So, if you are serious about this quest, do be careful that you pick someone who is going to help you and is not looking for more power, sex, money, fame, etc.

I don't know anything about Hindu gurus, but I know there are quite a few very reliable Lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition teaching in the west. Many in Europe, for example. (even with them you have to be careful, though. there really ARE charlatans in every religion) If you are intent on coming to India for this search, why not check out the Dalai Lama's teachings in southern india (Bangalore??) this December?? He's, of course, completely genuine, so no chance of getting taken advantage of there. Not by him, anyway! If you google "dalai lama" you should be able to find details somewhere.

Otherwise, check out Dharamsala. Or, if Nepal is calm, there are some good ones in Bouda. There I especially like Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, who usually runs seminars for westerners every fall. Again, google is the place to find it. Or you could try to google "ranjung yeshe" which is the publishing arm of his monastery. They may have posted his schedule.

In Europe, you can check out Lamas at Chanteloube in France (Dordogne.) They have both resident and visiting Lamas and a range of programs throughout the year, most heavily in the summer. There's also Sogyal Rinpoche who. though controversial sometimes, is nonetheless a very good teacher. He has centers in France and many other countries. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is based in London, I think, but often travels.

In short, check out your own backyard first. You might be in for a pleasant surprise!

I wish you the best of luck and hope you find the guidance you seek, in whatever form is best for you.

Kiki

Definitely!!

I think, tourist, that you are maybe making a mistake thinking that India is the place to find this person. You never know, of course. But, there are a lot of masters in the west these days, and there are a lot of charlatans everywhere (east and west). So, if you are serious about this quest, do be careful that you pick someone who is going to help you and is not looking for more power, sex, money, fame, etc.

I don't know anything about Hindu gurus, but I know there are quite a few very reliable Lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition teaching in the west. Many in Europe, for example. (even with them you have to be careful, though. there really ARE charlatans in every religion) If you are intent on coming to India for this search, why not check out the Dalai Lama's teachings in southern india (Bangalore??) this December?? He's, of course, completely genuine, so no chance of getting taken advantage of there. Not by him, anyway! If you google "dalai lama" you should be able to find details somewhere.

Otherwise, check out Dharamsala. Or, if Nepal is calm, there are some good ones in Bouda. There I especially like Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, who usually runs seminars for westerners every fall. Again, google is the place to find it. Or you could try to google "ranjung yeshe" which is the publishing arm of his monastery. They may have posted his schedule.

In Europe, you can check out Lamas at Chanteloube in France (Dordogne.) They have both resident and visiting Lamas and a range of programs throughout the year, most heavily in the summer. There's also Sogyal Rinpoche who. though controversial sometimes, is nonetheless a very good teacher. He has centers in France and many other countries. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is based in London, I think, but often travels.

In short, check out your own backyard first. You might be in for a pleasant surprise!

I wish you the best of luck and hope you find the guidance you seek, in whatever form is best for you.