Accepting the Hands of the Divine Guru

I just had to pen down the following that transpired yesterday. We usually have bhajan practise on Wednesday nights. This week has been a rather difficult week for me as I am totally short staffed at the office. On Monday night (12.5.09), I have a client and we had a meeting regarding a new matter. Thereafter the same client requested that we meet on another project on Wednesday. I knew that it was bhajan practise night, but I decided to go ahead and fix the meeting at 5:00pm as both the clients were coming from 2 different states and that that was the most convenient day and time. I still had a nagging feeling about it as I have very rarely missed bhajan practise and never missed the Thursday bhajan.

Anyway, the meeting was fixed and I informed Uncle Maniam regarding the same by way of an email. I also stated in the mail to Uncle Maniam that unless there is some divine intervention, I would not be albe to attend the practise. I was really sure because both the clients have never cancelled a meeting nor attended late for a meeting.

As wednesday came by, (13.5.09), I still had a gnawing feeling about having to miss bhajan practise. In the afternoon around 1:00pm, I received a call from one client saying that they were almost reaching Selangor and would pop by after another meeting.

Then around 3:30pm, the other party called to say that they may not be able to attend the meeting and as they had an urgent matter to handle and may have to delay the time or cancel the meeting. I was totally shocked and thought for a moment that this could be 'the divine intervention' but decided to test it out! I immediately inform this party that the other client was already here in Selangor and that the meeting has to proceed maybe later if need be. I was convinced that we really can control the situation and that the meeting will be on.

The party then called an confirmed that they woould be attend at sharp 5:00pm but need to finish up quickly. By then, the first client called and told me that they were already around and would reach my office in probably half and hour. About 4:40pm, again the second party called and inquired regardign certain documentation and informed me that these documents should be shown. I informed the client that such issues should have been infromed to all parties before the meeting was fixed and that it is impossible to now check on such items. The client also said that there has been an emergency in her family and that she needed to be in Klang by 5:30pm as hr maternal aunt was very ill. I was dumbfounded and agreed taht the meeting should be canceled.

I immediately called up the first party and apologised th them about the cancellation of the meeting. This client normally would kick a fuss and still come up and meet me on another matter that was pending. Instead, the client was very cool and infromed me that he was already at my office builing at the ground floor having a drink. He said that he would go off to another meet and see me the next day on the other project. Again, I was utterly shocked as this client of mine would under normal circumstances still walk up to my office and discuss the the other matter as I received a few important mails regarding the other matter. The meeting was called off at 4:58pm without much fuss and mess!


His attitude this time really shocked me. At that juncture, I totally believed that it really is our divine Guru who determines everything in our lives. I tried so much to control the situation but totally failed in it.

I too with hands up to Guruji, attended bhajan practise. I called Uncle Maniam at 5:00pm to inform him that I would be abel to attend bhajan practise and he chuckled as he told me that he somehow knew that I would call to say that the meeting was canceled and that I would attend the practise session!

We have to totally surrender our day to day activities to our Guru as our Guru is really leading our day for us. If we have a doubt within us or a feeling that this is not right, then we should follow it i think as there would be some form of truth in it! I am of the view that we should put in effort as much as we can in our work. But now I realise that though we still must put in our sincere effort in our work but, the end results we should leave it to our Guru.

Our Guru's divine hands will always be seen in our lives. It is a must that we realise it and understand it. I believe that I still need to grow more to understand more. But, Guruji will be there to always guide me in my thinking and life. I would like to than Guruji for this valuable lesson and lay my day at Guruji's patham!

Jai Gurudeva! Jai Guru Nimishanandaya Namaha!

Guru Bakti

Guru Bhakthi
His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Sarasvathi Svamigal Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham

It is said that Guru(preceptor) is greater than God, devotion to preceptor is more meritorious than that to God. If we ask why, the answer is that God has not been seen by any one, But the preceptor is present here and now before us. If a Preceptor who is immaculate and pure, full of wisdom and steadiness of vision completely free from weakness, were available to us, the mental peace in search of which we pray to God is at our reach by devotion to the preceptor. Hence it is declared

"Gurur - Brahma Gurur - Vishnuh Guru -devo Maheswarah Gurur - sakshat Param Brahma Tasmai Sri Gurave namah

The Preceptor is Brahma, Vishnu, is the God Maheswara, is verily Brahma itself. Salutation to such a Preceptor

In this verse it is to be noted that total identity between the Preceptor and Brahman reality is declared. Incidentally, since in this verse both Siva and Vishnu are clubbed together, if we prostrate before the preceptor uttering this verse we will get the sense of the identity of Siva and Vishnu.

God performs the works like creating and protecting the world. But the preceptor does not have these responsibilities. God has an 'office' while the Preceptor does not have one. is much easier to get things done by the grace of the preceptor than by the officer God whom we will have to disturb.

Whatever great and auspicious qualities God possesses, the Preceptor also has, namely, blem-ishless purity, truth, devoid of deceit or dissimulation, complete control of the senses, infinite compassion and wisdom. The only difference is that we are able to see the Preceptor by our eyes, while God is invisible. Hence if we begin to develop devotion to the preceptor clinging to his holy feet we will gain with ease all the benefits that we expect from God with effort. That is why our elders said that devotion to Preceptor is superior in its effects than that to God.
However we should not forget to practice devotion to god, because we are led to the presence and proximity of the Preceptor only by God. if the grace of God were not operating, how could one get near the Preceptor at all?

Acharya Sankara has stated in the beginning of the Vivekacudamani that three things are hard to obtain without God's Grace. They are(1) birth as a human being, (2) desire to know the truth and to get liberated and (3) the attainment of holy Preceptor.

"Durlabham trayameva etat devanugraha - hetukam manushyatvam mudmukshutvam-purusha-samsargah"

For all people at all ages, the Preceptor is one only. He is Dakshinamurthy.
"Sa purvesham api guruh Kaalena-anavacchedaat."

How could true knowledge have been transmitted to one Preceptor except through Preceptor of that Preceptor except through Preceptor of that Preceptor and so on? If we thus trace the line or Preceptor backwards, God Himself ultimately will become the First preceptor to his first disciple. That is why we are told not to forget God.

Sometimes this matter is stated in a different way. If instead of speaking of God and Preceptor as two different persons, if we treat them as one and the same and assume that God has appeared in the form of a Preceptor, we need not practice two-fold devotion separately as devotion to the Preceptor. we can consider God Himself as the preceptor and surrender to Him totally. He will save us by His grace through the preceptor in human form who after all is only His manifestation. hence we are taught even at the very outset that the preceptor is the basis of trinity of God viz. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.

"Gurur - Brahma Gurur - Vishnuh Gurur - Devo Maheswarah Gururs - Sakshat Param Brahma Tasmai Sri Gurave namah

The meaning of the above verse is used sometimes to be explained more tastefully with reference to Sage Vyasa who is the most important of all the teachers of the Brahma-vidya.
"acatur-vadano brahmaa, dvibaahur-aparo-harih; Aphaalalocanah sambhuh, bhagavaan baadaraayanah."

'Baadaraayana' is another name of Vyasa. He is Brahmaa without four faces. He is Vishnu with only two hands; He is Siva without the eye on the forehead. Such is the greatness of Vyasa-Baadadraayana.

There is no one greater than the preceptor. We should have full faith in him. It should be genuine faith. if we have faith that God himself has appeared in the preceptor's form, then even God is not necessary. This faith and the devotion that we nourish towards Him, will of themselves redeem us.

For the Vaishnava, devotion to Preceptor is the most important and primary.
If we commit and offence against God, there is no need to seeking pardon from God himself. It is enough if the Preceptor pardoned us. God's anger will at once be appeased. On the contrary, if one offends the preceptor, and seeks pardon from God, nothing would happen. God himself would tell him that He is helpless in the matter. he will ask us to get the pardon from the preceptor alone.

The Preceptor can intercede on behalf of the disciple and recommend to God to pardon the sinner. God will never disregard this recommendation. If, on the contrary, the preceptor is sinned against there could be none to protect the sinner. There is a verse which tells us this.
"Gurur-pitaa, gurur-maataa, guru-daivam, guru-gatih, Sive-rysgte gurustraataa, gurur rushte na kascana.

That is why the scriptures enjoin the devotion to the preceptor. If a Preceptor, perfect in all respects is not available, one has to take to some Preceptor as a spiritual guide even though he is of a grade less and practice devotion to him and through him to God.

No benefit accrues to God or Guru by our devotion to them. The great benefit is only ours. What is that?

We have impurities and are fickle-minded. We are not able to fix the mind in one point even for a second. Only when we set our thought on one who is ever pure, is full of wisdom, is constant and inflexible like a dried wood, that state of immutability will be won by us also. We will become the same as He. The object of our thought need not necessarily be God. It may be any object or any person whom we consider to be possessed of such spiritual qualities as those of a Preceptor. We will become one with Him. Only when the mind stops to wander, self will shine forth. That is, we will know our true nature of bliss. Devotion to Guru or God is indispensable for the restraint of the mind.

In the Chandogya Upanishad itself it is declared that only by the grace of the Guru true knowledge is possible. It says "aacaaryavaan purusho veda" (only one who has a Preceptor, gains true knowledge).

It puts the idea in the form of short story.

A man belonging to Gandhara (now known as Kandahar) was kidnapped by some dacoits and was abandoned blindfold in a forest. what will be his predicament? How could he return to his country not knowing where he was?

Similar is the case with us. Maya, the deluding power, has left us blindfold in the world. In the above story, some wayfarer happens to come on the way in the forest. He removes the blind and instructs him on the way back to Gandhara. The poor man follows the instructions and reaches his place.

Similarly, we are now blinded by ignorance and can, following the instruction of the Preceptor, get our ignorance removed and attain release. This is the parable in the Chandogya Upanishad.
Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada, renowned as the world teacher (Jagadguru), sings the praise of the Guru everywhere. He asked "What if one has all the glories? What is the use of it all if his mind is not bound to the lotus feet of the Preceptor?" He asks "what if?" not once, but repeatedly. In the poem Gurdvashtakam (consisting of eight verses), he asks as a refrain at the end of every line "What if" in all the 32 lines.

And also in the teaching just on the eve of his casting off the mortal coils he commands; "Take to a Preceptor who is a savant and is pure. Then do service at his holy feet every day. Seek the instruction on Brahman, symbolised in the single syllable Om! Listen to the Mahavaakyas of Upanishads!"

"Sad-vidvan upasrpyatam pratidinam tatpadukaa sevyatam brahmaika akasaram arthyatam srutisriri-vaakyam samaakarnyataam."

There is no parallel to the Guru. He may be compared a philosopher's stone which turns the base metal into gold. But even this comparison is not Quite correct because the philosopher's stone turns base metal only into gold. it does not transform that metal into another philosopher's stone. But the Preceptor turns even the dullard into a wise sage like him.

When we look at the line of the Preceptors one by one, and our Paramacharya, the doubt deepens whether there could be any one comparable to him. We should contemplate on the Paramacharya not merely as a God walking amidst us but the Supreme non-dual Brahman who is beyond all difference and determinations.

Narayana Narayana

How to Sublimate Service into Seva

Service into Seva

Indulging in flimsy gossip and watching scenes of violence and cruelty, men today are wasting and missing a big portion of their precious lives.

Time is condemned, because it is too little, or because it runs too fast to fulfill galloping greed. Men are not aware that time sanctified by service offers high rewards to themselves as well as those whom they serve.

All acts of service are not equally sanctifying or uniform in the benefits they confer.

All acts of service are not equally sanctifying or uniform in the benefits they confer. When service is undertaken by power-hungry people, or under compulsion or by imitative urges, it results in more harm than good.

Self-aggrandizement or competition or ostentation, are motives that pollute the sacred spiritual practice of service. The candidate for this activity has to avoid ahamkara (egoism), adambara (exhibitionism) and abhimana (favouritism).

Before embarking on a service project one must introspect and examine their equipment, which is, whether their heart is full of selfless love, humility and compassion; whether their head has an intelligent understanding and knowledge of the problem and its solution; whether their hands are eager to offer the healing touch; and finally whether he/she can gladly spare and share time, energy and skill to help others in dire need.

How to Sublimate Service into Seva

These qualities can sprout and grow only when the ‘Reality of Unity’ is implanted in the consciousness. All men, and all living beings, are cells in the Body of God. Their origin, continued existence, and progress are all in God, by God, and for God. The individual is a unit in this unity. There are no other aliens. When one is ill, all suffer. When one is happy, all are partners of that happiness. Faith in this truth is the fundamental equipment the sevak (volunteer)must acquire.
Leaders and guides of service organisations offer charity, and claim that they are motivated by generosity and accept homage from recipients. This is the reason why such service all over the world does not yield lasting results. In order to deserve the sacred name, Seva, the activity must be freed from all attachment to the individual self and based on firm faith in the Divine resident in every being. Seva has to be considered as worshipping the form that God has assumed to give the volunteer the chance of worship.

When a hungry nara(man) is served a hearty meal, what is being done is Narayana Seva (serving the supreme lord), for, nara(man) is only ‘a form and a name’ projected by maya (human ignorance) on Narayana (God).

Do not allow your service activities to turn into shops which concentrate on window dressing, in order to attract attention and patronage. Service rendered to villagers, who are denied the ways and means of decent lives, draws Divine Grace, more than service elsewhere. Give a helping hand to the helpless, who are afflicted with many ailments and handicaps.
The True Purpose of Human Birth

But, before attempting to advise them, you must endeavour to advise yourselves; before venturing to reform them, reform yourselves. Care must be taken to avoid boasting before them about your superiority; it will hurt them and keep them away. Do not indulge in lectures. Action alone can inspire action. Example alone can instruct. Tall talk is a barren exercise

Service activities in all lands can thrive only through selfless dedication. Fanfare is a sign of insincerity. Silent, unsullied work alone can appeal. The villager has enough common sense to see through the show.

Remember that, though illiterate, he is aware of the ideals propounded by the scriptures, saints and sages of the land. Clever propaganda may achieve some temporary results but, in the long run, it will bring disappointment and disillusion.

Like the 'rockets' lit by children on Deepavali night, it will flare up and fizzle down. Today, we are confronted everywhere by statistics parading quantities and reports in glowing terms. Do not bother about adding to the number or achieving a target. I value quality, not quantity. Genuine and intensive devoted service offered in a few villages is more fruitful than casual contacts and superficial service offered to a large number.

Convince yourselves that life cannot continue long without others serving you, and you serving others. Master-servant, ruler-ruled, guru-disciple, employer-employee, parents-children, all these are bound by mutual service. Every one is a sevak (servant). The farmer and labourer whom you serve produce by their toil your food and clothing as their service to you.

Remember that the body, with its senses-mind-brain complex has been awarded to you to be used for helping the helpless. Seva is the highest of paths of devotion which wins the Grace of God. It promotes mental purity, diminishes egoism and enables one to experience, through sympathetic understanding, the unity of mankind.

I have been having really bad flu for the past month along with a bad throat. This week however, my flu seemed to have vanished a little and the throat has been better in fact, almost normal. I am really happy about it as I am always longing to sing at least one bhajan during our weekly satsangs. Brother Devan and Uncle Maniam have also been keeping an eye on me! Since my voice was improving, the best time for me to test it out I figured, was during my bath.

As usual at night, I brought my elder twin, Nishaal who is 3 years and 6 months old to my room and made him sleep. Then my aunt came in and told me that she will make him sleep and asked me to get my things ready for work tomorrow. It was already 9:30pm and a little later then their normal 9:00pm bedtime. I left them both together, got my things sorted out and as I entered my room again, Nishaal was fast asleep. My aunt left and I went to the bathroom to take a shower. I normally have my night shower while Nishaal sleeps and he has almost never woken up.

As I started to sing, I sang a few Guru Songs especially the ones I know Uncle Maniam would make us sing. Then, I sang a few Amma songs and the song that I created as well. I was so interested in my singing that my bath took quite a while. Suddenly I heard Nishaal crying for me in a very frightened voice. I quickly grabbed a towel and called for my aunt. My aunt’s room is pretty near mine and she came over very quickly. I quickly rushed to finish my bath as Nishaal was still crying for me.

As I came to him and took him from my aunt, we kept telling him not to be scared of the anything and that we were all there. By then, my mum who was watching the television down stairs also came up and consoled him. He soon stopped sobbing and calmed down. My mum then told him to sleep as tomorrow he had to attend nursery in the morning.

Nishaal suddenly said “I taw Amman”. We were all confused and then my mum said, “You mean you are going to see Isman in school tomorrow?” He very clearly shook his head and said “No” with such clarity that I began to look at him seriously. I then asked him again, “What did you say Nishaal?” and he answered “I taw Amma” Then we all looked at each other in shock. My aunt asked him “Did you see Nimishamba Amma?” and he first said “No” and then said “Don’t know”. At this juncture I was convinced that he was speaking the truth and not making it up as he would not know how Nimishamba Ammam looked like as he has never been to her temple. But over here locally, we do take him to the nearby Eswari Temple and he definitely knows how Amma looks like from there and also from our alter picture.

Then he again repeated on his own, “I taw Amman”. I asked him “Where did you see Amma?” and he pointed to the ceiling above where he slept earlier. We quietly made him sleep and we not sure what to think. I later spoke to Devan Anna who informed me after speaking to Guruji 2 days later, that Nishaal did see Amma and we were happy that he was granted a vision of Amma.

I truly believe that little children can see divinity due to their divine nature that does not know fear, hurt, harm dishonesty, ego, anger, greed etc. May our children realize their journey in life at a much earlier age and continue our vision and mission to spread the teaching of Pujya Guruji and all saints past and present to make the future a better and more beautiful place for all living beings. “Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu” “Sarva Jana Sukhino Bhavantu” “Sarva Jeeva Jantu Sukhno Bhavantu”

Holi message by Guruji

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