The Guru is young

A special Guru Purnima Story

There are beautiful stories in our scriptures that depict the eternal truth for mankind. One such story is that of Lord Dakshinamoorthy. Long ago there was a group of four seekers who wanted to know the nature of the Self and were looking for a guide, a Guru. They went everywhere in search of one.

At first, they approached the creator, Lord Brahma. In his realm, there was plenty of music, intellectual knowledge, innovation, and creativity. Brahma was immersed in creating something new every day- new species of animals, birds, butterflies, and new types of people.

So the seekers went to Lord Vishnu, who was even busier in maintaining the creation. When the seekers reached Vishnu Lok, they found guards outside the gate protecting all the wealth inside. The seekers on not being allowed inside had to leave from there. Then they went to Lord Shiva, where they found Lord Shiva running a big family with all kinds of specimens,  all types of creatures, and people with opposing characteristics –there were yogis, Siddhas, the fools, the wise ones, all types of creatures-cats, cows, dogs, snakes, and others.

Tired from their search for a Guru, the seekers returned to the earth. By then, they had grown old. When you are old and exhausted, what do you do? You just sit down. So these seekers let go and sat down under a tree. And just then, the Guru appeared to them. The Guru, who sat under the peepal tree, was young, but the disciples were old. The Guru is always young-that is, wisdom is always young and ageless, while the disciples were old, meaning the disciple is usually the one who has been doing sadhna (spiritual practice) for a very long time.

It is said, the Guru didn’t say a single word, yet all the questions and doubts of the disciples disappeared.

This story symbolizes something very deep

You find real rest when you finally go beyond the mind, intellect, and the ego. When you crave something or you reject something, you do both from the level of the mind. When you go beyond the mind to the level of the intellect, there again you judge and discriminate, craving and longing remain. Beyond that, there is ego, where you hold on to things. You hold on to your pride of the past or you hold on to the guilt of the past. And finally, you rise beyond that to reach the pure essence of the whole creation. That is what you are.

When you are stuck in the mind, intellect, or ego, you reel in so many doubts, desires, ambitions, and judgments within you. They tire and wear you out. Similarly, the group of seekers, who moved around with so much judgment and doubts in their minds, were finally freed of their judgments when they sat in front of the Guru. And that form of divinity was called Dakshinamoorthy.

‘Daksh’ is the skill and ‘Amurty’ means the formless one. The formless skill, and not just spoken word, with which the Guru operates brings you to your goal, as you sit in the cave of your heart. Once you enter there, all the doubts and questions disappear. And that is what happened to these four seekers.

When they got all these questions answered and their doubts disappeared, they suddenly realized it was the same Guru (Tattva) which was present in all the three forms that they rejected.

Life brings you a million opportunities to be grateful and a billion others to doubt and grumble. If you look at the act of being grateful- you are grateful for something, right?  In your mind, that something becomes bigger than the one you are grateful to.  But Guru simply means the biggest, the highest nature of your very being. Having a Guru outweighs all the complaints in your mind.

Coming to a Guru is to surpass all this and lift your eyes to another plane, open yourself to see another reality. That shift in your consciousness, of seeing our oneness with the universe, happens in the presence of the Guru.

A Guru does not claim authority over you or dictate terms to you. A Guru simply brings more joy, alertness, and awareness into your life. He is the one who helps you get in touch with yourself; who reminds you to live in the present moment; who pulls you out of your guilt, agitation, sorrow, and anguish; and allows you to be yourself. A Master lives the values he teaches. He walks the talk.

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