The guru principle

We all need a guru if we want to be successful. A guru is one who imparts knowledge and leads one from darkness to light. What is darkness, and what is light though? Each but the most enlightened have darkness in their minds. What is the nature of this darkness? It is a lack of spiritual light, ie. insight. Obviously you can't see in the dark so you need light, and this light enables us to have insight. A guru is one who gives us insight. This is most important. In psychiatry they claim that certain individuals lack insight because their behavior is different from the norm or the average person. But is the average person really so insightful? Pablo Picasso for example was a very insightful man yet he was different from the norm, and so was da Vinci and Einstein and all the other great thinkers of both the modern era and ancient times. Mahatma Ghandi said, "Truth in a minority of one is still truth." and that is the way it is. Insight is not the possession of the majority but the minority. Obviously I am not talking about a racial minority but a minority that is even smaller than that, but which may actually be in only one person. Jesus said, "Narrow is the way that leads to salvation, and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many travel thereby." So only a very small number find salvation. And what is salvation? It is reaching God, finding true happiness. Who can reach salvation? Only by having a true guru can you attain salvation. Now many people believe that behavior is carved in stone and we have no choice about our behaviors and that everyone is destined to behave in a certain way under all circumstances. A little observation will reveal that to be untrue. Our behaviors are not carved in stone and different behaviors are not signs of mental abnormalities. Indeed to the Enlightened mind the majority of people exhibit mental abnormalities, and the people that the majority call mentally ill are healthy to the Enlightened mind. People with something to say will find a way to say it, and those who have the most to say will be our teachers. A guru is a teacher. Not a teacher like you see in classrooms and lecture halls etc. but someone qualified to teach by their own inner realization, their own insight. A true teacher will be an Enlightened guru and there is no one truly qualified to teach ANYTHING but and Enlightened guru. They are the only ones qualified. It is not merely a theory or an experience to them but a definite KNOWING. They know for sure. Part of this knowing that Enlightened ones have is omniscience, that is a complete awareness of everything, literally everything. With that comes omnipresence and omnipotence. That is just what happens. This is why you should consider the guru as God, because he indeed does have God-like powers, awareness and presence. Now, some people don't believe in God. They will have a lot of trouble in their lives and accepting a guru or even the need for a teacher is out of the question. They blindly accept the so called truth of the scientist because there is supposed to be proof of these theories. They obviously don't trust themselves or God. This is where a guru comes in. He will teach you the true love of God and that will bring trust in yourself. A guru is one that will not support your ego in any way because the ego is the enemy to your true happiness and salvation and insight. This is what leads people to think that people who behave different are mentally ill because the different behavior means they have smaller egos. The smaller the ego the more insight and healthier and more loving and kind they will be, the more intelligent they will be and the happier they will be. This is quite a profound insight is it not? Enlightenment means that the person has no ego and has achieved perfect insight into all things. They are a perfected being, a siddha. They have worked out their own salvation and are qualified to help people work out their true salvation. Mere belief is not enough. Beliefs don't get you very far and indeed are your own greatest enemy, will prevent you from achieving salvation. How does a guru teach? He will give you private instruction like a tutor and will work one on one with you, free of charge. He might even help YOU out financially. Why because the guru is only interested in your salvation not personal benefit. The guru gets spiritual benefit from helping people that is the spiritual path - you benefit by you helping others. You get the most benefit from helping your guru, even though he doesn't need your help. You serve the guru to benefit yourself, not for the guru. This may be a little hard for you to get your head around but your true nature wants to serve and by serving you become that which you are - your spiritual Self or soul. It is the path of personal and spiritual growth, the path of service - especially to the guru. Service is the path to true happiness and unification with God. This is the path of Yoga which means 'union', union with God and your true Self. I have already explained that by having less ego you will be healthier. It is Soul and Spirit that heal and this is the path of true healing - Union with Soul and Spirit. Of course you have always been connected with God and your Soul but you do not know it because of the mud on the diamond as they say, which means your samskaras or misconceptions about reality. In other words the mud on the diamond is your delusions. By clearing up your delusions you will get healthier - physically, because the body is the barometer of the Soul. The more you give the better it will be for you so the idea is the serve and keep serving and give and never stop giving. The more you put in the more you will get out of it, so give with happiness knowing that you will get great benefit out of it but also with no thought of reward. Indeed service is the only way to gain any benefit. Keep this in mind. Peace and Love to you. Peace. Om Shanti, Om Shanti.