THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD; GURU

 

The ancient scripts of India the Veda, Aagama, Upanishads and other scripts are the great source of the knowledge for Indians, perhaps to the world. Hindu culture has highest regard for GURU or Teacher. A person is inducted to the spirituality and knowledge by a guru but no one. The rituals of the induction are sacred and important in one's life in Hindu religion, it is called Deeksha. Since ancient times the Guru and Shishya (Teacher and Disciple) relation is sacred and well bonded as Guru guides disciple to acquire knowledge and achieve enlightenment. Though Guru is a highly learned soul however, guru is also a human being. The disciples acknowledge guru with highest regard and show utmost respect. However, some even consider guru as god because of the respect and regards they have for their guru. Guru is the source and guide to achieve enlightenment and realisation of god.

Love – Devotion -Worship: The highest form of love is devotion and peak of the devotion is worship. It can happen with anybody and with anything. The Sanatan dharma teaches us to worship entire nature as the nature is the source of life. We see god in plants, air, earth, water and fire. But it is not compulsive in sanatan tradition of our religion. The love for plants and trees turns into worship when realise the source of “Prana Vayu” is plants and trees. If one doesn't want to recognise this and doesn't follow then it is individual choice. As we see god in the form of nature and everything related to nature, it is obvious that we love, adore, respect and worship the teacher or Guru also as the Guru is the source of knowledge. Indians have highest regards and respect for Guru, even we refer the largest planet of our galaxy, Jupiter as GURU in Sanskrit shows the highest stature given to Guru in our tradition. Even our religion teaches us to respect the Woman as mother, first teacher or Guru, the love and respect for mother is unmatchable in Hindu tradition and the same culminates into worshiping Mother as god and we refer planet Earth as “Tayi” “Amma”, mother. It may not be the same with other religions in the world. The love and respect is an individual choice of gratitude, hence we respect guru and worship guru as god, neither it is expected nor portrayed  by guru.

Gratitude and human evolution: Worshiping Guru is highest form of gratitude Hindus develop and it is deep rooted in Hindu culture. If we closely look in to the human evolution we realise the reason behind it. Human beings are most sensible living beings in the universe, humans are evolved with empathy, love, care and humanity because of the ability to think and analyse unlike other animals in the universe. Humans are more attached to the things which are loved by them. Love can turn anything into precious. Hindus are close to the nature with tradition and rituals. Understanding the vulnerability of the nature and our dependency on it, Hindu religion cultivated a practice of loving nature and loving all valuable gifts to humanity. In order to achieve the basic, minimum and prosperous life Hindus developed the culture, rituals, behaviors, gratitude, etc., being very close to nature and love everything which was precious for human life. That’s is how the nature, earth, water, etc., are preserved and protected for centuries. We are witnessing the disaster and abuse on nature and mother earth is the result of absence of the above doctrine in the modern world. In the absence of the gratitude and love, humans destroying  the nature in such a way that no human can survive in the future if the same is continued. Hinduism and the Hindu doctrines are so in-depth, beyond just a religious practice. The Hindu dharma is just not a religion, it’s part of life. It is blend of knowledge, philosophy, agriculture, science, medicine, etc. All these things are well nurtured and part of common daily living practices which help humans heal physically and emotionally. Hinduism is a way of life towards harmony, love, health, spirituality and enlightenment. For all these knowledge one should be dependent on Guru, the knowledge is a free flowing energy only when it is given with complete will. Willingness to share the knowledge needs a bonding, a relation, love, gratitude and devotion.

Yes, it is possible only when a disciple is devoted to Guru, respects him, adores him and has gratitude. When such relation gets stronger it turns into worship, a disciple feels and worships a Guru like god. It is a disciple who chooses to worship a Guru because he sees such value in a person, otherwise Guru is just a teacher for others. The others also should look at him like a normal human being. Just because a person calls the guru or teacher god or worships him, one should not see him as god and compare with mythological godly characters depicted in the legends and stories and find faults in him.  It is not the fault of the guru, it is fault of the people if they compare him with god and try to find godly powers and attitude. It is wrong to compare a teacher or Guru to god and expect him to be as ideal as god. The problem is with people not with Gurus.

The Godman analogy: Now-a-days the terminology “Godman” is used abundantly in the media for all wrong reasons. The term is coined by the modern media and by so called intellectuals. A guru is a person who guides towards knowledge and enlightenment. For a disciple who sees value in the person accepts him as Guru and may worship him out of his respect, it is a private relation between two people. It is not a binding for others to follow the same. Calling a person Godman, then expect him to behave like god just to find faults and thrash him for not having godly gestures. This is wrong! Leave the Guru or the teacher to their disciples, do not interfere in their private affair.

Guru may be god for disciples, for others just a teacher. Other should just see the person as teacher not beyond that. Wrong thoughts, wrong expectations and wrong judgement leads to hatred. Conspiracy of bashing the Hindu Gurus just because large people see value in them is basically a insecurity of maligned mind.

Let Gurus do their job: Let the gurus do their work, do not make them god for your benefit and thrash them. Making them god against their will, aspiration and knowledge just to compare them to the unrealistic and unmatchable behaviors, powers and attitude of god. This act will make the Gurus or the teachers vulnerable for the misconception and misrepresentation in-front of the society without their knowledge. So please god sake no one has asked you to see the Gurus like gods, and expect the godly nature in them. See them as teacher and guide then there will be no unrealistic expectations. Leave them alone and do their job.

                                                                                By VijayG

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