Be grateful to your Guru

Human life is both self-concealing and self-revealing, and is a conundrum of chaos and confusion. Only with the help and guidance of a Guru, a spiritual master, the seeker can come into contact with the eternal truth— as he helps open the ‘real eyes’, to be able to see beyond the blinding ignorance, as he shows the ‘way’, and shines ‘light’ on the ‘way’!

It may not be easy, with all the pulls and pressures, pangs, upheavals and tensions, but Guru’s blessings and ‘upadesha’ (instructions) will shine like a beacon lighting up the arduous spiritual path, giving sustenance to the mind and spirit of man, which finally will lead to the goal.

Naana chhidra ghatodara sthita mahaa deepa prabha bhaaswaram – as this line from Sree Dakshina Moorthy Stotram says—like a light kept in a pot with many holes emanates through all of them, the light lit by Guru would shed the light through all our senses. That luminosity dispels the deepest darkness of ignorance. It’s only through the grace of Guru that one can attain the highest state of beatitude and spiritual joy.

To every teacher who gave me pedagogic or esoteric knowledge on the trajectory of my life, I silently offer these words of mine as my prayerful gratitude.

“Oh Guru, my teacher, your eternal light, ignited a devout fire in me, burning the stark dark ignorance, lighting the path ahead with brightness. Your affection, as a thousand sunrises, rushed headlong to me to place me in a priceless state of warmth and glow. Away from the chasing blackness of ignorance, I learnt to fly to brighter horizons with my healthy new wings—your gift to me. The quagmire inside got washed away by my new understanding that you bestowed on me—rinsed of pollution, purged of unawareness, I now pulsate with pure breaths of conviction. Simmering fires of mundane hunger and thirst are extinguished from my life. I am a human shrunken to size, of reality and truth. Like a vine in spring, I am sprouting new leaves of life, every day of my life, by your grace and compassion. Keep me safe in your thoughts, keep me always in your fold. I am forever grateful that you found me and nurtured me.”