Chapter 5 : God, Guru and Self are synonymous

Chitram Vata tharor mole, vruddha Sishya, Guror Yuva, Gurostu mounam vykhyanam, Sishyasthu china samsaya
It is strange to see, The very old disciples, And the very young teacher, Who sit under a banyan tree, With the teacher always observing silence, And the students getting all the doubts cleared.
Om nama pranavarthaya, Suddha jnanaika moorthaye nama, Nirmalaya prasanthaya, Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama.
Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the meaning of the pranava, “om”, Who is the personification of unalloyed wisdom, Who is crystal clear in his thought, And who is the epitome of peace.
Gurave sarva lokaanam, Bishaje bhava roginaam, Nidhaye sarva vidhyanam, Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama.
Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the teacher of the entire world, Who is the doctor to those, Afflicted by the disease of birth and death

Ishvaro Gurur Athmethi Moorthy Bhedha Vibhagine Vyomavath Vyaptha Dehaya Sri Dakhinamurthaye Namaha
Self, Guru and GOD – are one and the same thing with three differentforms. To that Dakshinamurthy (who is the first Guru of all Gurus) who represents these three forms and who has a body all-pervading like space – I offer my salutations.
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naaraayaNaM padmabhavaM vasishhThaM shaktiM cha tatputraparaasharaM cha
vyaasaM shukaM gauDapadaM mahaantaM govindayogiindramathaasya shishhyam
shrii shaMkaraachaaryamathaasya padmapaadaM cha hastaamalakaM cha shishhyam
taM troTakaM vaarttikakaaramanyaan asmataguruun santatamaanatosmi
shrutismR^itipuraaNaanaaM aalayaM karuNaalayaM
namaami bhagavatpaadaM sha~NkaraM lokasha~Nkaram
sha~NkaraM sha~Nkaraachaarya keshavaM baadaraayaNam
suutrabhaashhyakR^itau vande bhagavantau punaH punaH
gururbrahmaa gururvishhNur gururdevo maheshvaraH
guruHsaakShaat parambrahma tasmai shrii gurave namaH
shrii+ brahmanandam parama sukhadam kevalam GYaanmurtim
vishvaatiitaM* gagana sadrisham tattvamasyaadi lakshyam
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The Atman, the enlightened Guru, and Brahman are all one! And that is all there is. An enlightened master is considered the same as Brahman.The first thing that scriptures say is that one must have an enlightened master to take us to the goal of self realization. Hinduism has the tradition of Guru and student (Shishya). All Gurus, Rishis of the Vedas, even Krishna, when giving knowledge never claim that it's their knowledge but  that, "We have heard from the wise ones", or "learnt from my Guru". The knowledge is passed down from Guru to student through thousands of years. The first Guru, who was never is a student is Narayana, in the Vaishnav tradition, and Dakshina Murthy, in the Shaivite tradition.

Hinduism talks about the concept of a "Guru" as its also necessary to learn from a wise person, and not using my own logic and interpretation which may mislead me to wrong conclusions. Therefore I need to learn spirituality from a spiritual master like learning Math from a Math professor. It was very common for each person, family, and king to have a spiritual Guru. The Hindi word "Anath" commonly known as orphan, actually means one without a Guru. Lost without wisdom.

Guru need not be in physical form. When a qualified student asks a sincere question from a pure heart - he will get the answer. Knowledge can come as revelations from within and also from the whole world. However; the best is that from a realized master. 

When that desire for being free is so strong and sincere, a right master is given by nature not that one can choose a master. It could also come from previous merits (Karma) but since it's too complicated and there's no way for me to verify.  Like a student in a particular class in school an appropriate teacher is assigned, with that faith I know nature will bring to me the right one. 

An enlightened Guru is the only one who can raise a student to enlightenment and also to express the knowledge of enlightenment. A professor with a Bachelors degree can't teach to PhD students. If a Guru is a Siddha - a perfected yogi, he can raise a student only to his level - not to enlightenment. 

For me the master I am given, not chosen, is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, or Gurudev, as I like to respectfully address him. I am ever so grateful to him for giving me so much knowledge and compassion. I have gained so much on my spiritual path from him. I have a long list of praise and admiration for him, he is the optimal human, "Purushottam". He is a Sat Guru to so many. Guru means one who removes darkness or ignorance, and brings you on the path of truth. He has brought so many to the spiritual path and done so much for others. I am happy to be a drop in the ocean of bliss.

Gurudev's knowledge is in line with the ancient scriptures and saints. He has brought the scriptures alive with fresh, modern, simple and practical wisdom. He has also brought tools and techniques apt for this day and age. The famous one being the Sudarshan Kriya, a pranayama. One should always be grateful for all the knowledge one has gained and drink the nectar that such saints have to offer to the world.

I can't meet Brahman/God, or converse with Him, then how do I learn, ask questions, and interact with God? I would be so lost if it was not for Gurus. This is unique to Hinduism, that in addition to priests there are spiritual masters, Gurus. A person who has done Bachelors degree can't teach me PhD level stuff, only an enlightened person can raise me to his level. So where do I find such an enlightened master? How do I know if he's enlightened?

More than a decade ago when I was so consumed by my consulting business, we had just moved to the bay area. One day I asked myself, "What am I doing? This is not me, this is not my nature, not the purpose of my life. I want to pursue spirituality. I want to go back to that inner pursuit and make it the focus of my life. I need to look for an organization, a Guru...". That's when one of my close friends, Madhu, introduced me to the Art of Living. I was looking to learn meditation, a serious advanced study of scriptures, etc.! Quite funny now that I look back. When she said the Art of Living course was about breathing exercises I thought it's way too elementary for me and told my husband to take the course. He had been curious about spirituality after marrying me and thought this would be a good introductory class for him. A very close friend, Indu, was also living with us at the time. Both my husband and her signed up for the one that was held in our area. When they came home after the first Sudarshan Kriya, they looked so transformed! My husband was glowing and he was so calm and peaceful .I was quite taken aback with their presence and asked what happened, what did they do. They described their experiences, it was quite amazing. I wanted the same experience and decided to do the course right away. I had a long conversation with the Art of Living teacher, Nancie, who had taught my husband's class. I took the Art of Living course September, 1999, in Milpitas, with my wonderful teachers, Neha and Ravi. The Sudarshan Kriya definitely had an effect on me. I remember driving home and feeling quite empty, blank, yet so peaceful. I remember my son giving me a hard time, being irritable and for the first time it didn't phase me. I didn't get angry or agitated for many days. From there I was on a fast track. I took the Advance Course in Monterey during Thanksgiving. I had gone with Indu. I had such deep experiences which I haven't had since. I enrolled myself in the Ashtavakra series which was basically a group watching the commentary by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar once a week. I loved the knowledge and that's what attracted me to Art of Living and Sri Sri. The first time I met Sri Sri was in Lake Tahoe in 2000 during Guru Purnima. I whispered something to him on stage when I went to get his blessings, and then during a group session with new people I asked him a question, quite deliberately to have an interaction with him. Anyway that was the start of my journey with Sri Sri. I feel a special connection and subtle communication with him, sometimes I feel he's a mirror of what's happening within me. I don't know who he is, but like a child trusts and loves the mother without knowing, I do too. In my first email to him I said, "Guide me till I reach the final goal, take me to mySelf".

A disciple or a devotee has closeness as well as respect, both combined in one - Sri Sri

The Ashtavakra Gita is a Vedantic text of the highest order, and it satisfied my thirst for knowledge with sweet nectar. I have gone through many commentaries on various scriptures and found them to be the ultimate in knowledge. If I could implement even one statement completely 100% I would be free. Reading Yoga Vasistha was like reading a science fiction novel! But really I find it the ultimate in the knowledge on truth.

Knowledge is spherical. It is all encompassing. There is conceptual knowledge, experiencial knowledge and existential state of wisdom. Most of the time I am in the first two categories. An enlightened Guru is in the last one, established in consciousness. When I meditate sometimes I get a sense of that substratum within me, the equilibrium when all oscillation has stopped. Just being and being a witness. All experience is the realm of the world so all spiritual experiences can be null and voided as an experience of the truth. There is no time or space or thought or anything there. Like going into a black hole. When you travel at the speed of light nothing exists. Everything that exist, time, space is slower than speed of light and mind is faster than speed of light. When one rests in that equilibrium of the speed of light everything disappears. That is the Guru tattva - the essence of truth, the light of wisdom. I don't see a Guru as a body, as a personality, I see the Guru as the presence of consciousness wrapped in a physical form. Like magnets attract, my soul charges towards this bright brilliance of the Guru. There is a magnetic connection - a subtle yet strong bond between the Atman and the enlightened one. Like two black holes on the surface that lead to eternity, cosmic consciousness, Brahman.  

The Guru is like the window, the sky is consciousness/God. To see the sky I need a window through which to see. Through that window the light of the sun comes in. One who has a window in the house they live are lucky, for they can see the brilliance of the sun through that window. Being grateful to the ones who give me love unconditionally is one the most beautiful feelings of human experience. The melting of the self in complete surrender is the epitome of devotion and reverence. Such grace flows that it's like the Niagara Falls. That connection, the oneness of Self and Guru is what is this ancient tradition of Guru and disciple.

India has seen such beautiful Guru traditions, and the Gurus are innumerable. The ancient Rishis (seers) were all over the globe and this knowledge was universal, there was no country or religion thousands of years ago. The great Kapilla Rishi lived in what is now California. Some were in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia comes from the Sanskrit root Nav Kosha or nine Koshas (a Vedic measurement) from the center of time which is Ujjain. Why Ujjain because that is where the axis of time, Maha Kaaleshwar, resides. There were Rishis in Germany also. This is my ascertainment from what I have read and heard.  

I bow to all the Gurus from the start of time to the present day, may You take this offering of love and reverence at your feet....

Jai Guru Dev