Meeting The True Guru

"What and who is the true Guru?", that's the question which is often raised by many spiritual seekers. It is not easy to answer it. To put it simply, for ordinary people who are not enlightened yet, the true teacher is outside. To the one who newly enlightened, the true Master is inside. But for the spiritual seekers who have experienced perfect enlightenment, the true Guru is beyond outside and inside.

In the straightforward language of the West, the true Guru is often defined as the unobscured suchness. In other words, the innocence which shines bright. A true teacher in this framework is far from having a judgmental mind. Their mind is always plain and they view everything as they are. And from such an innocent mind, then shines the beautiful light of loving-kindness and compassion.

But in the Eastern subtle language, the spiritual seekers are often given advice like this. There is no need to chase butterflies, simply bloom into a beautiful flower. When the flower blooms beautifully, it will naturally attract the coming of butterflies. In the same way, there is no need to pursue the true Guru. Simply focus your energy on being genuine in your life (by which read: to be sincere, honest and surrender). In the moment when you are truly genuine, naturally the true Master will come to you.

To be honest, there is always the true Guru in each cycle of time. Sadly, there are very few seekers who can find the true Master. Some of the seekers are similar to moths which approach the fire. As soon as they are close to the true Master, they will be burnt. Some students are like a spoon in the middle of soup. They are close to the Master, but they do not feel anything. There are disciples who are similar to a stone plunging into the water. It's just wet (by which read: they understand) on the surface. And the most blessed ones are those who resembles sugar which is put into water. They dissolve completely with the true Guru. And at the same time they bring the sweetness in the life of the true Master.

To the moth type, which is burnt by the fire as soon as they are close to the true Master, it is advised to learn the code of conduct of meeting the true Guru. Especially before their life falls into a dangerous valley. To the seekers who are like a spoon in soup, they are suggested to be more intelligent and sensitive. To the disciples who are similar to the rocks which plunge into water, they are invited to understand much deeper. Especially by continually implementing the teaching in everyday life.

And the quality that makes someone very lucky, like sugar dissolved into water, is called perfect devotion. As materials of contemplation, the forms of devotion vary according to how close one is with the true Master. For the public consumption and the beginners, the form of devotion which is recommended is to put the essence of the teaching in to everyday life. Until one day they will be able to see the presence of the true Guru everywhere.

A few close disciples in the spiritual family of Compassion are often given advice like this: "from the beginning, learn to communicate with the teacher not using the human language, but the language of the light". In simple language, always see the Guru not as a human being, but as the representation of light on earth who comes here to illuminate the soul.

As has been experienced by high level seekers in Tantra particularly, the latest way of looking at Teachers bring many unexpected spiritual results. It is beyond the capacity of the ordinary mind to understand it. It happens many times, the spiritual seekers reach the high level of spiritual attainment without expecting it. This is similar to the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology which teach that you are what you believe.

And to reach such level of attainment, both sides (the teachers and the students) have to be smart. Whenever the Master's presence makes life too hot (full of anger and danger), it's a sign that someone is too close. When the presence of the Guru makes a person become increasingly dark (confused, unclear), it is the sign that someone is too far away from the true Guru.

In such situations, learn to be smart to open and close the windows of the soul. Like opening the window of a house, open the window in the morning, close the window at night. In the same way,  if life begins to be hot, learn to take distance from the true Guru. If life appears to be dark, learn to move closer. The signs that someone has appropriate distance to the true Master, is when their soul is like a baby who is close to its mother. There is a feeling of being safe, at ease and comfortable there.

Author: Gede Prama

Photo Courtesy: Twitter @Drc_19.

ProofRead By: Kirsty Spence.