The seeker has to focus his attention on the self
or Atman, which is in the form of consciousness. Thus glorifying gurus’ form is erroneous,
because the body and the universe are myth on the ultimate standpoint. Thus
indulging glorifying and worshiping of myth becomes greatest obstacle in
pursuit of truth. Thus seeker has to
identify the true self as guru and proceed in his spiritual endeavour. The inner grace of the inner guru [self]
will guide until the ignorance disappears and one realizes the body and the
universe are mere mirage created out of the consciousness, which is the true
self.
Religious or
yogic gurus propagate that, once a seeker identifies a Guru, he must totally
surrender to the Guru and then from there onwards, the spiritual journey is
fully the Guru's responsibility, not his... Hence the importance to choosing
the right Guru is necessary, but in pursuit of truth the guru is not necessary,
because the truth is not theoretical. Truth has to be ascertained by
the seeker on his own through a well-directed inquiry, analysis and reasoning
based on the true self, which will lead the seeker to his
destination.
People
who worship the guru as God in human form and there is a danger that they might
establish a regular religious sect in his name. This is an unhappy
development of the religious movement.
It is better
to take guidance from a Gnani and try to attain the same realization which he
had, rather than spend their energies in deifying him. Let us remember that to
deify a Gnani is to defy wisdom”
Hindu
religious literature is full of such aphorisms as ' there is no higher deity
than the Guru; the Guru is the ultimate Truth and Deity. God
and Avatars (incarnations) are secondary to the Guru in importance
;there is no higher refuge, no higher target, no higher destination than the
Guru ; the Guru is God Himself ; God and the Guru are one ; he who makes
a distinction between the Guru and God is ignorant and stupid ; and scores
of similar others. They abound both in Sanskrit and in modern Indian
languages.
People born
in the different sect and they remain as its follower. Most of the sect are
founded by some gurus, thus Indian belief system is a Guru Cult, i.e. believes
in the worship of the Guru as the Supreme Deity.
When a seeker
could not get full enlightenment from his inherited belief system, then only he
searches elsewhere. And tries to get enlightened himself further to clear the
cobwebs of his understanding and seeks guidance to his progress.
The path of
religion, path of yoga and the path of wisdom were intended for different
classes of people. The wisdom is for the advanced seekers of truth. It deals
with the nature of the ultimate Truth and Reality. It is meant for superior
aspirants who have inner urge to know the truth and it is not for those who are
immersed in earthly desires.
Katha Upanishad:-
This Atman cannot be
attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much
hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman
reveals Its own form. [Katha
Upanishad Ch-II -23-P-20]
Mundaka Upanishad :-
This Atman cannot be
attained through study of the Vedas, nor through intelligence, nor through much
learning. He who chooses Atman—by him alone is Atman attained. It is Atman that
reveals to the seeker Its true nature. [3 page70
Mundaka Upanishad Upanishads by
Nikilanada]
When the
Upanishad says: the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge and they
indicate the personal gods, scriptures, worship and rituals are not the means
to Self –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it. The religion, concept
of individualized god and scriptures are greatest obstacle to realize non-dual
truth or self-realization, because they are based on false
self. Therefore, one has to search the ultimate truth without losing
himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, he should indulge in deeper, inquiry,
analysis and reasoning and assimilate and realize it.
Seekers goal
is towards Self-knowledge and noting other then it. Therefore, guru is needed
in religious and yogic paths which are meant for the people who are not
searching for truth but they are searching for worldly comforts and temporary
peace in this physical existence. They fear of losing their physical
identity and all that is connected to the physical identity. When one realizes
the physical identity [ego] is false self and the true identity is the soul,
which is in the form consciousness, then he realizes that the fear factor is
limited to the false self within the false experience. When the self is not
physical all the burden and bondage of the duality is mere mirage created out
of consciousness.
Therefore,
Self-Knowledge is necessary to know the fact that, the universe, which appears
is in the form of mind and disappears as nothingness [formless]
is mere mirage created out of nothingness, which is
consciousness. Thus the consciousness is the source and witness of
the universe or mind, which comes and goes. Thus it is necessary to
know the formless witness of the three states in order to know the fact that,
the true self is apart and free from the mirage ,which is in the
form of birth, life, death and the universe. Therefore, it is
necessary for the seeker to make sure how the three states are mirage.
The body and
the world are reality within the waking experience but the waking experience is
mere illusion, same way as the dream body and the dream world were reality
within the dream. The dream becomes unreal when the waking takes place;
similarly the waking experience becomes unreal when the non-dual wisdom
dawns.
The one who
thinks himself as guru and the one who thinks himself as chela [disciple] will
not be able get Self-Knowledge because both of them accepted themselves as
body. And all their understanding, practices, knowledge are based on the false
self. Therefore, the Guru –Shisya concept is a great obstacle in
pursuit of truth. That is why Sri, Ramana Maharshi never accepted
himself as a guru or accepted any one as his disciple, because he was fully
immersed in his true self, which is formless consciousness. There was
no division in his consciousness even though he was in the midst
of division or duality.
Thus by surrendering to any guru or god men is not the means to
self-knowledge. The self is the true guru. Seeker has to surrender
to the self by realizing the fact that, the self is not physical. By realizing
the self is not physical, he will be able to drop all the accumulated knowledge
and inherited conditioning in the midst of duality and he finds freedom from
experiencing the duality [waking] as reality.
