What is your relationship with Guru?
By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Can you ever be alone when you have a guru? The moment a soul is born on this planet, relationships begin. Before birth, you are unmanifest. You are pure spirit. The moment you are born, you have a mother and a father. Then all the other relationships follow.
Where does the guru stand among them? Our scriptures say, “Guru maatru pita guru bandhu sakha”, meaning the guru is the mother and father. The guru gives you a second birth. He delivers you into a new world and gives you a new relationship with yourself, with the Divine and with the whole creation. The guru is mother, father, friend, companion and guide. When you have a guru, you can never be an orphan.
The loneliness that people experience disappears when they realise that the guru is their sakha, their eternal friend. The guru fills whatever may be lacking in every other relationship. Every worldly relationship has its limitations. Sometimes it becomes sweeter, and sometimes it turns sour. At times, your relationship with your father or mother goes wrong. The same can happen with one’s children and with one’s spouse.
But take one step forward. Move beyond all these relationships and ask yourself, ‘What is my relationship with myself? Who am i to myself?’ That is your relationship with the guru.
Who you are to yourself is what you are to the guru. A spoonful of sugar is limited. But when it dissolves in a glass of water, it expands and becomes one with the whole. In the same way, when the individual self dissolves into wisdom, it becomes free. The guru is love.
People often ask, ‘How do i open my heart?’ This very effort to open the heart creates more confusion. There is nothing to be done. You already are love. When you have a guru, you do not crave liberation. Having a guru itself is freedom. If you notice closely, the human mind is always looking for someone to lead it. Life is full of choices, and choices can become a burden.
People come to me with so many questions. I simply tell them, “The choice is yours. The blessing is mine.” The guru is a unique leader. He leads silently, from behind, without asserting his leadership. He gives you the freedom to choose yet takes away the burden of choosing. Without inner silence, every choice becomes difficult.
That is why the word ‘nath’ means ‘lord’ or ‘master’. ‘Anaath’ means one who is without a master, without support. The guru is nath, one who brings freedom.
We are already imprisoned by our own minds. The Guru Tattva releases us from that bondage. The mind is like a crowded marketplace. The guru brings harmony and symphony into that chaos. Noise becomes music. Misery becomes celebration.
Sometimes people ask, “Am i connected to the guru?” This very question is an illusion.
Whether you know it or not, whether you want it or not, you are already connected. Love is not merely an emotion. Love is our very existence. If you see the guru only through the limited relationship of master and disciple, there will be expectations, demands and disappointments. Go beyond that. Then disappointment cannot exist.
