DEIVATHIN KURAL # 11 (of Vol 3) Dated 27 Oct 2008

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 11 (of Vol 3) Dated 27 Oct 2008

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyavaal of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, over a period of some sixty years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published in Tamil by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each, as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from page number 45, of Vol 3, of the Tamil original, as a continuation of Deivathin Kural # 10 (Vol 3) Dated 25 Oct 2008. )
(Note:- Deivathin Kural e-mails are available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com’ which is being updated every time this e-mail is sent. )
63. This silence is our natural state. We having lost our real self, are stuck in unnatural endevours and exploits. They call it Maya. Then we are told that Maya is Ambal! The same Ambal comes as the Gnaanambigai or Guru and nurture us back to Gnaanam from nescience. She excels in variety. You take anything in nature and look at the infinite variety that is there! For example, take animals, birds, insects, human forms and flowers. Simply take one variety the flower and see what variations in colour, shapes, shades, fragrances and sizes are there in them!
64. Take the human mind and see the variety there. To suit each of them you need a different Guru. That is why you have teachers, tutors, trainers, lecturers, professors, readers, deans, upaadhyaya-s, aacharya-s, guru-s, gnaana guru-s and satguru-s. The list is endless. As many traditions are there, each tradition with many variations in speech, arguments, words and actions; there are guru-s to suit the disciple, than the other way around. But the truth is one and so inherently the real Guru is one only. The Guru that removes the darkness of nescience and spreads the light of Atma Gnaana, in what ever form is God!
65. So in essence what I have said is that, the very person who gives us Gnaana is called in the two names of Guru or Acharya. By the inner weight of a person's greatness, we call him Guru. The outer behaviour, education, knowledge, instructional ability are the qualities based on which we call someone Acharya. One is beyond the parameters of any system and the other is within systemic tradition. One causes the change in you just by a glance or touch or thought. The other guides you in the right direction through the behavioral constraints of traditions and scriptures.
66. Thus though we talk of them as different beings, the Acharya if he is fully capable, will also be a Guru. That is, inwardly he will be beyond all rules, regulations and systems; individually he would be one to have had personal experience of divinity capable of erasing the disciple's ignorance. Simultaneously, he will be living as a role model of disciplined behaviour. All our Acharya-s of each and every tradition in India, in the Hindu Religion have been intrinsically a Guru also. Since only a small percentage of the disciples are likely to be so matured as to attain to the absolute by the slightest glance or touch or thought of the Guru; for most of the disciples, he is likely to be an Acharyar only! If we correctly understand the situation, we should note that no one can play-act greatness without being so!
67. Discipline as a binding is like the egg shell. That is, the feeling that one is bound by those restrictions, is the covering only. If someone is living exactly as per the dictates of 'good-behaviour-Do's and Don't's', he is not an Acharya but only a disciple! When the control is not imposed from the outside but inherent from within, then only the beauty of such a life becomes a source of inspiration for all. When discipline is a natural inclination and a free choice, instead of being a compulsory force from outside, then and only then, it leads to the finest expressions in the fine arts of painting, music, sculpture and the art of Instructional ability too.
68. Till discipline is forced on us, we are only students, disciples or Sishya-s. As time goes on, what we initially did under compulsion, becomes our second nature. When thus discipline becomes a natural intelligent choice, the individual imbibes in himself such leadership qualities capable of motivating others. When he instructs others from that position, it touches the core of the disciple's hearts to cause emulation!
69. In to day's world, it is enough if the Teacher has sufficient knowledge base. No one is bothered about their attitude and behaviour. Whether he practices what he preaches, is nobody's concern. This hazard is due to the very wrong notion that, ones private life is not a concern of others. On the one hand, everyone is avidly following all real and unreal gossips of private life of politicians, cine personalities and sports persons in the name of news in tabloids and social gatherings. On the other hand they will profess sanctimoniously that we should not be 'peeping toms'!
70. In times long past, 'Anushtaanam' (the fact whether the teacher practices what he preaches), was very much a matter of everyone's concern, especially that of the student. More than even the student, the Acharya was very keen that there should be no smear or smudge in his attitude and behaviour even seemingly! This 'Anushtaanam' is also not the be all and end all! There is another place where this 'Anushtaanam' gets completed. That is Anubhava or Swanubuti, meaning personal experience. When this happens, good behaviour becomes automatic! When knowledge fructifies in to personal awareness of the truth of what one is teaching, that person is on the 'auto-mode'! Knowledge becomes firm on the basis of Anushtana. Anushtana in turn rests on the foundation of intrinsic experience.
71. Guru is one who has gone through the whole process from scratch to completeness. The distinction that Acharya is the practicing yet to be Guru and Guru is the fully experienced; is all not very correct. Till you experience the truth, you are still a transient. It all comes down to the fact that the true Acharya is one who having become fully experienced, continues to be the practicing demonstrator. So the inner Guru is the outer Acharya. For the sake of the disciples, so as to bring them under discipline, he lives as a role model. Keeping absolute silence inwardly, he preaches a lot outwardly!
72. Guru and Acharya are one and the same. If he is a true Acharya, he cannot but be a Guru too. When we do not know either way, we were looking at both of them as one. Then I started telling you that there are some points of differences and described those differences. Having gone to the depth of the matter, now I am confirming to you that both are one and the same. The differences in them rather depends upon our level of understanding and maturity!
73. From olden times these two words have been used as synonyms. In the Upanishad-s considered as the ‘Veda Siras and Veda Antam’, that is the head as well as the end of the Veda-s, it says, “Acharya Devo Bhava”. It also says that the disciple should give the Acharya, the type of ‘Dakshina’ that he loves. It also says that the disciple who is ‘Acharyavaan’ that is totally devoted to his Acharya, will be the one who will eventually get Gnaana. Having said so, when it comes to living with the Acharya, it is Guru Kula Vasam and not Acharya Kula Vasam!
(The discussion on Acharya & Guru will continue.)
Sambhomahadeva.