DEIVATHIN KURAL # 30 (Vol # 5) Dated 29 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 30 (Vol # 5) Dated 29 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the second para on page No 182 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
163. We do not have to even think of God as Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and the Supreme Ruler of all the Universe and things like that. Even if we were to think of God as a close and intimate confidant, that is good enough. Without being selfish, if we learn to deal with Him with Love and genuine affection, He will grant all His largesse. Most importantly He will grant us a sense of understanding and clarity of comprehension! All the service we do for others will be taken as prayers and obeisance to God!
164. Without even knowing Him to be the Lord of past, present and future, here there and everywhere; without having to stand at awe at His beck and call; even if we treat Him like one amongst us, good enough. The women of Braj Bhoomi, the Gopikas moved with Him like that only. Their status is high above all devotees of God, as described by Narada too, who is an authority in Devotion having written the Bhakti Sutras! Sri Krishna Paramatma Himself celebrated their devotion and held them in such high esteem. They had no idea of any Paramatma at all. They knew him only as the stealer of their hearts! They knew him only as ‘Jaara Choran’, the Thief who having stolen their hearts makes them agonize and fret in deep love of longing. Still they sacrificed their all for his company. Respecting that He gave them all a place in Goloka as His Consorts!
165. Like that if we respect and hold our Guru in such high esteem; clarity, understanding, comprehension and Mukti, is all ours as sanctioned by God Himself! You do not have to pray for this or that. When looking at our karma Easwara does assess us, keeping some tests to evaluate as to what extent we have turned the corner and thus there is a delay. During such occasions Guru’s help will stand by us in a big way. That is, when the Guru’s mind is slightly different – in God’s Leela – even Gurus who are far advanced in their own progress in Adwaita Anubhuthi, may seemingly behave as though they have a mind of their own! So there will be less or more sense of duality experienced. Still, the Guru will pray for the devotee, take away the devotee’s sins by transferring some of the effects of past Karma to themselves, argue, cajole and fight with God on behalf of the disciple; as I have already explained in the stories about Thiru Mazhisai Aazhwaar and Somasi Maara Naayanaar.
166. (KTSV adds: This above point about the Guru taking away our sins will be quite clear by another anecdote explained by Krishna Bikshu in the book ‘Power of the Presence Vol Three’ by David Godman about Ramana Maharishi. Quote. Bhagavan was generally most tender with people who thought themselves for some reason or other to be miserable sinners, and who went to him torn by repentance. However, on one occasion he initially reacted in a very aggressive way to one such visitor. It was a summer evening, and we were all sitting outside in the open space by the well. Suddenly one of the visitors started weeping bitterly.
167. ‘I am a horrible sinner. For a long time I have been coming to your feet, but there is no change in me. Can I become pure at last? How long am I to wait? When I am here near you, I am good for a time. But when I leave this place, I become a beast again. You cannot imagine how bad I can be – hardly a human being. Am I to remain a sinner forever?’ ‘Why do you come to me? What have I to do with you?’ demanded Bhagavan. ‘What is there between us that you should come here and weep and cry in front of me?’ The man started moaning and crying even more, as if his heart was breaking. ‘All my hopes of salvation are gone. You were my last refuge but you say that you have nothing to do with me! To whom shall I turn now? What am I to do? To whom am I to go?’
168. Bhagavan watched him for some time and said, ‘Am I your Guru that I should be responsible for your salvation? Have I ever said that I am your Master?’ ‘If you are not my Master, then who is? And who are you, if not my Master? You are my Guru. You are my guardian angel. You must take pity on me and release me from my sins!’ He started sobbing and crying again. We all sat silently, overcome with pity. Only Bhagavan looked alert and matter-of-fact. ‘If I am your Guru, what are my fees? Surely you should pay me for my services.’ ‘But you won’t take anything!’ cried the visitor. ‘What can I give you?’ ‘Did I ever say that I don’t take anything? And did you ever ask me what you can give me?’ ‘If you would take, then ask me. There is nothing I would not give you.’ ‘All right, now I am asking. Give me. What will you give me?’
169. ‘Take anything. Everything I have is yours.’ ‘Then give me all the good you have done in this world.’ ‘What good could I have done? I have not a single virtue to my credit.’ ‘You have promised to give. Now give. Don’t talk of your credit. Just give away all the good you have done in your past.’ ‘Yes, I shall give. But how does one give? Tell me how the giving is done and I shall give.’ ‘Say like this: “All the good that I have done in the past I am giving away entirely to my Guru. Henceforth I have no merit from it nor have I any concern with it.” Say it with your whole heart.’ ‘All right Swami. “I am giving away to you all the good I have done so far, if I have done any, and all its good effects. I am giving it to you gladly, for you are my Master and you are asking me to give it all away to you.”’ ‘But this is not enough,’ said Bhagavan sternly. ‘I have given you all I have. I have given everything you asked me to give. I have nothing more to give.’ ‘Not true. You have more. Give me all your sins.’ The man looked wildly at Bhagavan, terror stricken. ‘You do not know Swami, what you are asking for. If you knew you would not ask me. If you take over my sins, your body will rot and burn. You do not know me. You do not know my sins. Please do not ask me for my sins.’ He wept bitterly. ‘I shall look after myself. Don’t you worry about me,’ said Bhagavan. ‘All I want from you is your sins.’
170. For a long time, the bargain would not go through. The man refused to part with his sins, but Bhagavan was adamant. ‘Either give me your sins along with your merits, or keep both and don’t think of me as your Master.’ In the end the visitor’s scruples broke down and he declared, ‘Whatever sins I have done, they are no longer mine. All of them and their results, too, belong to Ramana.’ Bhagavan seemed to be satisfied. ‘From now on there is neither good nor bad in you. You are just pure. Go and do nothing, either good or bad. Remain yourself. Remain what you are.’ A great peace fell over the man and over us all. No one knows what happened to the fortunate visitor, for he was never seen in the Ashram again. He might have had no need to come. Unquote.)
Guru – Disciple: Representing Two Aspects of Dharma
171. When the disciple regards Easwara and Guru as two clearly separately identifiable entities, (instead of regarding Easwara and Guru as one,) with his personal efforts (Saadana) and service to Guru; the Guru will be adding his Grace resultant out of his Tapasya like a bonus. But Guru’s help is more pronounced when the disciple is totally dependent on the Guru – as the destination of his one-pointed devotion. This is not due to any pride on Guru’s part, but as a duty of having to take care of those who have completely surrendered to the Guru. That is to live up to the ideals of the Saranaagata Dharma Paalanam. The disciple’s action of total surrender is based on the sense of gratitude he feels for the great help rendered by the Guru in his own refinement and ennoblement. So, amongst the three attitudes of the disciple that I spoke to you about (in paras 159 onwards), when the disciple’s devotion to the Guru is total, if the power of the disciples own efforts of Saadhana is one unit say, Guru’s power to lift him to the peaks of realization will become a hundred or even a thousand times more!
172. As people’s attitude differs, we cannot expect everyone to be the same way anyhow. Whether our attitude in devotion is one of only God or God and Guru or only Guru; how God responds to these three attitudes are based on our maturity and God’s Leela. To make this third attitude your way is the aim with which I have spoken for so long about Guru – Disciple relations, to make this idea your experience! Somehow I was impelled to talk to you about how the disciple should approach his Guru with ‘Ananya Bhakti’. But it should be clear that whether we approach our Guru as the direction post towards God or as equal to God or with the idea that, ‘I am not going to bother about God at all, but only be dependent on this Guru here’, with devotion all of us should try our level best to progress in the right path.
173. The Greatness of Going through the Guru. Better than going by one’s own individual efforts, that is by reading the biographies of great saints of the past and learning the scriptures, there is one main advantage in going through the Guru. In learning and progressing on our own, there is one major hazard. As we learn and progress on our own there is a certainty for it to go to our heads in a big way! Self study and practice (Swadhyaaya and Saadhana) are also required. Guru himself often quotes from the scriptures. He also advices us to read so and so books at various times and or tell us to chant so and so Mantra for so many times before the next move forward. The main aim of such Saadhana, we must understand is to make the theory become our practice and inhered in Anubhava. So, when we are under a Guru, serving him and the society as advised by him, Adakkam that is humbleness becomes our character which enhances control over our pride. Subservience to the Guru speeds up our ripening. More than any other logic, when ideas and concepts at the brains and intelligence level, especially when described and narrated to us by an experienced soul like the Guru, they become clearly inherent awareness. With this the disciple can never feel pride, but feel a sense of gratitude to God, Guru and Existence!
174. For our Ahankaara that is pride to be destroyed and for Aatma to become an Anubhava, let us all be devoted to the Guru and become worthy of Sreyas that is true praise!
(This chapter on Guru gets completed here.)
Sambhomahadeva.