Guru principle
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
The following extracts are from various talks by Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja Yoga, where she discusses the meaning of the Guru Principle.
“The word Guru comes from the one that is magnetic, the person who is magnetic, the one who attracts the attention of the seekers, is the Guru.”
“This gravity has to be in a Guru. Gravity means a kind of a serious understanding of oneself and one’s own responsibilities.”
“So you get a magnetic temperament, magnetic character, magnetic personality. And this magnetic personality that you develop, immediately shows that it is manifesting its power. Try to understand. Like the light now is coming on Me. It is just giving light, but it is not manifesting anything. We can see the Sun’s rays, is the best example. Sun’s rays, when they fall onto the leaves, the rays, which look simple, manifest their power of making it into chlorophyll. In the same way when you are at that height or at that state, then without saying anything, without doing anything, even a glance, you manifest; but not only that, you record everything.”
“Manifest our gravity to reach the depth within – through witness state. Introspect to achieve the self-esteem of a Guru.”
“But we are much above all these ordinary instruments, even the most complicated, even the most advanced and developed by science. Because we reach a state where we ourselves become the science, science of truth, an absolute truth.
So what is needed for a Guru is self-esteem. This is a very important point people don’t realize, the self-esteem. To achieve the self-esteem we have to introspect and know that, ‘Today I am not what I was before. I am a realized soul; I have got powers. Of course I have powers. Powers of love, powers of compassion, powers of grasping things, powers of creativity, powers of giving realization to others.’
Nobody had these powers, but somehow or other in Sahaja Yoga you are not self-conscious, and we should not be self-conscious because that can give you ego, but we should have self-esteem.”
Before our physical birth we experienced a continuing sense of nourishment,
connectedness and security. After our physical birth we then experience our selves as separated, and so it is only natural that we seek and long for that sense of connection, nourishment and security.
This seeking finds expression in many ways. Sometimes we seek for gross, physical pleasures and external and material satisfactions in the world. Yet, these invariably do not fully satisfy us; they prove to be stormy, transient and therefore illusory. Perhaps this leads us to understand that the means to really satisfy ourselves, the Kingdom of Heaven, lies within us and so we may begin seeking in earnest for our inner or ultimate fulfilment.
There is a gap, between the separated and conditioned sense of self we experience ourselves as, and the eternal, spiritual core of our being which is completely secure, connected and joyful. This divide, between the illusory and relative nature of the world and the ultimate Reality, is manifest in a physical gap in the central channel, within the para-sympathetic nervous system. This gap actually exists physically between the sacral outflow and the vagus nerve, encompassing the Subtle area called the Void or the Ocean of Illusion.To cross this gap, this Ocean of Illusion, we need to develop balance, self-mastery and pure desire. We also require the help of a true Guru – someone who will awaken the Kundalini so that we can discern the correct Path and cross the Void to the heart, wherein lies the true Self, the eternal Spirit.
It is in this state of disconnectedness that seekers may search for a guide or Guru to help them to find the Way, a Path or process to cross the Void, the illusions, and connect with that Source of all satisfaction, joy and fulfilment – the Divine, the Source, Tao, or God. There have been many great incarnations of the principle of Guru or Spiritual Teacher who have incarnated to guide groups of sincere seekers towards their Self-realisation. The personifications or incarnations of this principle include Abraham, Moses, Muhammed, Zarathustra, Lao Tze, Confucious, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Guru Nanak, Raja Janaka and Socrates. Also, there have been false gurus who have plundered and damaged the seekers. The goal in Sahaja Yoga is to help the true seekers to find their Self-realisation so they can become their own gurus.
Most often for the seekers, so far, the only assistance has been to receive a set of guidelines, or rules, a dharmic way of behaving, that will help maintain individual and collective balance. So, we have sets of rules in the religions such as the Ten Commandments. Moses, as an example of the Guru principle, led his people out of slavery, across the ocean and to the promised land. Shri Mataji in this modern era holds a unique place in the tradition of Gurus because She has created a method for en masse Kundalini awakening and so facilitated the creation of so many potentially enlightened Gurus.
Only the Kundalini can bridge that great divide between illusion and Reality. On first awakening, Kundalini ascends the Sushumna (centre) nadi up to the Agnya chakra. It covers the lower plate (moordha) and then descends like melting clouds on the Ida (left) and Pingala (right) nadis to the Void. It fills the Void area, and then the three combined powers re-ascend the Sushumna nadi to open the lotus petals of the Sahasrara. The Spirit, which is said to be watching through the manifold subtle auras of the heart, has its seat at the top of the head in the centre. When the individual spark of the Spirit is raised and reunited in Union, or Yoga, with the all-pervading and all-powerful Source at the apex of the Sahasrara, then the Reality of the essential core of existence is realised. This enables a person to start to become his or her own Guru, based on a new enlightened awareness.
(Photograph courtesy of fromoldbooks.org)