I have always been yours
and will remain yours forever
Wherever you happen to be
I will remain your support

AUGHAR VANI, Avadhuta's Wisdom

Aghoreshwar
Baba Bhagwan Ramji

Since time immemorial the full moon of the month of July is dedicated to the Guru. In this issue we are printing some of Baba's precious reflections on the Guru and the sacred nature of Guru-disciple relationship.

In the spiritual context perhaps the most important figure in a person's spiritual life is his or her Guru. A Guru is the teacher par excellence, one who has himself tried and tested and succeeded in whatever he is imparting to his disciples. A truly enlightened Guru, therefore, is a rarity. That is why a Guru is like God in human form. If a disciple finds a truly enlightened Guru in his or her life, the only thing that keeps them from achieving spiritual success, then, is the firmness of their faith in their Guru. Baba understood this fact very well. And what is presented in the following pages is what he said about it.

I embrace you from my heart, all of you who are present here in the many forms of my own soul. May your heart and mind feel as good as mine does, as when the clarity of Divine vision awakens within a person.

O devotee! Above everything you will have to have faith in the careful words of your Guru. You have to believe in and see your Guru at a place much higher than the Gods of the trinity. This will be an expression of prudence.

Whichever work you want to be successful in, think of your Guru's expression, appearance and state while performing those actions in different times and situations. Pay attention to it, remember him, and bow to him with your life-force.

Scriptures bind us within limits and confuse us. They do not allow our thinking to roam freely in the realm of thoughts. They make it very limited. But the words of your Guru, even if they are not derived from the scriptures, are in keeping with necessities of the time, place and nation of your existence. Chopping away all your limiting ties he will make you reach salvation.

Nobody crosses the ocean of life to salvation without a Guru.

A Guru's mere company teaches the disciple by itself.

The only difference between a Guru and a disciple is that the Guru gets to know a little earlier and the disciple, a little later.

The Guru has the responsibility of imparting knowledge. But the responsibility of acting on that knowledge is that of the disciple.

Friends! One who is a real disciple of his Guru, like the real son of a father or mother, carries the influence, the features and color, ways of acting and behaving, ways of dressing, of his mother or father. Similarly, the disciples of a Guru become very much like him. They sit, stand, speak, explain, analyze, elaborate, understand, teach, become humble, become patient, like him. They do not have any bitterness in them.

Until one has full faith and belief in his guru, he cannot be successful in the knowledge imparted to him. This is very difficult to achieve in life. You can lose your faith by many kinds of treatment the guru metes out to you, or many kinds of humor he subjects you to. When you experience even the slightest disdain for your mantra, for your guru, for the divine being you worship, then that knowledge takes a very long time to be achieved. It becomes very difficult to be successful in. Then you cannot achieve it. It goes away.

Is the guru like Brahma, Vishnu or Mahesh?! No. In fact he provides light to all three of them. He is greater than the three of them. Because he is the one who takes you to them, makes you meet them, and gives you a position equal or higher then them.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are not gurus. That you count them as one with your guru is a mistake. The fruits and flowers that you offer your guru are nothing but so much deadwood to him. The right offering for him is not flowers, but faith. And that faith is the flower of your heart. There, you do not need to spend either money or time. If you keep offering that, you will never find yourself lacking. You will never want for anything. You will be inexhaustible in wealth, inexhaustible in strength, inexhaustible in intellect and inexhaustible in esteem. It will never perish. Wherever you will go, my friend, you will find what you seek. A circle will grow within you.

A real guru is one on seeing whom pure thoughts and emotions rise in you, new ideas emerge in your heart, and self-purification is realized easily.

He is a guru on meeting whom you find peace in your soul.

The Sun (Sad-guru) carries light (disciples). But even light should lead to an experience of the Sun. Then only will the oneness of the Sun and light be for the benefit of the world.

If our guru is angry with us, is being indifferent to us, or is using harsh words towards us, then we should become attentive towards the causes for it. Behind this behavior of his exists only your welfare. He must be striving to protect you from possible troubles by chasing away your laziness, cowardice, worries and obstacles.

On going near your guru how far to sit from his seat, in which direction, and how to sit, how much to talk to him, when and how to present your curiosity and questions to him, all these things should be learnt.

Today you will find every kind of religious teacher. They speak about very nice things, just like drawing a map and describing things. The path that they show and sermonize about, however, have they walked on it? The right of showing the way should only be to that person who has walked on it because he knows about the ups and downs, good and bad, turns and pitfalls of the path. By walking on the path shown by such a person anyone can achieve success.

Persevere in one thing only. Do not be ensnared by many things. If you do that neither this nor that will be accomplished. Both will go away. This is known as deception with your guru.

On being favorable to our guru's mental state and remembering his expressions and state while performing various tasks profits us immensely in our own activities. There is no such thing as loss in this exercise.

With our intellect, heart and mind, deeds and words, and with our steadfast determination we should salute that boatman who has come to the bank with his boat to take us across the ocean of life, whether that be the last boat of our life, or a boat in the middle of our lives.

I embrace all of you with my heart and pray to that unknown, in whose lap and refuge I have grown, that new inspirations come to you in the new dawn. The unfinished and faulty task that you have, may you be successful in finishing it.