[Advaita-l] Question? - Is Guru necessary?

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Shree Ramesh Ramnan- PraNAms

Thanks for providing your perspective on the subject. Yes I am aware of Bhagavan Ramanamaharshi's teachings and have taken texts - Upadesha saara and Saddharshanam as part of two-day spiritual camp and the talks on these two texts are available on line in yu-tube. 

Question is posed to see the perspective of people coming from different background since in the current system of education we do not have traditional guru-kula systems and there is also mass scale teaching and mass scale on line talks available by various teachers - some coming from sampradaya and some are not. 

There is also so much misinterpretation of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's teachings too - even though he has provided some important selective slokas on Geeta. 

Question-answers of Bhagavan are intended to questioners who had some specific background and within in some context and should not be applicable to all as is being done by some devotees of Bhagavan. This may be a different topic altogether, perhaps should be discussed separately.

I am planning to pose some of these challenging questions to stimulate discussions so that those who are on the path have firm conviction of the goal and the means.

Hari Om!
Sadananda




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On Sun, 1/31/16, RAMESH RAMANAN via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Question? - Is Guru necessary?
 To: "kuntimaddi sadananda" <kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com>, "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
 Date: Sunday, January 31, 2016, 4:02 AM
 
 Dear Sadanandaji,It is
 surprising that of all persons, you should be posting this
 question. But let me state Sri Ramana's views on the
 subject. He says that the real Guru is not apart from
 one's inner Self. The outer Guru pushes the Sadhaka
 inwards into the spiritual heart, while the inner Guru pulls
 the sadhaka inwards. (push and pull). 
 
 My understanding of this statement of Sri
 Ramana: If the sadhaka does not feel that he is being pushed
 inwards towards his inner core by the external guru, then
 that external person is not really fit or sufficient to be
 the Guru. Similarly, if he does not feel that he has been
 pulled inward, that means, his sadhanas have been
 insufficient and wrongly directed. If the chosen external
 guru  is not sufficient, it is not wrong to change Gurus,
 as Sri Balarama Reddy had asked Sri Ramana Maharishi,
 whether he could change his guru, as he had accepted Sri
 Aurobindo as his Guru earlier. Sri Ramana had said very
 emphatically, yes, there is no problem in changing Gurus.
 So, one need not cling onto a physical guru, if he is . not
 fit or sufficient to be a Guru, provided that you have lived
 with him and followed and tested his teachings at least for
 sometime (this time concept is a major issue). The Guru Gita
 also warns that a disciple of a blind fellow will also
 suffer the same fate as that of a blind fellow. Hence, one
 should follow only a really qualified Guru and not an unfit
 book-learned master. Sri Ramana and Sri Ramakrishna could
 transmit their spiritual power to their disciples. I do not
 know of any of the present day Gurus who can perform such
 real spiritual miracles that transforms the lives of their
 disciples for ever . Sri A.R.Natarajan of RMCL, Bangalore,
 has written a very very excellent book, Ramana Maharishi-The
 Living Guru. 
 
 I would very
 much like for you to read this book. You can find it at Giri
 Trading Agency in Mumbai and other branches, if you live
 outside Bangalore and if you are in Bangalore, you can look
 at www.ramanacentre.com/www.ramanacentre.org phones:
 080-23512639, 23514930, 23360799 Email: office at ramancentre.com
 
 Pranams and regards, Ramesh
 Ramanan