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

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Sir's,           It is very difficult to any body to talk or comment on this question as most of the people has not reached up to that stage, but according to scriptures, debate is okay and discussions are good.
But my view is that, One needs guru to pass these hurdles or to get the light in the path where you don't have any idea ( I mean to cross the vaitarini river). Guru one of the forms of God stays in between the thoughts and initiate the though process and makes you to travel or walk across the samsara easily with out any difficulty.  One may do that with out that also but many pitfalls and hardles are there in the way. if one wants to know the self then I fell guru is necessary, with out that it is very difficult to realize the self. Then Question arises who will be that God who is in the form of Guru?It can be your Mother who has given this body, Father who has given this opportunity to you and spend is valuable time to raise you and made you to become like this. Another person is Teacher who taught you the basics and ethics of the life.
If some one ask a question who is best among them, then it is a syndrome. An individual can only know who is that and it is the 'Bhava" only , i means anubhava. One has to know that through experience.
One needs to do worship the god who exsists in these forms , then he will come to know the purpose and value of worship. Then question whom to worship and how do that ?One needs to worship the own mother with the childish attitude and serve the father with 'dasya brava' and worship the guru with 'Atma Nivedana'.
Worship becomes Impossible with out understanding the nature of God. One can not understand this through sense organs and by the means of knowledge. Some times knowledge leads avidya.
Then What are different modes of worship according to Bhagavatam:There exists 9 (nine ) modes of worship." Sravana Kirtanam Vishunoh Smaranam Padasevanam  Archanam Vandanam Dasyam Sakhyam Atma Nivedanam"
It means  by Listening to the glories of god (Ramayana, mahabharata), chanting his glories (like sauna Ka di muni's), Remembering always in our thoughts (e.g Bhagavatottama prahlada), Serving the god (like lakshmana), keeping Dasya profession (like Hanuman), Intense friendship (arjuna to krishna), Giving all the materialistic things which are acquired in the life (like Bali chakravarthi).
I know many acharya's are there in the list who are having great knowledge regarding vendenta, it can only tell any body the purpose of worship.
This is purely my opinion & view and individuals may differ in their views.
With regardsKameswara Rao

 

    On Sunday, 31 January 2016 3:53 PM, kuntimaddi sadananda via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
 

 

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




--------------------------------------------
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
 
 
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