|
Selected Questions from book "I am That" by
Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj on need of a Master
Questioner:
What made you so dispassionate?
Maharaj:
Nothing in particular. It so happened that I trusted my
Guru. He told me I am nothing but my self and I believed
him. Trusting him, I behaved accordingly and ceased
caring for what was not me, nor mine.
Questioner:
Kindly tell us how you realised.
Maharaj:
I
met my Guru when I was 34 and realised by 37.
Questioner:
Did you get your own realisation through effort or by
the grace of your Guru?
Maharaj:
His was the teaching and mine was the trust. My
confidence in him made me accept his words as true, go
deep into them, live them, and that is how I came to
realise what I am. The Guru's person and words made me
trust him and my trust made them fruitful.
Questioner:
But can a Guru give realisation without words, without
trust, just like this, without any preparation?
Maharaj:
Yes, one can, but where is the taker? You see, I was so
attuned to my Guru, so completely trusting him. there
was so little of resistance in me, that it all happened
easily and quickly. But not everybody is so fortunate.
Laziness and restlessness often stand in the way and
until they are seen and removed, the progress is slow.
All those who have realised on the spot, by mere touch,
look or thought, have been ripe for it. But such are
very few. The majority needs some time for ripening.
Sadhana is accelerated ripening.
Questioner:
Is
not the grace of the Guru responsible for the desire and
its fulfilment? Is not the Guru's radiant face the bait
on which we are caught and pulled out of this mire of
sorrow?
Maharaj:
It
is the Inner Guru (sadguru) who takes you to the
Outer Guru, as a mother takes her child to a teacher.
Trust and obey your Guru, for he is the messenger of
your Real Self.
Questioner:
How do I find a Guru whom I can trust?
Maharaj:
Your own heart will tell you. There is no difficulty in
finding a Guru, because the Guru is in search of you.
The Guru is always ready; you are not ready. You have to
be ready to learn; or you may meet your Guru and waste
your chance by sheer inattentiveness and obstinacy. Take
my example; there was nothing in me of much promise, but
when I met my Guru, I listened, trusted and obeyed.
Questioner:
Must I not examine the teacher before I put myself
entirely into his hands?
Maharaj:
By
all means examine! But what can you find out? Only as he
appears to you on your own level.
Questioner:
I
shall watch whether he is consistent, whether there is
harmony between his life and his teaching.
Maharaj:
You may find plenty of disharmony -- so what? It proves
nothing. Only motives matter. How will you know his
motives?
Questioner:
I
should at least expect him to be a man of self-control
who lives a righteous life.
Maharaj:
Such you will find many -- and of no use to you. A Guru
can show the way back home, to your real self. What has
this to do with the character, or temperament of the
person he appears to be? Does he not clearly tell you
that he is not the person? The only way you can judge is
by the change in yourself when you are in his company.
If you feel more at peace and happy, if you understand
yourself with more than usual clarity and depth, it
means you have met the right man.
Take your time, but once you have made up your mind to
trust him, trust him absolutely and follow every
instruction fully and faithfully. It does not matter
much if you do not accept him as your Guru and are
satisfied with his company only. Satsang alone
can also take you to your goal, provided it is unmixed
and undisturbed. But once you accept somebody as your
Guru, listen, remember and obey. Half-heartedness is a
serious drawback and the cause of much self-created
sorrow. The mistake is never the Guru's; it is always
the obtuseness and cussedness of the discipline that is
at fault.
Questioner:
Does the Guru then dismiss, or disqualify a disciple?
Maharaj:
He
would not be a Guru if he did! He bides his time and
waits till the disciple, chastened and sobered, comes
back to him in a more receptive mood.
Questioner:
What is the motive? Why does the Guru take so much
trouble?
Maharaj:
Sorrow and the ending of sorrow. He sees people
suffering in their dreams and he wants them to wake up.
Love is intolerant of pain and suffering. The patience
of a Guru has no limits and, therefore, it cannot be
defeated. The Guru never fails.
Questioner:
Is
my first Guru also my last, or do I have to pass from
Guru to Guru?
Maharaj:
The entire universe is your Guru. You learn from
everything, if you are alert and intelligent. Were your
mind clear and your heart clean, you would learn from
every passer-by;. It is because you are indolent or
restless, that your inner Self manifests as the outer
Guru and makes you trust him and obey.
Questioner:
Is
a Guru inevitable?
Maharaj:
It
is like asking 'Is a mother inevitable?' To rise in
consciousness from one dimension to another, you need
help. The help may not always be in the shape of a human
person, it may be a subtle presence, or a spark of
intuition, but help must come. The inner Self is
watching and waiting for the son to return to his
father. At the right time he arranges everything
affectionately and effectively. Where a messenger is
needed, or a guide, he sends the Guru to do the
needful.
Questioner:
Krishnamurti says that Guru is not needed.
Maharaj:
Somebody must tell you about the Supreme Reality and the
way that leads to it. Krishnamurti is doing nothing
else. In a way he is right -- most of the so-called
disciples do not trust their Gurus; they disobey them
and finally abandon them. For such disciples it would
have been infinitely better if they had no Guru at all
and just looked within for guidance. to find a living
Guru is a rare opportunity and a great responsibility.
One should not treat these matters lightly. You people
are out to buy yourself the heaven and you imagine that
the Guru will supply it for a price. You seek to
Questioner:
Is
there no such thing as the Guru's grace?
Maharaj:
His grace is constant and universal. It is not given to
one and denied to another.
Questioner:
How does it affect me personally?
Maharaj:
It
is by The Guru's grace that your mind is engaged in
search for truth and it is by his grace that you will
find it. It works unwaringly towards your ultimate good.
And it is for all.
Questioner:
Some disciples are ready, mature, and some are not. Must
not the Guru exercise choice and make decisions?
Maharaj:
The Guru knows the Ultimate and relentlessly propels the
disciple towards it. The disciple is full of obstacles,
which he himself must overcome. The Guru is not very
much concerned with the superficialities of the
disciple's life. It is like gravitation The fruit must
fall -- when no longer held back.
Questioner:
If
the disciple does not know the goal, how can he make out
the obstacles?
Maharaj:
The goal is shown by the Guru, obstacles are discovered
by the disciple. The Guru has no preferences, but those
who have obstacles to overcome seem to be lagging
behind. In reality the disciple is not different from
the Guru. He is the same dimensionless centre of
perception and love in action. It is only his
imagination and self-identification with the imagined,
that encloses him and converts him into a person. The
Guru is concerned little with the person. His attention
is on the inner watcher. It is the task of the watcher
to understand and thereby eliminate the person. While
there is grace on one side, there must be dedication to
the task on the other.
Questioner:
But the person does not want to be eliminated.
Maharaj:
The person is merely the result of a misunderstanding.
In reality, there is no such thing. Feelings, thoughts
and actions race before the watcher in endless
succession, leaving traces in the brain and creating an
illusion of continuity. A reflection of the watcher in
the mind creates the sense of 'I' and the person
acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality
there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself
with the 'I' and the 'mine'.
The teacher tells the watcher: you are not this, there
is nothing of yours in this, except the little point of
'I am', which is the bridge between the watcher and his
dream. ‘I am this, I am that' is dream, while pure 'I
am' has the stamp of reality on it. You have tasted so
many things -- all came to naught. Only the sense 'I am'
persisted -- unchanged. Stay with the changeless among
the changeful, until you are able to go beyond.
Questioner:
When will it happen?
Maharaj:
It
will happen as soon as you remove the obstacles.
Questioner:
Which obstacles?
Maharaj:
Desire for the false and fear of the true. You, as the
person, imagine that the Guru is interested in you as a
person. Not at all. To him you are a nuisance and a
hindrance to be done away with. He actually aims at your
elimination as a factor in consciousness.
Questioner:
What can the person do to prepare itself for the coming
of the Guru.
Maharaj:
The very desire to be ready means that the Guru had come
and the flame is lighted. It may be a stray word, or a
page in a book; the Guru's grace works mysteriously.
strike a bargain by offering little but asking much. You
cheat nobody except yourselves.
Questioner:
How can I make out whom to follow and
whom to mistrust?
Maharaj:
Mistrust all, until you are
convinced. The true Guru will never humiliate you, nor
will he estrange you from yourself. He will constantly
bring you back to the fact of your inherent perfection
and encourage you to seek within. He knows you need
nothing, not even him, and is never tired of reminding
you. But the self appointed Guru is more concerned with
himself than with his disciples.
Questioner:
Many Gurus have the habit of giving tokens of their
grace -- their head cloth, or their sticks, or begging
bowl, or robe, thus transmitting or confirming the self-realisation
of their disciples. I can see no value in such
practices. It is not self-realisation that is
transmitted, but self-importance. Of what earthly use is
being told something very flattering, but not true? On
one hand you are warning me against the many self-styled
Gurus, on the other you want me to trust you. Why do you
claim to be an exception?
Maharaj:
I do not ask you to trust me. Trust my words and
remember them, I want your happiness, not mine. Distrust
those who put a distance between you and your true being
and offer themselves as a go-between. I do nothing of
the kind. I do not even make any promises. I merely say:
if you trust my words and put them to test, you will for
yourself discover how absolutely true they are. If you
ask for a proof before you venture, I can only say: I am
the proof. I did trust my teacher's words and kept them
in my mind and I did find that he was right, that I was,
am and shall be the Infinite Reality, embracing all,
transcending all.As you say, you have neither the time
nor the energy for lengthy practices. I offer you an
alternative.
Accept my words on trust and live anew, or live and die
in sorrow.
Source: From the book "I am That" by
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Related Articles :
"Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Life"
"Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Quotes"
"Question on Meditation Answered by Nisargadatta Maharaj"
"Your own
self is your ultimate teacher (sadguru)
Nisargaddata Ji
Maharaj"
"Ramesh balsekar - Disciple of
Nisargadatta Maharaj"
"Jiddu
krishnamurti on Need of Guru"
"The whole order of Sannyas was created
as group work"
^Top Back
to Masters
|
