Yog is your relationship with your Guru, that’s it. Yog begins and ends at the feet of the Guru…and making a Guru is a sadhna. In this article we will delve upon the Guru-shishya relationship, from the perspective of a shishya.
Dhyan moolam Guru murti, pooja moolam Guru padam
Mantra moolam Guru vakyam, moksha moolam Guru kripa
The above sloka is the essence of life of a shishya. That is, the centre of dhyan for a shishya is the form of his/her Guru, all the pilgrimages are made by the shishya at the feet of the Guru; Guru’s every word is a mantra (codified energy) for the shishya and he/she attains moksha only by the grace of the Guru.
Guru has been given the highest place in the shastras. He is Brahma though he has not four heads, he is Vishnu though he has not four arms, he is Shiv though he has not three eyes, it is in the experience of Guru and Guru alone that the shishya experiences ParaBrahma, or that which is unmanifest. Such is the importance of Guru that in Rudrayamala it is said, “By devotion to Guru a jiva will attain the state of Indra, Lord of Celestials but by devotion to Me (Ishta Devta alone) he might not attain Me.”
For a shishya, everything associated with the Guru is shreshtam, foremost. It is said that the place where the Guru lives is Kailash for the shishya, the trees in the house are the kalp vriksha, the water that flows there is Ganga, the herbs that grow are sanjeevani buti, the air is the prana vayu, the food served is prasad of the Divine, the water is amrit. When a shishya sits for dhyan with the Guru that much time does not exist for him, as at that time the shishya experiences the state of the Guru and the experiences of years of sadhna done by the Guru.
It is after lifetimes of sadhna that a being meets his/her Guru, and when that happens, there are indications for it. The first indication is that there occur certain changes in your body – it starts looking the way you always desired. Secondly, any imbalance or disease in the body disappears. You cease to fall ill. And the third indicator is that you start experiencing the energies that run this creation. A Guru does not charge you a fee or claim to rid you of your problems; he puts you on the path of attaining the final reality opening the doorways of subtler dimensions. He is sthir in the five yams of Ashtang yog, he exudes the glow and attraction of yog, whatever he says happens; his mantra uccharan is magical and results in divine experiences and manifestations, something which people at Dhyan Ashram experience daily.
One should not be in a hurry to make a Guru and should be absolutely sure when he/she does make one basing the faith upon experiences he/she has had. Yogsutras give a period of two years for a sadhak to observe, analyse and understand everything before making a Guru. Because once you make a Guru, if after that you doubt upon that energy or change path, it is considered as disrespect of the Guru (Guru niradar), the sadhna of years comes to a point zero. The next two years are for the Guru to accept the sadhak as a shishya…
Just like Gurus are rare to find, shishyas too are few in number. There are certain indicators of a shishya too. A shishya has one-pointed focus on the Guru; there exists nothing but the Guru for him/her. The faith and surrender of the shishya is absolute, a single doubt is enough to keep one off the path. A shishya never hides things from the Guru and the relationship between the shishya and the Guru is barrier-less. A shishya is a reflection of the Guru, he/she exudes the glow and radiance of the Guru and his/her vritti (activity) is according to the state of the Guru.
Once the Guru makes a shishya, he/she becomes his 100% responsibility; the Guru monitors the shishya not daily or hourly, but every second and literally carries him/her on the path of yog. While the domain of Guru is gyan for the shishya, the seva of Guru is the domain of shishya. Such is the mahima of Guru-shishya relationship, it cannot be undermined by tying it to a physical give and take. If anywhere in the world this relationship is rested upon physical or monetary favours from either side, be rest assured it is a tamasha, a business deal, not Guru-shishya relationship.
