We Are Always Learners

All of us have felt the necessity of a guru in our lives one time or the other. None of us are capable to do everything on our own. Someone who is more knowledgeable, intelligent and successful in life will definitely make a difference in our lives too.
‘Gu’ means Guhya or darkness and ‘Ru’ means remover or alleviator. He who removes our ignorance and makes our life happy, comfortable, enlightened and blessed is our guru or guide.
If we are egoless and open minded, lot of things can be learnt easily.
Sanatana dharma or Indian philosophy places the knowledge of the Parabrahman , the Supreme Lord at the highest level compared to all other types of knowledge. It is called paraa vidya. All others are aparaa vidyas meaning inferior or less useful.
Even to succeed in worldly life one needs a good guru, a guide, a counsellor or a subject
Now a days there are counsellors for child upbringing,to deal with physically challenged kids, to deal with adopted children, to give pallaitive care for terminally ill, to advise in bereavements, financial consultants, stock markets and so on.
Some prominent Gurus have established business empires under the garb of 'spirituality' to the tune of thousands of crores.
Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is Shiva and Guru is also Supreme Brahman and I surrender before such Guru

Hinduism also preached that 'Atma saakshatkaram' is never a possibility without Guru.Guru Medium is essential and without Guru guidance one cannot go into the self realisation path.
There have been many Gurus who really guided the people to such a path and lived a selfless life Saint-Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharishi, Kanchi Maha Swami,Shivanandha and many others. Some Gurus taking advantage of this aspect in Hinduism amassed wealth became super rich Gurus in the garb of teaching yoga,meditation ,nature cure and living a cosy life style.
Some have gained popularity through ventures in yoga, alternative medicine and agriculture, as well as their advocacy on Indian political issues.
There are certain gurus with embracing cult ,popularly known as 'hugging saint' and have established schools,colleges Universities and what not.
As if people have not lived so far, some Gurus teach us'Art of Living',have millions of followers, pouring money enabling such Gurus to establish royal empires.
The truth cannot be denied that our knowledge in any field is very meagre and we need teachers.
If we think aloud,learning is an ever lasting process.We are always learners in one form or other.
1. We learn from our children. Kids become our teachers.
2.We learn from our mistakes.Mistakes become masters.
3.All our anger & agonies,beatings & burnings,challenges & churns,cries and cracks,toils and turmoils,twists & turns make us mellow down & season us a lot.
4. From good persons we know how to be,and from others we know how not to be.Modern Babas and Gurus perhaps form the second category.
5. When we listen to music,it soothens our hearts & music becomes our preceptor.
6.When we hear the mazhalai or babblings of children, we forget the pressing problems. then children become our masters.
7.The sun,the rain,the mountains ,the rivers & trees- all are teaching the lesson of PAROPAKARA ,without uttering a single word by their mere routine.
8. Above all,"SILENCE" itself is the greatest GURU-MAUNA GURU.It is meditation in SILENCE that brought into our Bharat so many great thinkers,luminaries & Acharyas whom we revere most.
The list is endless.
Srimat Bhagavatham speaks of 24 types gurus including a honey bee, hunter wasp, prostitute among other things.
Let us bow with reverence,not only to human teachers,but also to NATURE and above all to every small bit and piece of experience in our life.
Let us learn,learn,learn.................and continue to learn for ever.

Jayasala 42

 

Dear Latha,
Thank you for your firsy feed back.Glad that you had time to go through the long post.

Jayasala 42

 

Dear Kashmiri flower,

Thank you very much for your wonderful response analysing the issue in different angles.You have added more value by filling many gaps.We are not bothered whether they earn money or whether they live in great comforts.
That is individual look out.But having projected oneself as 'Guru' I feel that it is the responsibility to advocate the 'dos' and not allowing people to learn'how not to be' from them.True, scientific advancement saved lot of precious hours.We don't expect Gurus to undertake'paadha yatra' in this fast world.
There may be certain imperfections and certain pitfalls,because they are also human beings and no one is free from flaw.
Even in Teachers' college they insist on onething" don't write a wrong answer on the board, and score it off saying, this is wrong." Only the wrong answer will get stuck to the kids and not the crossing.
In the same way, a guru is not supposed to tread on a wrong path just to teach that it is a wrong path.
The elite ones who are capable of discriminating just phoo-phoo their sayings and ignore.The pliable minds struggle to understand.
Jayasala 42

 

Dear Joylokhi,
Thank you for the nice feed back.
Jayasala 42

 

Dear Beautiful life,
Thank you for sharing your experience which is as beautiful as your name.Glad to know that your father was a priest and taught many students.
Are you a dancer?
Very fine.Do you give performances? Which style do you follow? Kalakshetra, Panthanallur or vazhuvoor.There seems to be some differences in performing adavus.
In Bharatha natyam ,especially ,lot of importance is given to Guru.Even after reaching prominence,they highlight the importance of Gurus.More than schools and colleges,in Fine Arts like music and dance-much is talked about guru shishya bhava and paanai or style.
Thanks for the nice response.
Jayasala42