Transcription
Guru is a teacher. A teacher who can help us to overcome our limitations and will be able to help us to go in the right direction, achieve our goal faster. Just like we have teachers in all schools and colleges to teach the lessons, its here also the role of a Guru is very important. But there are some people who do not want to go to a school or a college but want to study by themselves and they study through the books. Then the books become the Guru. You watch a video, the video becomes the Guru. You here some conversations, the people who are conversing become the Guru. Guru is the source of information in that sense. Therefore if you have a Guru he is very well versed and brings out all the knowledge base to you then it is easier for us. A Guru who has got higher perception they can see through your personality, what is lacking in your personality, what is the positive thing in your personality and suggest ways and means for your faster growth is a higher form of Guru. There are Gurus for excellence who can see through your past lives and future lives and give the right direction for your growth. These are the great masters. For a primary school teacher you dont need an Einstein to teach, a primary school teacher would do. So when we are in the beginning these simple Gurus also will do. But as you grow when you find the teacher whom you are working with has not been able to answer any questions then you can go to the next Guru. From high school you go to the college the teacher should be different. Primary school teacher is different from middle school teacher, different from high school teacher, college teacher and great guides for your Phds and others. Therefore Gurus can be chosen. But if you already have a Guru who can come down to your level and then he has all the excellence then it is a wonderful thing. You can have a single Guru from whom you can learn everything. There one of my professors, Professsor Emonds who was almost a role model. When he was in the college, he teaches the first year engineering and he teaches coming down to their level. All the students will feel that he knows a little more than what he knows, therefore very easy to catch. Then he goes to the final year engineering, there also the students will feel very comfortable because he goes to their level and gives a little more information. When he goes to a middle school and teaches all middle school students will feel very thrilled. 'Oh, he is just above us a little more. And he would take classes also for the primary school and kindergarten. All children will feel very comfortable. When he goes to the highest realms of research groups then you see his excellence of this thing. And in the group of noble laurettes his ideas, his vision was something fantastic. This is the ideal teacher who can come down from the kindergarten level, go up to the Phd level or even higher. This needs lot of inner cognition, understanding of the students, understanding of their levels, understanding of what they are doing, however they are capable of absorbing. That is the specialty of a Guru. And an ideal Guru should have an inner experience in the field of Yoga. If not erupt that he knows everything and he is a good teacher in conveying the message but he should have his inner experience, Shotriyam Brahma Nishtam. Not only he should be a scholar, a scholastic giant, a tremendous power of communication and oration and interactive capacities, he should be well knit with his inner realization, realization of inner being, Brahma Nishtam. He should be established in the truth, he should be established in the reality, he should be established in that inner consciousness. Such is the ideal Gurus that the Yoga and spiritual lore would have. Therefore as teachers, when you are becoming Yoga teachers it is not enough if you know all the details about asanas, you should be able to do the asanas. Not that you know all the details of the pranayama, you should be able to do that, then only you have the perception. Entire life should change. So these are the two dimensions that we have to develop as Yoga instructors, as Yoga teachers. All are going to become Yoga instructors and Yoga teachers and therefore we have to imbibe both the things, practice-theory, theory-practice. Onboth fronts we should grow. These are like two wings of Yoga and we should grow. Therefore a Guru is very very essential. But the role of a student is more important. There may be an excellent teacher but the student should put all his effort to change himself. If the student blocks his mind then he cannot grow. Therefore Yoga Vashishta emphasises the importance of student than the teacher, Shishya Pragnayevakaranam. The same teacher maybe there but some people may grow to great heights. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had many many disciples, but he got one Vivekananda, one Swami Brahmananda, one Nagamahashaya. Why? About hundreds of peaceful, it is their growth, it is their absorption, it is their field. Therefore Yoga Vashishta goes to this extent saying that Guru only shows 'go there, go there', thats all. And the students have to go. Very easy to be a teacher, to be a student it is very difficult. Because the student is the one who has to struggle. Therefore one of the persons went to an ashram, first time he met the great teacher and he joined that ashram and after few days then somebody asked what do you want to do here. I want to be the Guru. Nothing short of it. So therefore the role of the Guru is very incidental says Yoga Vashishta. But there are scores who think that without a Guru you cannot put one step forward. These are two extremes. But we all understand the role of the Guru is very important.
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