Significance of Guru Poornima:
The full moon day in the month of July-August is known as Guru Poornima to commemorate the birth of the great Sage Veda Vyasa.
Sage Vyasa's contribution to the spiritual upliftment of the human race is unparalleled. He gave the world the Vedas in its four-fold form, scribed the Bhagavat Gita from verily God's own words and authored several puranas the most famous of which is Srimad Bhagavatam which is the nectar of all shastras. Little wonder, Lord Krishna exclaimed "MuneenAmapi aham vYasaha" in the Vibuthi yoga, saying that among the saints, he is Vyasa.
The tradition of the Gurupoornima is to show our gratitude and offer prayers to the lineage of our great Gurus commencing from Vyasa. But for our Guru, we have no way of crossing the ocean of samsara. There can be no question whether one needs a spiritual Guru if we look at the examples of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna who in spite of being divine avatars sought a Guru at a very early stage.
There is no need for one to go in search of the Guru. According to the Scriptures, one needs to acquire and nurture the inner wealth of qualities like viveka (discriminative mind) and vairagya (ability to stick to the dharmic life revealed by the viveka).
Such a life of austerity prepares us with a ready and open mind which brings forth the Guru. Just as the honey bee visits as soon as the bud opens up into a flower, the Guru comes along to a seeker who has a pure and open mind.
Chanting the Mahamantra is a sure and easy way of acquiring these qualities in quick time. In Ramayana, Sri Madhnaga muni instructs Sabhari to keep chanting the Ram naam without necessarily understanding its meaning or depth promising that the "meaning" will come searching for her. Sure enough, Rama visited Sabhari.
Apart from being a jnani and brahmanishta, the Guru has an enormous compassion towards the seeker which is verily his nature. He does not have to acquire this quality but comes naturally to him due to his stature as a jnani who sees the Self in him as the Self in all. The scriptures liken this to the example of the onset of the Spring season which by mere arrival causes the shrubs and trees to flower and blossom, rather than having to "do" anything to cause it.
The attitude of the seeker to the Guru should be one of service and earnest prayer to as depicted by Sri Sankara in the following verse from Viveka chooda mani.
"Katham threaeyam bhavasindhu-medham kA vA kadhirmae kathamosth upAyaha
JAnae na kinchith krubhayAvamAm prabho samsAra dhukka kshadhi-mAthanusva"
"Katham thareyam?" – How will I cross. "Bhavasindhu-maedham" (ocean of samsara) "mA kA vA gathi?" – What is the path for me? "Kathama asthi kinchit na jAnae" – I cannot determine this myself even to a least extent "prabho, mAm krupayA samsAra dhukka kakshitham"-
please take me out of this samsara (Material life)
!!! More Glories about Guru to follow ...Stay with us and Be blessed !!!
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Regards & Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan:
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
( hari krishnamurthy K. HARIHARAN)"think of them as Sand paper.
They Scratch & hurt you,
but in the end you are polished and they are finished. ''
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