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By Swami Vivekananda,
Every soul is destined to be perfect, and every being, in the end, will attain to that state.
Whatever we are now is the result of whatever we have been or thought in the past, and whatever we shall be in the future will be the result of what we do or think now. But this does not preclude our receiving help from outside. The possibilities of the soul are always quickened by some help from the outside. In studying books, sometimes we are deluded into thinking that we are being spiritually helped. But if we analyse ourselves we shall find that only our intellect has been helped and not the spirit.
That is the reason why almost every one of us can speak most wonderfully on spiritual subjects, but when the time of action comes, we find ourselves woefully deficient. It is because books cannot give us that impulse from the outside. To quicken the spirit, that impulse must come from another soul.
That soul from which the impulse comes is called the guru, the teacher, and the soul to which the impulse is conveyed is called the disciple, the student. In order to convey this impulse in the first place the soul from which it comes must possess the power of transmitting it, as it where, to another. And in the second place, the object to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The seed must be a living seed, the field must be ready ploughed, and when both these conditions are fulfilled, a wonderful growth of religion takes place. the speaker of religion must be wonderful, so must the hearer be, then alone will splendid spiritual growth come, and not otherwise. These are real teachers, and these are real students.
How are we to know a teacher? In the first place, the sun requires no torch to make it visible. We do light a candle to the sun. When the sun rises we instinctively become aware of its rising, and when a teacher of men comes to help us, the soul will instinctively know that it has found the truth. Truth stands on its own evidence. It does require any other testimony to attest it. It penetrates into the inmost recesses of our nature, and the whole universe stands up and says, “This is Truth.”
These are the very great teachers, but we can get help from the lesser ones also. And as we ourselves are not sufficiently intuitive to be certain of our judgment of the man from whom we receive, there ought to be certain tests. There are certain conditions necessary in the taught and also in the teacher. In the teacher, we must know that he knows the secrets of the scriptures. The whole world reads scriptures – Bible, Koran, Vedas and others – but they are only words, external arrangement, syntax and the dry bones of religion. Those who deal too much in words and let the mind run always in the force of words lose the spirit. So the teacher must be able to know the spirit of the scriptures.
The second condition necessary is that he must be sinless. If a man wants to teach anything of dynamics or chemistry or any other physical science, he may have a gigantic intellectual strength without the least development of his soul. But in the spiritual sciences it is impossible from first to last that there can be any spiritual light in that soul which is impure. What can such a soul teach? “Blessed be the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. In that one sentence is the gist of all religions.
The third condition is motive. We should see that he does not teach with any ulterior motive – for name or fame or anything else – but simply for love, pure love for you. When spiritual forces are transmitted to the taught, they can only be conveyed through the medium of love. There is no other medium can convey them. Therefore all must be done through love.
One who has known God can alone be a teacher. When you see in the teacher that these conditions are fulfilled, you are safe. If they are not fulfilled, it is unwise to accept that person as a guru. You may go and knock your head against the four corners of the world, but spirituality will not come until you find a teacher. Find the teacher, serve him as a child, open your heart to his influence, see in him God manifested.”
nice one..my principle Guru
Anjana
“This was Beautiful ..Loved it “
This was a great article man. Thank you.
Krishan
“Great post! I had the privilege to be under the guidance of a yogi when I was in Quebec last month. Wow! What an experience. I think its safe to say we were all profoundly and deeply touched by the experience.
There was one day when it had been raining for a long time. We all went outside to dance and sing in the rain. We weren’t out there for more than 2-3 minutes when the sun suddenly burst through the rain & clouds and shone as bright as can be! Needless to say we were in awe!”
Joanne
“I too was there with Joanne and our lives were truly lit up and it was as if our souls were dancing and singing along with our hearts. I really enjoy the posts Sanjib”
“I love the way this article referred to the many different religions”
Kathleen
Swami Vivekananda speaks so clearly and yet so profoundly, I love reading his works. I’m glad you enjoy the posts Kathleen, your appreciation means a lot to me…long may it continue:)
lovely article
Thanks Sunita, Yah Vivekananda is amazing..such a graceful and elegant speaker..so much to learn from him:)
Excellent article….
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by mina, Sanjib Mukherjee. Sanjib Mukherjee said: Yoga & The Guru – Swami Vivekananda http://ping.fm/yFrQD [...]
gd mrn-sanjib-thanks for this–
Swami vivekananda and his words are the reason why iam in yoga and social activity. my first meditation just happened at vivekananda rock.
THANK YOU SANJEEB.
Very meaningful lines. Thanx Sanjeeb.
Thanks sanjib
Namaste! I just came back from Sri Sri Yoga TTC course in Taiwan, Teacher : Krishanji …….
Hi Sanjib…it is so wonderful i think it is not an article itself or lines it is something related to my own life…something i have felt or experienced recently….and i sinecerly believe in this theory of teacher and student.or GURU N SHISHAY..and so simply decribed their sweet relation..and so beautiful descripton of coming of GURU in life is like rise Of SUN
..n we surely come to know if we found Such person whom we can trust to be our Guru..and in this case not only our mind our inner couscious says to us that We have found something that we never got in life…we may not be able to define that power that strength that we get from just in the company of guru…but yet can realise that inner something is changing..
though it is fictionaly said but most of us must have heard this..that like a PARAS STONE HAS THE POWER OF TOUCHING A PIECE OF IRON AND MAKING IT INTO SHINING GOLD…sameways Guru has the power to change a person to grow to its fullest extent..and this can never happen if we just get the knowledge
…by reading the books as we have the knowledge but if dont know how to apply it practically when difficult circumstances are there i dont think it is of any use…like we have a stock of water in a tank…but we donto know how to open its tap to take out water then still we wil be thirsty
…so knowledge also comes in use when there is Guru or Teacher or some Enlightened person…who can help us…i m amazed to read this article so nicely explained the imprtance of GURU.. this is a sanskrit word means the dispeller of darkness..so anyone Who comes to life and who is able to clarify or bring light to our confusions
…to explain things to us is termed as GURU..we may find guru in many people who can teach us many things..many creatures of the world can become our guru…but THE GREATEST MASTER OR GURU is most powerful source of inspirations for us…and we can do wonders if we get chance to have such masters in our life…sometime while writng coments i dont realise how much i am writing in converting my feelings and thoughts into words…so sorry about that if anyone does not like my long comments…
Thank you so much Sanjib in childhood i went from school to Ramakrishna MIssion to particpate in a contest in which we have to learn and give speech on stage on wording of Vivekanand…that time i was too young to understand deeply what is being said…but i still won the 2nd prize..today when i saw this article by Vivekanand i reminded of my sppech 27 years back.
..some memories are stored in brain but came out when some refernce point comes agian in life…so happy to remind that memory again and so Happy to join your group and recieveing knowledge each day in many forms…each day getting more better and better…love and regards from Rekha…
Wow!
Loved it.
nice article!!!
thanks for sharing the wisdom of Guru
It was only after reading such inspiring words that something was invoked and the search began for a sadguru in life….
Jai Gurudev
Great note. only challenge is finding a real, trust worthy Guru in today’s all too materialistic world.
thanx..nice one
its really a surprise for me! today mrng i was thinking abt Swami Vivekananda and here comes the article!!! thx a lot for posting this article!
Jgd. What a wonderful Guru we have! This is amazing post sanjib.:-D
xellent, so simple yet so divine… Jai Ho!!
……….an answer to yet another question that was forming in the mind.
Bin GURU GYAN kAHA SE PAYU..deezo dan Hari gun gayu…
I remembered these very very old lines…it means..
HOW TO GET KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT GURU…GURU WILL GIVE THEN ONLY I CAN PRAISE THE LORD…
so GURU IS NOT LESS THAN GOD…in any ways as we are nothing without GURU ..he is the ONE who can show us path and meeting of GOD also is possible only because of GURU…
Sanjib…i can say that YOU r like a GURU for me..guiding us with beautiful knowledge all the time…:)
Thank you so much for everything..:)