Page 19 - Light of Divinity

Light of Divinity

wise are silent about his nature. But, before the mirror of the Guru,
the disciple sees and knows. That seeing is the true darshan; all the
rest are preliminaries that help lead him there. That knowing is truly
touching the Guru’s feet for in that moment of illumination the Guru
is revealed.

With footsteps of shraddha

The disciple’s journey towards the Guru is very strange. The disciple
is blind, he is ignorant and cannot see the path. He cannot move
ahead on his own. It is the Guru who leads him on. Thus the Guru
is not only the goal of the disciple; he is also the guide, the one
to whom we are attached with the rope of faith on our mountain
climb.

Trust, thus, is the first prerequisite. If you cannot trust the Guru,
you cannot be lead. Hence, even though the Guru is the fountainhead
of spirituality, it has been advocated that the would-be disciple check
out the Guru before wholeheartedly accepting him. The Buddha
advised as much: ‘‘Just as gold is examined through burning, cutting
and rubbing; so you should thoroughly test my teachings and accept
them. But never out of reverence for me.”

Swami Vivekananda had such an attitude at first towards Shri
Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Once the young disciple wanted to test
his Master’s statement that he was unaffected by money. So he put
a coin below Ramakrishna’s pillow. The Guru could not sleep that
night. Vivekananda’s test had merely proven the spiritual armour of
his Guru.

Rid of doubt, the disciple can then humbly approach the Guru.
His relationship with his spiritual guide rests on a firm footing. He
can entrust himself to his Guru in life as in death. Only after the
strong foundation of trust, or shraddha, has been laid is the spiritual
superstructure built. Man has to realize anew that he is a spiritual
being made in his image. The Guru prods the disciple to realize his
divinity. A small story narrates how.

A cub had been separated from his tribe of lions. He began to live
with sheep. In time, his behaviour became exactly like theirs: he no
longer roared, he bleated. A tiger saw him one day and was overcome
by surprise. He caught hold of the still-young cub and gave him a

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