Guru

‘When the Guru Principle speaks through the vehicle of a true mahatma, it can be taken as God’s word.’

Babaji never proclaimed or appointed himself as a Guru or teacher. Nevertheless, hundreds of people regarded him as a Guru although he himself was careful not to display his spiritual status and deliberately remained "agaram bagaram."

When you value something greatly, you will protect it by keeping it hidden carefully away. Spiritual things should not be put on display.

Only on very rare occasions did he acknowledge his attainment. Once a close disciple who had served Babaji over an extended time was massaging his legs. "Have you ever examined the soles of my feet?" asked Babaji suddenly. Surprised, the disciple confessed he hadn't. Whereupon Babaji pointed out certain unique marks similar to those on his guru's feet. "Just keep serving me. You need do nothing else," advised Babaji.

His attainment and authority sprang from two sources. First, as we have seen, from the spiritual realization earned by years of intense sadhana and tapasya; second, from his spiritual lineage. We have seen that Babaji was first and foremost a son of the Mother as she appears in the form of the Sapta Shringh Devi. We have already seen Sapta Shringh Devi to be intimately connected with siddha vidya and the "Nath" lineage. The tradition of Siddha Yoga is also alive in the more recent succession from Bhagavan Nityananda to his disciple Swami Muktananda, and thence to Swami Chidvilasananda, the disciple of Muktanandaji, who is the present head of Gurudev Siddha Peeth Ashram in the state of Maharashta and to Swami Nityananda. We have already seen Baba Muktananda's recognition of Babaji on two main occasions. First, in sending a large teacher's chair to Sapta Shringh in 1962, and second, in requesting Babaji to "sit on the gadi” of his ashram. His teachings were, therefore, imbued with the power of his spiritual lineage as well as the conviction of his own spiritual realization.

To attain liberation, firstly you should follow the suggestions and disciplines of your guru. Secondly, learn to have the awareness that you are not the doer. Consider all your thoughts and actions to have their source in God, not in 'you.'Don't think of the body—the eyes, ears, and hands as yours. Rather, see them as instruments through which God acts. Liberation means to see everything as existing in God: the same One dwells in everything and everyone.

The work of the guru is essentially that. To ensure that his disciple reaches the ocean of God. This he does by various means by oral teaching, but mainly by igniting the heart of the disciple with his own lighted candle. Thus he leads the aspirant to the Guru within his own heart and frees him from all dependence on external objects, ideas, philosophies and creeds. Finally, the Guru frees the disciple from dependence on himself. The mystery of the Guru, who is both formless and yet with form, is the mystery of God Himself.

Despite warnings about limiting the Guru to a particular form, nevertheless, Babaji was emphatic about the need for a guru as one who can lead the aspirant to recognition of the truth.

Once an American visitor came to Babaji with this very question in her mind, of whether she needed a guide and whether Babaji himself could show her the way to God. Before she even spoke, he began a story.

Tulsidas and Hanuman

Before Tulsidas became the great saint he was later to become, he lived for some time at Chitrakut, where Rama and Sita had lived, in order to realize God in the form of Rama, his Ishta devata or family deity. In fact, he had little idea of how to go about realizing his aim when a nature spirit took pity on him and told him, 'Look, to approach Rama, you have to go through Hanuman.'

But where to find Hanuman? The answer came that a certain Brahmin living in a nearby village recites the Ramayana every day which many people attend, including Hanuman himself. The latter takes the form of an old man and always waits after the recitation until everyone has gone.

So Tulsidas duly attended the recitation and true enough there was the old man. When everyone had left at the end, Tulsidas bowed to the old gentleman.

'I know you are really Hanuman. Please help me!' he cried. Moved by Tulsidas's passionate appeal regarding obtaining darshan of Lord Rama, Hanuman graciously answered, 'Hold a feast in the village and I'll invite Rama to come.'

Tulsidas, with trembling anticipation, made all arrangements for a feast (Bandhara) the following day, inviting the Brahmins and dignitaries. However, no sign of Ram! To add insult to injury, a dog appeared at the end and started licking the scraps. Furious, the Brahmins grabbed their sticks and the dog ran off.

The next day a bitterly disappointed Tulsidas again approached Hanuman in the form of the old man and reproachfully demanded why Rama had not come to the feast.

‘You fool, don't you realize Rama came in the form of that dog you chased away? Didn't you recognize him? Now you will have to give another bandara.'

Again, Tulsidas carefully made arrangements and put on a more splendid feast than before. But again no sign of Ram or even the dog. The final insult was when two 'untouchables' came at the end and tried to sit down near the Brahmins. Livid with rage the Brahmins reached for their sticks, cursing, to chase them off. Tulsidas, feeling cheated and very disgruntled, approached the old man the next day at the recitation. As soon as they were alone, Hanuman started severely scolding Tulsidas.

'Can't you understand anything, you imbecile?” he demanded. “Ram and Sita both came to your feast in the form of those two untouchables and even then you did not recognize them.'

At last Tulsidas' pride broke down and he wept bitterly.

'I am so foolish and ignorant! The only way I will ever recognize God is if he comes in the form of the Rama with which I am familiar.'

Seeing his inability to recognize God's manifestations, Hanuman agreed to invite Rama again on condition that Tulsidas invite the entire village, including children, untouchables, and animals. So Tulsidas prepared a magnificent feast to which everyone was invited and sure enough, Rama, Sita, and Laxman came in person.

Babaji's final comment to the American visitor, made with a smile, was as follows.

So, grab on to the feet of that old man and don't let go!

His meaning as to whom the old man referred in this case was evident.

The feet of a jnani have a great significance in the Indian tradition as the point of access to his spiritual power. A Canadian describes his chance meeting with Swamiji in a street in a small Maharasthra pilgrim town in 1973 as follows. “My eyes were on the road in front of me when I glimpsed a pair of feet coming toward me down the far side of the depression. At the moment that the feet came into sight at a distance of about fifty feet, a powerful rush of energy came up from the ground through my own feet and body and lifted my head and flooded my mind with light and joy. I found myself looking into the eyes of a large, smiling sanyassi. I saluted him and passed on. Later I learned that the swami was called Prakashananda.”