Guru Tattva

‘The Guru is the Eternal Principle’

Who then is the guide of a seeker wishing to make the journey back to the source of his existence? Who is the guru or true teacher?

The syllable gu means maya or ignorance and the syllable ru is that which destroys it. The Guru Tattva (guru principle) dwells in the heart of a human being, not in the physical heart, but in the spiritual heart at the source of the mind, shining like a pure crystal. He is known as the angustha purusha, the thumb-sized person.

This is a lake. (Babaji describes a circle with his hand.) One man took out a little water and put it aside, calling it Christianity. Another man came, took some water and called it Islam, another Buddhism, and so on. But whether we are Buddhist, Christian, or Hindu, the Guru Principle is one. Many people ignorantly think it is represented by one particular, unique manifestation or person and that surrender means to give everything to that one. No! True surrender does not mean to give everything to an individual but to God, who dwells within us as the Guru Principle.

It is always the disciples of a great jnani who try to get members for their “party.' The founders of the great religions have eaten the real spiritual food and gone back to God. The disciples show the world an empty plate with a few crumbs and say, 'Here, eat this.' From the point of view of God and the jnani, differences like Christian, Muslim, and Jain don't exist. Actually, all mahatmas say the same thing and needlessly people fight over different interpretations of one truth.

For Babaji, therefore, the distinctions of religion, creed, and class were purely manmade, as one God pervaded them all. One day a Hindu lady visiting Babaji complained that her husband had lost his job.

Go to the nearby durgah. Having offered food to the Muslim saint, then distribute it as prasad to any visitors and children who happen to be visiting the durgah. You should mentally ask the saint to grant your desire and make him a promise to be fulfilled after your desire is accomplished. All saints belong to one God.

Once an Australian confessed that he had visited many teachers and mahatmas but was unsure who his guru really was.

The guru is you yourself in the form of the indwelling atma. It is this atma which gives the world its existence. If you give your allegiance to this body, for example, (pointing to himself), you are making a mistake. All bodies, even the great Siddhas, have to go. Look at Ram, Krishna, and Jesus. They all had to go one day. No, the Guru is the Eternal Principle. Know and serve that Guru and don't get burned by the fire of wrong understanding.

This message was delivered with such power and conviction that the Australian's confusion fell away and was replaced by joy.

As one who had no interest in attracting either disciples or an organization, Babaji often found himself in the position of helping seekers break through identification with a particular form. Once an advanced American seeker, a well-known doctor and healer, came to Babaji. He was in considerable conflict because his spiritual understanding had grown beyond the concept of serving and identifying the guru as one particular individual. At the same time, he acknowledged that the tremendous expansion of spiritual consciousness he had experienced had been due to contact with this teacher. Babaji told him:

Actually, it is the Guru Principle dwelling within you that does everything. Did it not make you aware of the need for a guru in the first place? Did it not lead you to him? Was it not this indwelling principle which was ignited as a result? The Guru Principle is the real doer.

Babaji, therefore, never lost an opportunity to stress the importance of not confusing the Guru Principle with a particular physical form. It seems that even great devotees have to learn this lesson.

To wean Hanuman away from attachment to his physical form, Ram dropped his ring into the ocean. Hanuman, the perfect devotee, immediately dived down to retrieve it but on reaching the ocean bed, found not one, but hundreds of similar rings.

“Which is Ram's,” he asked a passing fish.

“They're all his, "came the reply. "Don't you know how many Rams there have been throughout infinite time?”

A jnani or mahatma is, therefore, one in whom the Guru Principle is active and blazing. When a great Soul reaches such a stage of transparency that he can be an agent or vehicle for the Guru Principle, he receives an order either from his guru or from the Guru Principle itself to serve the function of guru, or teacher.