How to Choose a Guru
De Simple Silence.
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[modifier] Herring, Red
Of all the blind alleys that exist for the seeker on the spiritual path, theory is the most common and the most deceptive. Especially in the West, we tend to equate knowledge with understanding, and we pursue a deeper understanding of ourselves and others through the acquisition of more and more information. The result is usually something akin to a figure in one of Dali's paintings, a man with a painfully swollen, gourd-like head, distended so far back that it requires its own forked crutch for support.
In mysticism, the only knowledge which has any importance is practical knowledge concerning the practice of selflessness and cultivation of love. Yet many seekers spend the majority of their time stuffing their heads with elaborate speculations and explanations about lost continents, life after death, the number of lifetimes required to attain liberation and, yes, even how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is fair enough to read about scaling Everest when your own climbing is limited to the stairs at home, but in the mystical quest it is not useful when theorizing becomes a substitute for doing and you delude yourself into thinking that reading about the spiritual path will make you any wiser or more spiritual.
The sages have always insisted on practice and have discouraged their disciples from becoming too involved with theory which, however fascinating, distracts them from the most important work at hand. One time the Buddha was asked by one of his followers to explain some detail regarding the creation of the world. The Buddha reached up and took a handful of leaves from a nearby simsapa tree, and for a few moments he looked thoughtfully at them. Then he asked his inquisitive disciple, 'Which are more — the leaves which I am holding in my hand, or the leaves on all the trees in this grove?' The disciple replied that the leaves in the Master's hand were few, while those remaining on the trees were many. 'So it is,' said the Buddha. 'that the things which I have told you are just a few, while the things in the universe are very many. Why is it that I have not told you of the other things? It is because they will not profit you. They are not necessary for living the life of Truth, for they will not lighten the burden of your suffering, nor lead you away from your limitations toward ultimate enlightenment.'
[modifier] Colons And Semicolons
The issue of what to eat, how to eat, when to eat, and when not to eat has appeared throughout the ages in every religious and mystical tradition. From each tradition we have a heritage of rules and patterns, some fragmentary and some elaborate. In the Catholic Church, for example, meat was eschewed on Fridays and throughout Lent for hundreds of years. Orthodox Judaism forbids the eating of pork, and the mixing of meat and dairy products, not to mention the innumerable other restrictions involved in keeping a kosher kitchen.
For Muslims, both wine and pork are taboo. In the Hindu tradition, strict vegetarianism is considered to be the rule for serious spiritual aspirants. The ancient Vedic scriptures go into great detail in categorizing foods according to their effects on the activities of the mind, and for the seeker they precribe only sattwic, or pure, foods — that is, vegetarian food free from such irritating ingredients as garlic, onions, chili, pepper, and so on.
As for the Buddhists, apart from having only plain and pure food, the members of certain sects eat their last meal of the day at noon so that they will not be made sleepy by an evening meal and thus can be more alert for their long meditations. In the Jain tradition in India (which is based on a creed similar to Buddhism), fasting was more predominant than eating for the monks, and it is said that frequently they would follow a scheduled fast-to-the-death that was graduated over several years.
In addition to the guidelines set down in the major religions, there are innumerable cults and groups based on particular diets or food restrictions today. Fads of this sort range from advocacy of six-month fasts to preoccupation with the way in which every morsel is chewed. Fruit juice diets, brown-rice-only diets, low-mucus diets, this-is-not-a-diet diets — the list is almost interminable.
The only thing that becomes clear in looking over the rules about diet in the various religious paths is this: when some consensus is sought, the result is utter confusion.
As the seeker progresses toward and eventually along the spiritual path, however, he begins to perceive a difference between the dogmas of religion and the essence of spirituality. As he does so, he finds that he is guided less by rules and more by intuition, by his inner perception of what is truly important.
An anecdote about Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, the well-known Sadguru on whom today's Vedanta movement is founded, gives some perspective to the food issue from the eyes of a Perfect Master. One day he was approached by a devotee who was bubbling over with pride: 'Master, Master!' he called out, 'I have given up fish and betel nut!' (A substance comparable to chewing tobacco.) 'And why did you do that? What did the poor fish and betel do to deserve being treated so? Better that you give up women and gold.' (That is, attachment to the world through lust and greed.)
Although many teachers give the food issue great importance, those Masters who have actually reached the Goal of God-realization seem to relegate the matter to lower priority. Perfect Masters usually allow their vegetarian devotees to follow their own particular diets, and their nonvegetarian devotees to eat meat, fish, and so on. Such Masters will allow their followers to pursue the dictates of their own creeds if they wish, for they know that in the face of love for God, external ceremonies and rules have no value.
As one great Master probably put it best, what goes into your mouth isn't nearly as important as what comes out of it.
[modifier] Baba Lovers
The followers of the highest gurus are not just followers, they are 'lovers'. In India, they may even be referred to as 'lovers' — the devotees of certain Masters are called premi, which literally means 'lovers of God'.
It is not semantic nitpicking — the terms for a master's followers often tell something about the master himself. Some gurus teach a method of meditation or some other spiritual technique, and the followers follow the teaching. The Master who is Perfect, however, becomes in reality the Beloved of his followers, for he is himself the face of God for them, and his followers become his 'lovers' because of the love for God which he evokes in them.
[modifier] Pot-Cleaning
One day a disciple asked his Master why, if God-realization could be given in a flash, did he not give it to his followers on the spot? Was it not true that the Master could impart Enlightenment whenever he wished? Then why wait? Why does every seeker have to go through long years of service, obedience, and striving when the Goal he longs for can literally be handed to him at any time?
The Master replied to all this questioning with an anecdote. There was once a man who had two cooking pots, he said, which he wanted to have cleaned. Both were burned and crusty with grease and filth, and he wanted to get them back to a like-new condition. Two men offered to clean the pots for him: one said that he would require forty days to do the job, while the other said that he would be finished in twenty-four hours.
The man gave one pot to each cleaner, curious to see which one would get the best results. The fellow who said he could do the work in one day proceeded to build a fire, and when it was raging hot, he put the pot into it. After the fire had seared all the dirt off, the cleaner pulled the pot out of the flames, brushed it off, and returned it bright and shiny to the owner.
The man who required forty days for the cleaning set about his work at a much slower pace. He worked for a few hours each day, rubbing, scraping, scouring, using lots and lots of elbow grease. Each day he removed more of the accumulated crud, until finally the pot was as clean as it could possibly be made.
The owner of the pots found that both of them appeared to be equally clean. To his great disappointment, however, as he began to cook with them once again, he discovered that the one which had been cleaned in a single day was no longer usable — it was as brittle as a dry leaf and crumbled at the slightest knock. Only the pot which had been scoured gradually over many days still held its temper and could continue to be used.
In the same way, the Master explained, he could indeed give his followers God-realization at any moment, but if they were not prepared for the experience, they could not use their knowledge to help others after gaining it. If the 'vessel' of the human being were not gradually purified before receiving Realization, the intensity of this literally mind-blowing experience would be too much for a person to stand. He would definitely be liberated, but he would be forced to drop his body in the process.
The Master is not one to waste his work — he gets maximum results from all of his actions. When he makes someone Perfect, he does so at such a time and in such a way that will make that person most helpful to others. That is why he puts you through a seemingly endless scraping and scouring instead of throwing you full into the fire of his Love and burning you to a crisp.
© 1981 Rick M. Chapman
