True grace of Guru

“I have been trying to ascend the corporate ladder for many years without success. I prayed to my Guru for blessings in this endeavor and by the grace of the Guru, I finally succeeded this year. ”

Stop and think. We have heard many people attribute their wealth, status, success, etc. to the grace of the Guru. However, these material things keep pushing us back into the cycle of births and deaths. So, how can we refer to these blessings as the true grace of the Guru?

Is it considered a blessing when one is fed sumptuously and entertained while being imprisoned? A true blessing is to free him from the imprisonment. Similarly, is keeping one in the endless cycle of births and deaths called true blessing? What is the true blessing of the Guru?

God’s grace enriches one in his worldly life. It is the Guru’s grace that uplifts one from the grips of samsara.

Many think that they are spiritual without having a clear understanding of what ‘Bhakti’ is. They assume that visiting temples regularly, performing ‘pitru karmas’ or ‘yagnas’ and/or adorning external symbols as embodiments of ‘bhakti’. These are all essential for bhakti but do not define it. Bhakti is an unconditional and selfless love towards God. It is only in a Guru’s satsang that one learns and understands its true meaning. After reading literature about ‘jnana marga’ there is a general misconception in some that leading a life without principles is admissible in ‘jnana marga’. A ragged jobless lazy man is mistaken to be one with dispassion by many.

In today’s world, a Guru’s satsang is the only means to learn true meanings of ‘jnana’, ‘bhakti’ and dispassion. Furthermore, the Guru’s grace makes one yearn for bhakti.

His grace empowers one to achieve pure jnana, unconditional bhakti, and dispassion from worldly objects, thereby transforming him/her.

During the ‘avatara lila’ of Krishna, the ‘gopas’ enter the giant mouth of the snake asura Aghasura mistaking it for a mountain cave and lose consciousness due to its poisonous blaze. Lord Krishna places his transcendent hand on their heads to revive them. Similarly, a Guru’s grace transcends the heart of an ineligible disciple to rid him of his poisonous attachments to worldly objects, and transforms him to one with ‘jnana’ and dispassion and offers him to god.

True grace of the Guru is His capacity to induce an internal transformation in the disciple.