The importance of a Guru in a devotee’s life

(A speech given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on Guru Tattwa)

आदि मध्य अंत तीनों गुरु ही बना दे

Guru takes care of all his devotees through their entire devotional journey

 (Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj)

There is a question which rises in everyone’s mind.  Some say God is greater, some say Guru is greater, some say both are equal. Regarding this, Kripalu gives his opinion. Both God and Guru are one,  yet God is a friend of the pure hearted ones. We are impure aren’t we?  We have our backs turned towards God.  We are his spoiled children; delinquents who go against our Divine Father’s will. 

We have surrendered ourselves to maya (material energy), so God does not align with us.  He makes us wander in the 8.4 million species of life. He makes everyone wander in different forms of life, He lets everyone perform virtuous, as well as sinful deeds, according to the accumulated actions of the individual.  We perform good and bad deeds but he gives us fruits of those actions.  He imparts justice, not grace.  

But how about Guru?  Well, he graces us in the beginning, middle, as well as the end of our devotional journey. These are the 3 stages. He takes care of us all the way. What does he do in the beginning? He gives us theoretical knowledge of the scriptures.  He points out our mistakes and explains that we will not receive what we desire by travelling in the direction of the world.  He inspires us to travel in the opposite direction, “Go that way!”

The Guru himself comes to explain all this to us. To date, God has not come to anyone to explain all this.  It is on record!   Only Saints explain our mistakes to us.  Only they tell us that by walking in this direction, you are heading for worldly abuse and heartache, therefore  we should turn back.  He explains philosophical  knowledge in many different ways.  

And how does a Guru help us in the midst of our journey?  Well, when we start moving towards God, our bad habit of mentally going to the world distracts us.  Many disturbances come up. Then the Guru sits with us and makes us do Sadhana (devotional practice). In other words, he is of a Professor level but he becomes a student for our sake. In this way, he helps us in the midst of our journey to God.  He instructs us, “Sit like this. Do roopdhyan (meditation). Your mind will naturally go to the world. But do not get tense. Wherever the mind goes, have Shyamsundar stand there.”  This is the help he gives us in the middle of our devotional journey, 

And when our mind becomes purified, it is the Guru who fills it with Svaroop Shakti (divine powers) in the end, thereby rendering it divine. It is the Guru who imparts divine love to the soul. It is the Guru who gives us darshan of God. This means that from A to Z, from beginning to end –  it is only the Guru who serves us. The Guru puts in a lot of hard work and prepares the vessel of our heart.  

Yet, we harbour negative feelings towards him.  We commit numerous offences time and again. Despite being aware of all this, he forgives us. Just like a mother forgives her child.  In spite of that, the seeker commits offences against the same Guru, who is bent on improving him.  He thinks, “Guruji is greedy.  He is after my money.”  We have thought like this thousands of times.  This is such a great offence.  

This creation belongs to God. We came here with nothing. The property you have belongs to God, after all.  That God walks behind the Guru!  When the same Guru inspires you to use some of your property and that too for your  own benefit, you think against him instead.   You start thinking,  “Guruji is after money. That other fellow  gave money; so he gets privileges.”  

We commit such offences again and again on a daily basis. And we are not ashamed of ourselves in the least!  When a person commits an offence, he should resolve never to commit the mistake again.  But we commit the same offence again and again. We commit namaparadh – the most serious spiritual offence, and then blame our Guru for not taking us all the way to God-realisation. 

You don’t realise that Guruji is tolerating such insults from you, despite the fact that you have not even surrendered to him. Think that someone behind whom God walks, is asking you for something.  “He asked me, a pauper, for something!  How fortunate I am.”  The day you start thinking this way, is the day you start surrendering to your Guru.  But we are crooked, like the tail of a dog.  As long as you keep it pressed, it will remain straight.  The moment you let it go, it becomes crooked again in one second.  We once again go back to where we were.  

We don’t take steps to improve ourselves. Still our Guru keeps  toiling after us.  This is how Saints keep after us.  Only because of their efforts, we turn a little towards God.  Turning little by little towards God, we have reached the present state.  From now on, we must decide to be careful and  protect our spiritual earnings and not squander them or keep them on the road for someone to steal.  

What is namaparadh after all?   Ill feelings towards God and Guru.  That’s it!  You may say, “But I didn’t utter a word against him.”  Speaking is not an offence. The Gopis speak many abusive words for Shyamsundar, but they are not committing an offence.  Thinking against God and Guru, constitutes an offence.  Having ill feelings in the mind constitutes offence.  Thinking against the Guru in the mind constitutes offence. 

The characteristics of ‘surrender’ are  –  The mind should never think adversely about the Guru. Be delighted in every action of his.  Do not ever think adversely. “Tell me?  Have you had his darshan?”  “Yes!”   “Tell me what price you paid for his darshan!”  If a Prime minister, who had committed unlimited sins, was to visit your house, you would become ecstatic!  You go around boasting, “Who is this Collector or Commissioner?  I was visited by the Prime minister.”  And you don’t give that much importance to your Guru!”  

You comment, “Yes, Guruji visited me and I had his darshan,  However, he didn’t speak to me;”  Or you say,  “Well, he did speak with me for a little bit, then he got up and left.  Didn’t even stay for ten minutes.”  Again you retort, “He stayed for ten minutes, but didn’t eat anything that I offered him.”   No matter how much your Guru graces you, you are determined to speak and think against him.  

We met with countless Saints in countless lives. but we still did not reach our destination.  We kept on committing namapradh over and over again and falling further down on the devotional path. The Guru however, keeps going after the seeker hoping that at some point, he will introspect and realise what he is doing.  

So the Guru looks after us in the beginning of our journey by explaining the philosophy; in the midst of our journey, he tolerates our insults and keeps on toiling after us,  and in the end, when our mind gets fully purified, he gives us Divine love and powers.  He shapes us in all the 3 stages of our devotional journey towards God realisation.  Hence, the glory of the Guru far outweighs the glory of God.  

By Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj

Blessed are those who meet a God-realised Saint. More so are those who are under the guidance of a genuine Jagadguru, who is the most exalted among many God-realised Saints. However, the most fortunate of all are those who are practising devotion under the guidance of Jagadguruttam, the Supreme Spiritual Master of the World. Attaining such immense fortune is possible only with the boundless mercy and grace of the Supreme Lord, Shri Radha Krishna. We are indeed extremely fortunate to be a part of the auspicious occasion, and our deepest heartfelt thanks to our beloved Guru.

The magnitude of our Guru’s greatness is infinite; there are no words to describe it.  From the Vedas to the Ramayana, all scriptures have spoken about Guru Tattwa, the entity known as Guru, and all have declared in unison that no one can ever repay the debt of such a Guru even over countless lives. Celestials like Saraswati and Brihaspati have tried and failed. Perhaps the one and only reason for this is that even the Supreme Lord, Shri Radha Krishna is bound by the Love of the Guru.

On this auspicious occasion, let us make a firm resolve to surrender our body, mind, wealth and all that we have at the lotus feet of our Guru. Let us utilise this golden opportunity by conducting a self-analysis and assess how much of our spiritual capital has increased, and how much we have squandered since last year’s Guru Purnima.

Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat wishes all devotees a very Happy Guru Purnima.

*A brief introduction of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj*

(Known by His devotees as Shri Maharaj Ji)

The original title of Jagadguruttam (Greatest Spiritual Teacher of the World) was bestowed upon Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 14, 1957, by Kashi Vidvat Parishad (a council of 500 greatest scholars saints of India). He composed divine texts like Prem Ras Madira, Prem Ras Siddhant, and Radha Govind Geet to lead us on the right path of devotion. He also gave priceless monuments as gifts to the world which include Bhakti Mandir located in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, Prem Mandir located in Vrindavan Dham, and Kirti Mandir located in Barsana Dham. Shri Maharaj Ji also built hospitals for the impoverished, the Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya in Vrindavan, Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya in Barsana, and another one in Pratapgarh. All three help millions of underprivileged to gain free access to medical care. His Kindergarten, School, and College for impoverished girls Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Education is located in Kunda and provides completely free education.