Guru's grace in Sadhana - Part 2 of 2

(Continued...)

But when one comes to the stage where he is ready to take sannyAsa and receive the upadesha of the mahA-vAkyas – and certainly beyond that – even if the mind errs slightly that will become a gigantic fault or sin.

At that point if one thinks that one can self-correct it, he is mistaken. Of course self-confidence is a good thing.

But just that confidence in oneself will not take one far in the question of defence against such slips. He needs the strength of Guru’s Grace, in addition to his own strength, particularly at this stage he has to walk on razor’s edge as it were.

That is why the Guru’s Grace is emphasized here. Once the strong adherence to mumukShutvaM is there, the SannyAsa and the receiving of the mahAvakya mantra has been done and so hereafter everything is going to need the Grace of the guru.

Guru's grace in Sadhana - Part 1 of 2

Not only for mumukShutvA, but from A to Z everything in SAdhanA needs the Grace of the Guru.

The Guru views with compassion the effort done with heart-felt intensity and purity by the disciple and blesses him at every step and that is what takes him to the next step.

The first stage is karma-bhakti for the purification of the mind. The next stage is SAdhanA-chatushTayaM, consisting of Viveka (Discrimination), VairAgya (Dispassion), shamAdi-shhaTkaM the sextad beginning with shama,and mumukShutvaM (intense longing for mokSha).

Next comes the third stage of SAdhanA.

In this stage, the Grace of the Guru and surrender to the Guru are very important. So far, even if there is a small slip-up in the control of the senses, it may not be a big fault.

(Continued...)

Who is a real Guru and who is not?

“Once Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati Swami of Kanchi Mutt (Sri Periva) had camped in North India. The then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, came to have His darshan.

The Prime Minister of India placed a similar question in front of Sri Periva, “If you would pinpoint the persons who, in the name of spirituality, lead the people in a wrong way I will take action against them.”

Sri Periva laughed and said, “No! It should not be handled in this manner. Those who approach such fake swamis will themselves, after a time, understand their standard of maturity.”

Sri Periva knew that this reply did not satisfy Smt. Indira Gandhi. Someone had offered a basket full of mangoes to Periva. It contained many unripe and a few ripe fruits.

Many devotees waited outside for Sri Periva’s darshan. Sri Periva instructed the attendants to bring a child from amongst these devotees. A child of about 5 years was brought to Him. Pointing to the basket Periva smilingly said to the child, “Take whatever you want.” After a search the child picked up a ripe fruit.

Sri Periva pointed out to Smt.Indira Gandhi who was watching this, “Just as the way a child knows what is ripe and what is unripe, so too would those who go out in search of Truth recognize a true Mahan at some point of their life.”