In the present age, Gods manifest themselves only in the form of the Guru unlike in the other epochs, where Maha Vishnu manifested as Shri Rama in the Treta Yuga and as Shri Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga.
The Guru as Parabrahman takes every form—both animate and inanimate—be it a flower, stone, bee, animals, plants, sky, water or man. In short, the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient Brahman is present everywhere and in everything.
The unmanifested Brahman is the primordial cosmic energy that manifests as the Guru to nurture, nourish and impart the experiential knowledge of our soul to us lead us to enlightenment. Lord Shiva in Shri Guru Gita, Skanda Purana clearly states that it is the Primordial Cosmic Energy—Adi Parashakti—which takes different forms of divinity.
Ultimately all 33,000 crore forms of divinity in the Sanatana Dharma merge into one supreme form and that is the form of the Guru. In short, God descends to the earth in form of the Guru.
All forms of divinity unify and merge in the Guru. Guru is Brahman, Brahman is Guru. The Guru doesn’t require a platform to manifest. The force of the Guru creates His own space the moment we open up our minds and hearts.
Lord Shiva emphasises that this knowledge of the Guru itself cannot be obtained anywhere in the cosmos. Why is it so? The sins we have accumulated over innumerable lifetimes as well as our negative traits, prevent us from obtaining the knowledge of the Guru.
Human beings are most of the times ruled by logic, reasoning and analysing, and are mind-driven rather than being soul-driven. Today, you are controlled by the six vices of evil desires—greed, extreme attachment, anger, arrogance, jealousy, likes and dislikes—along with lots of complexities, mindsets, fear, doubt, suspicion, superstitions, false pride of wealth, education, status, and the list seems endless.
That is why the knowledge of the Guru as Supreme Reality—Brahman—can be attained only when you start following the teachings of the Guru to reform yourselves and thereby become eligible to receive the knowledge of your soul.
When you remove duality and all your negative qualities and shift your focus on the UNIVERSAL form of the Guru, you begin to experience the basic truth that the Guru is your soul itself. From then on, you must be in the continuous state of astute awareness of the presence of the Guru in you. This is where you begin the process of sadhana, which helps keep your mind in astute awareness. Consecrating the Guru in your heart is itself a great sadhana in Kaliyuga. This sadhana is known as Upasana.
Just like when you dig a borewell, you initially get mud, rocks and then water. Likewise, when you begin the sadhana, the mud called as your ignorance and rocks of negativities and traits, are thrown out from within you, and water—the elixir of life, which is the state of enlightenment—is attained. Bliss begins to flow from within you constantly. ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org