BANGALORE: Gurur buddhyatmano nanyat satyam satyam na samsayah, Tallabhartham prayatnastu kartavyo hi manisibhih.
The Guru is not different from the conscious Self. Without doubt, this is the truth, this is the truth. Therefore, wise men should make an effort to seek Him.
When we read the scriptures we should contemplate upon the truths revealed in them and begin to apply it into our life itself. The process of contemplation is known as Manana.
The Guru teaches us to inculcate these truths in our lives so that we can experience the power of transformation contained in the scriptures. For example if we read the Holy Scripture of Ramayana - The Guru makes us realize that Rama is Chaitanya- consciousness. Chaitanya is nothing but our Soul.
The six internal enemies or our vices such as Lust, anger, attachment, greed, ego, jealousy, likes, dislikes, conniving and scheming mind represent the ten heads of Ravana. Only when our internal enemies are vanquished will we be able to see the light of our soul- chaitanya in us. Likewise, through the scripture Bhagavad Gita, our Guru makes us realize that Lord Krishna is Chaitanya.
Our soul will take over and guide us at every step of our life, just like Lord Krishna guided Arjuna. For this we must let go of our petty mind, our vices and surrender to our Guru. Lord Krishna plays the role of our Guru just as He did for Arjuna.
Therefore we come to understand that our Chaitnaya is nothing but our Guru and this Chaitanya is the foundation of our life. We must recognize and respect it. We are the spirit. But we are not God. However, we must make an effort to acquire their divine qualities.
Lord Shiva says - The Guru, our Soul- atma and chaitanya or our conscious self are not different from each other. So a true seeker should seek the grace of the Guru, spend as much time as possible in His presence or sanidhya and serve Him selflessly that is perform selfless service - seva. Then, our own soul reflects the knowledge of the Self. It shows that your Self is a treasury of knowledge and wisdom.
Lord Shiva tells Mother Parvathi that our intellect or Buddhi is our repertoire. It can either torture us or propel us towards Self knowledge. Therefore Lord Shiva urges us apply the power of our intellect to seek the knowledge of our soul through the Guru and not misuse it or abuse it.
Guru is the embodiment of supreme intelligence and is our very self itself. When we understand this then nobody will take negative control on us. Earlier we used to give importance to worldly matters since we were not aware of our soul.
So, we used to lend our ears to negative things only and make it come true. But now that we have started valuing our Soul by surrendering to our Guru; Our Guru takes control of our intellect and senses. The Guru prescribes us sadhana or spiritual practice that nourishes our intellect in the mind along with the other skills of the mind.