Guru Naama and all mantras that come from the Guru are all powerful. The Guru sannidhya or sanctum sanctorum of the Guru is the temple.
He imparts wisdom through his satsanghs, silence and many a time through his movements and behavior. The power derived through these modes from the Guru is much more intense than any other modes of worship, religious texts or sacred sermons.
My merely chanting the greatness of the Guru or Guru Gita, the ego of the disciple burns into ashes and the mind becomes humble. This is when the Guru constructs the beautiful internal state of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Guru recognises all of us as we are. We are all born beautiful. We ourselves spoil our own beauty through layers and layers of make-up of different mindsets, characteristics and behavioural patterns. Let us for a moment remember the realized saint Yogi Ramaiah at this point. Ever aware that everyone is born beautiful, he used to lovingly address everyone as Sundara and Sundari.
Tadejati tannaijati
taddure tatsamipake,
Tadantarasya sarvasya
tadu sarvasya bahyatah
The Guru principle moves and moves not. It is far as well as near. It is inside everything as well as outside everything.
In this shloka, Lord Shiva explains the subtle, yet profound existence of the Guru, which can be seen, at the same time not seen all the time. It is that which can be felt all the time only when we are wearing the mantle of awareness.
When we are always aware and conscious of the existence of the Guru in everything and everywhere, then we are said to have really understood the meaning of this shloka. Else, to understand and experience, what is Guru shakti? When do we feel his presence within us? When do we feel his presence outside of us? These are questions for which we will have to seek answers through scriptures and experiences of saints, sages and enlightened beings who enjoy the awareness and consciousness of their Guru’s presence within them as well as outside of them, in fact everywhere, all the time.
Else, we spiritual seekers do experience the presence of Guru only when we do Guru vandana or Guru worship and Guru sadhana – austerities and spiritual practices. When we are not doing sadhana, we feel that the Guru is outside of us because we are not in the state of awareness.
I once asked my devotee who had the habit of watching TV everyday, “What are you thinking of when you are watching TV?” He replied, “Pujya Guruji, I am thinking about the anchor of the show”. I then told him, “I always think of my Guru when I watch TV. He was perplexed, “How is that possible?”
I replied, “Awareness and consciousness of the Guru is an awakened state. All Enlightened Beings always think of their Guru and are aware of the existence of their Guru. They are conscious of their Guru even if they are engaged in worldly activities because they know that the Guru principle exists in everything and everywhere.”
But, for seekers, a few milliseconds will decide whether the Guru is inside them or outside them. The factors that decide this are the body, mind and speech. To be in the state of awareness and consciousness just like the sages, we must keep our mind pure by not having bad thoughts. We must keep speech pure, soft and gentle. Keep body pure by practicing Yogas initiated by the Guru- Be it yoga of devotion or Bhakti yoga, yoga of action – Karma yoga or yoga of knowledge – Jnana yoga.
Excerpt from The Force of Nirvana
by Shri Shri Nimishananda