Who is the Guru ? We must see the Guru in each thing that protects us. The umbrella protects us from rain. It is our Guru. Our footwear protects us from thorns and stones. Our footwear is our Guru. This is how we must perceive all things reverentially. When we live like this, we see divinity in everything. Our heart overflows with gratitude.
Our gaze is fixed unswervingly on god. The lives of many people revolve around the hub of money, name and fame. Your ultimate goal should be to earn divine wisdom along with other materialistic pursuits. Wisdom must flow from you in a continuous stream. Pray to Goddess Lakshmi and ask Her, “Mother, give me the right goals. Fill my life with your light and wisdom. Remove the darkness of my ignorance.” According to the puranas (Spiritual lore), the Gods and demons churned the Kshirasagara (ocean of milk) to obtain nectar. During this churning several auspicious objects and beings emerged from the ocean. Goddess Lakshmi also emerged during the churning. When we churn our mind with the churn called “right goals,” with humbleness and humility, Goddess Lakshmi manifests Herself within and grants us the nectar of immortal Bliss. The blazing radiance of the soul manifests itself when we decorate the mind with the right, dharmic (righteous) goals. When wrong goals rule us, our life is a series of zeroes (shunya). But when we replace these with the right goals, the ego dissolves and the “I” of divinity is added to the left of all the zeroes. Then our life becomes infinitely valuable.
We have discussed how the scriptures ask us to venerate every Guest who graces our house as God. When guests come to stay with us, we take very good care of them for the first few days. If they stay longer than we expect, we ask, “Do you have a watchman to safeguard your house? Are you sure everything is secure?” If they extend their stay further, we may comment to someone else in their hearing, “They are really fortunate. It is impossible for us to leave our house locked for so long.” This is our hospitality. It is just surface deep. Once when I was away on a Yatra (pilgrimage) somebody asked me, “Pujya Guruji, who is there at your Ashram to take care of things?” I told him, “I have 33,000 crore people to look after the Ashram. (The Indian pantheon has 33,000 crore Gods and Goddesses). However I always bring Devendra (Indra, the god who controls the senses) with me. He may create mischief if I leave him behind !” That man didn’t understand what I was talking about. I hope he will one day !”
This article has been taken from the book Wisdom Through the Eyes of Nimishananda by Nimishananda Guruji