CHENNAI: The guru’s holy words or guru Gita makes us throw away our mind. We understand the fact that the mind always distracts and repels everything whereas our soul always attracts. Therefore, lord Shiva lays a strong foundation of guru principle to mother Parvathi in the beginning itself through shloka 1 to 9. Only with this as the base can we go further to build the palace of divinity through further shlokas 10 - 182.
As we surrender to the guru and continue our sadhana of attributing everything to the guru as mentioned in the previous shloka, we get a strong feeling from within us — “I am what I am because if my guru”.
Instead of praying for a never-ending list of desires to be fulfilled we start chanting Om, which is the moola mantra or root syllable of the guru. When we recite Om, the guru inside us hears it and is ready to grant our wishes. At this point we must humbly seek Viveka— discrimination. That’s the only boon we must ask for because without Viveka— discrimination life is full of duality. For instance, even when we look at milk we will wonder if it is milk or anything else.
Therefore it is important to have the power of discrimination and this can come to us only with guru’s grace, guidance, in his divine presence Sannidhya. The truth that only our soul is permanent and not our body becomes more intensely consecrated in us. The guru guides us to identify what is permanent in us. The guru says—“Don’t identify yourself with ‘I’-‘I’ am happy, ‘I’ am sad and so on. There is a subtle differentiation between this I and the self. You must mature and evolve like a coconut which ripens inside its shell and yet remains separate from it.”
Continuing to initiate the process of evolution of a disciple, lord Shiva says , “A disciple has 48 years (12years X 4 cycles) to evolve and ripen. The first four years should be spent in the guru’s presence. Within three years, the guru will assess if the seed has grown roots. Then the guru either lets him be or lets him go further in the path of evolvement. The fourth year the guru will let the disciple do sadhana. After that the disciple is let free to take sanyasa- renounce the world internally. Meaning, the disciple will now have the Viveka required to go on his own”.
Once you have Viveka, you will not be eager to please the world. You will do what you feel is right because you are convinced that you are the truth. You will not worry about what people comment or say about you. The guru teaches us to detach our senses from the soul. When our self is bereft of everything else surrounding it, shines bright and we bask in the lustre of our self.
— Extract from The Force of Nirvana by Shri Shri Nimishananda