The Guru no doubt is an inner state of mind which shows us the light in life moment to moment. But most of humanity is not in a frame of mind to realise this inner state of being. Hence, the Guru outside in name and form is a pointer to the inner self as teacher and guide.
What does devotion and service to such a Guru do to you? When devotion to the Guru is practiced on the lines shown by the books of knowledge, the disciple becomes free of even the goriest of crimes.
Does that mean that any action can be done and in the end it gets dissolved when one surrenders to the Guru? Not indeed. When there is true devotion and a yearning thirst to realise the true self, then all our past actions, thoughts and words may surface as a great obstacle on the new resolution to move the right path. At that time, the grace and blessings of the Guru, which comes after our surrender and service, frees the mind of all its past guilt and entanglements.
The Guru initiates a disciple through the process of Deeksha. It simply means the Guru looks into the intellect of the disciple.
The precondition for this process, the Guru Gita says, is that the disciple should have left attachments with wrong company and given up doing any sinful actions. For a student who has this identity with a pure mind becomes a fit vehicle to be blessed by the Guru.
The books of knowledge that protect the mind by showing the right path direct that a person—with such qualities and whose heart goes out to serve all creatures and who lives a pure life—becomes a right vehicle to receive Deeksha from the Guru.
Lord Shiva tells Parvati that he has himself established this process of initiating the disciple into the path of learning through Guru Diksha through a traditional process of sacred sounds too. “Without this proper process of initiation, who indeed can attain that state of mind which becomes one with the Guru?” he asks.
Whether one is capable or not to realise the truth, it does not matter. Once there is the surrender to the feet of the Guru who has realised the truth himself, the disciple’s birth has become fruitful and he is bestowed with all welfare in the world and liberation of mind too.
This secret of surrender to the Guru must be taught only to those whose minds have attained extreme maturity and are endowed with complete faith and devotion. “It gives me great joy when such a disciple is initiated by the Guru,” says Lord Shiva.
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(*Swahilya Shambhavi has received Brahmacharya Diksha and will henceforth be known as Brahmacharini Sharanya Chaitanya)