Guru Purnima 2009

What is Guru? Guru is a Sankrit word formed from the syllables gu and ru. In Sanskrit, gu is darkness and ru is lightness. Guru, then, is the dispeller of darkness. The way guru does this is by mirroring the light.

I’ve heard it said that one takes a guru to kill the self and then the Self kills the guru. It’s always Self unto Self, and that’s the role of the guru, to aid the disciple in discovering that within themselves. I like the definition of disciple that simply means “following the discipline of”. It doesn’t mean worship, it means learning by taking on the practice of someone more adept to obtain something for yourSelf. It always comes back to Self; there is no “other”.

I am blessed to have several dear gurus in my life. Some are here in the States, like Gina Salá and Eric des O’del and the teachings of New Thought. Some are in India, like Sri Shastriji and Swami Bodhichitanandaji. Some are in the ethereal realms, like Jesus and Buddha. Each of these teachers has shown me the truth about myself, by being who they truly are. They embody that Truth. Each of these people are intimately known to me, as me.

I don’t think I can convey the depth of my surprise when Jesus showed up for a conversation one day in meditation. I blurted out, “What the hell are YOU doing here? I don’t even like you. Oh, wait, yes I do. I just have issues with your followers.” He laughed lovingly and we got down to a seriously awesome heart to heart chat. The way I see it, you can’t hide anything from Jesus, so there’s no sense in being anything other than authentic. There’s nothing any of us can do to be outside the Love that created all.

And then there is the teaching that Everyone is my teacher, especially those teaching lessons I’m not keen on learning. I feel the Truth of this and honour them, too.

As I contemplate this Truth, I can feel all of my gurus in my heart. We are never separate. Whenever I need to be reminded, I reach out to one of my teachers and they are there for me, unfailingly, wrapping me in the love and pointing me inward, toward the unity of all there is.

So on this day of honouring my gurus, I will take their teachings to heart, and honour everyone, including myself, as there is only One guru, and we are It.

Namasté