THIS day, Guru Pournami, is celebrated by people as thanksgiving Day for their spiritual preceptors, those who initiated them into spiritual disciplines, manthra recitals, meditation, japa and the study of sacred texts. We have a popular saying, "Without a preceptor, all learning is blind." But, this refers to authentic Gurus, those who have the double qualification of gu and ru: gu meaning, devoid of gunas and ru meaning, devoid of ruupa - that is to say, those who have transcended Form and Flavour, those who have merged in God, or the Atma Itself. It is only these who can help you to attain.
The Vedas declare that the Mother, the Father, the Acharya (Preceptor) have to be treated as God. The Mother brings forth and trains the emotions and intelligence, and fosters and feeds the body during the critical first few years of life. The father protects and guides, and supports till the child is able to fend for itself. The Acharya opens the inner eye; he shows the way, for joy and happines...
