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"Saints and sages are guides of mankind. They show us the path which takes us beyond all pain and sorrow; take us beyond this phenomenal existence, into a realm of perennial felicity, infinite bliss and immortal life. They are the people who awaken the dormant spiritual consciousness of the individual and take him up towards realisation of his eternal union with Divinity, with the universal Spirit." Swami Chidananda. In East, an illumined sage used to pass on the highest knowledge, the Divine Experience, to a chosen disciple in a closely guarded, secret, mysterious way. Thus certain guru-paramparas (lineages) were established. Guru-disciple relationship became a unique tradition. It is difficult for a modern man to understand the importance of this relationship and the significance of mantra-initiation. The modern man seeks happiness in materialistic comforts and worldly relationships. But the illumined sages say that only the transcendental Experience can give real, eternal Happiness and Peace. That Happiness is billon fold more than the highest worldly happiness. The worldly happiness is merely in sense gratification, mixed ultimately with pain and misery. The more is sense gratification the more is craving for it, making the man restless, unsatisfied and unhappy. The worldly relations are based on self-interests and are ephemeral. The only true, eternal relationship is with God who is closer to man than his parents, siblings, spouse all put together. The Guru is the link that connects the man with God. "To light a candle, you need a burning candle. Even so, an illumined soul alone can enlighten another soul." (Swami Sivananda). A Brahmanishtha (one who is established in Brahman) guru operates at the level of consciousness, and through this contact continues to guide the disciples not only even after shedding his physical body, but also for several coming births of disciples. It is through mantra-initiation that one is able to draw the divinity from the guru. The guru is like a power station and mantra initiation is like giving a license to draw electricity from the power station. The disciple who does intense sadhana is able to get more light, more divinity. In absence of initiation, it is extremely difficult or may even be impossible to generate light (divinity). Initiation need not necessarily be by taking a mantra from the guru. "If an aspirant treads the path of truth after studying the books written by a saint, and imbibes his teachings, that saint has already become his guru."-Swami Sivananda. "He (Brahman) is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by other senses." (Munduka Upanishad 3-18) "This Atman cannot be obtained through study, nor through the intellect nor through much hearing" (ibid 3-2-3). Kena (1-1-3) and Svetasvatara (4-20) and other Upanishads also assert this. The unfathomable Brahman or the Atman is infinite and is beyond comprehension of the mind, which can think only of finite objects within the time-space dimensions. The indescribable, unknowable spiritual journey and the destination cannot be treaded and attained without the guidance and help of the guru. Neither the illumined sages nor the spiritual literature explain explicitly these occult phenomena. However, some very useful information on this subject is collected and presented in question-answer from the writings of three Masters - Swami Sivananda (Gurudev), Swami Chidananda (Swamiji) and Swami Krishnananda. |
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