GURU PURNIMA
By Shekhar Chowdhry, astrologer
Full moon day during Ashadha month is known as Guru Purnima. On this day disciples offer respect to their Gurus. The word guru is derived from two sanskrit words, ‘”gu” and “ru”, the meaning of “gu” is ignorance, and “ru” denotes the remover of that darkness. Therefore, a guru is the one who removes the darkness of our soul ignorance, and enlightens us by his teachings.
Guru Purnima is also the birth anniversary of Veda Vyasa, the author of hindu epic Mahabharata. This special day is more active for paying our true respect to our guru than on any other day, so we have the golden opportunity to offer respect and devotion to our spiritual guide aka guru.
As per mythology, the day is celebrated as the occasion when Shiva became the first guru of this universe, as he began to teach yoga to the Saptarishis, which also known as guru shishya parampara.
As we all know, there are three principles at work in the universe – creation, maintenance and destruction. Without destruction, there is no space for creation, without creation there is no need for maintenance. In order for harmony to prevail, all work equally necessary.
We may ask to ourselves, do I really want to break my attachments in this life? What are these attachments? So we start to explore the question of attachments. Home family work and my status? We gradually realize that it is okay to have these things and enjoy them in the present moment.
The problem starts when we become attached to them, because then we begin to fear of losing them too, either consciously or unconsciously. As we all are strongly attached to our body as we know ourselves, that’s why we all fear death. When we look a little more deeply, we begin to recognize that it is our attachments that cause us both fear and suffering. Do we need to break these attachments now? Yes, for two reasons. First we can learn to live without fear and suffering. Secondly because we know that life is fragile, therefore we need to die one day no matter what.
In my personal experiences, I have realized that Mahamrityunjaya mantra invokes assistance in breaking any kind of attachments! Situations where I felt nervous or at high risk, chanting this powerful mantra silently changed my inner vibration and my fear evaporated instantly, I did walk taller and not perceived easy prey when I changed my own vibration to positive one! All I can say from my years of personal experiences that we must expand ourselves, and try to believe nothing but simply chant the mantras, watch the results and decide on the basis of your own experiences. As we know that Gayatri mantra is taught to students so they may attain maturity of intelligence. Therefore mantras have religious, spiritual and social roles to play. I strongly believe that mantras also creates a subtle link between the guru and shishya. As I have established with my own gurudev.
In the development of spiritual awareness, mantra sadhana is the first initiation. The shishya accepts guru as the master with an understanding that in the world of spirituality he is a novice. They surrender themselves to the guru to acquire wisdom, understanding and experience through his guidance. The mantra given by the guru becomes the link to intensify this feeling, and that connects you with your inner self too. My own conviction that, any mantra received from the guru is final because you are not using your ego with your guru, rather you are using your sentiments, feelings and emotions. You place your trust in guru just as the student places trust in the teacher. The mantra becomes the link between the guru and the shishya, and in my own experiences it is the final link and probably the only link.
When you receive the guru mantra you do not need to leave any practices that you are already doing. Whatever you do, practise the guru mantra at last, it does not change your belief system, rather opens up new channels for you to express yourself. So, at the end of my rituals, I do practice my guru mantra in the form of meditation. Also, don’t identify with the experience of meditation. Don’t condition yourself to think about the effect of the meditation. Just as we enjoy a good meal, we should enjoy meditation too. If we don’t enjoy the meditation on a certain day, we can think that it is a day of fasting, but not discontinue the practice. Whether we see light, mahadev, demons or hell, we must remember that these are only projections of the mind. Observe and accept them, and after coming out of meditation forget what you experienced and go about your life normally. This will bring about a balance in your spiritual and personal life, and it tremendously helped me.
Often I do observe that, when I begin to meditate on the mantra and the mind is internalized, sleep comes automatically. I feel sleepy because the mind has nothing to hold on to. I remain awake because there are many things in my mind, and the senses can hold on to. The moment I begin to withdraw the senses in the state of introversion, drowsiness or sleep comes naturally. When you notice that you are beginning to feel sleepy or losing touch with the ground reality, switch from mental repetition to whispering the mantra. With the movement of the lips, the attention comes back to the mantra and we become alert for a little longer. When we have become alert, we can go back to mental repetition. If the sleepiness persists, say the mantra aloud. The mind will connect with the sound and come awake. When you are fully up, again go back to mental repetition. It perfectly works with me, hope it will work for you as well.
We can also combine the breath with mantra during japa. For example, with each inhalation we say the mantra once, and with each exhalation once more. Another method is to remain silent during the inhalation and say the mantra during exhalation. If the mantra is long, we can divide it up into two parts. Half during inhalation, and half during exhalation. I would really encourage you all to practice mantra as much as you like because it is an expression of your faith and devotion, and a commitment to yourself and not with others. Use the mantra as a tool to awaken this particular quality in yourself. Every single time it reminds me that the seen and the unseen, both are one.
