edit: dap 1, 10/6/96

1.1.1 FNS, 1.2.2 guru

I will speak tonight upon the nature of Guru and what is the role of Guru in one's spiritual life. You know, the word Guru means to lead from darkness unto light. It is duty of Guru to lead from darkness to light, from death to immortality, from ignorance to knowledge. And who can lead the human beings to this knowledge? It is only Parama Purusha, the supreme entity who can lead the human beings to true knowledge, that is knowledge of the supreme consciousness, the cognitive awareness which underlies this entire manifest universe. It is the duty and the role of Parama Purusha in the form of the Sadguru to guide the human beings, from ignorance of the nature of their own existence to knowledge of their divine origin. This is the function of Guru and Guru is none other than the Supreme Brahma, manifest in the world of form.

Now there are many teachers, many people may show the way, may outline the spiritual knowledge, write it in books, speak about it, this many people can do, many people can perform this function as teachers and there is so much wisdom that can be gained from knowledgeable teachers, but Guru is a somewhat different experience, a somewhat different aspect than teacher, for a teacher might tell you how to do the task, how to go from A to B, but it is Guru who will guide your footsteps, who will take you by the hand and say: come my boy, come my girl, come with me, I will show you the way, I will take you by the hand and I will walk you to your destination, so that you wont get lost along the way. This is the special capacity of Guru and none other can perform this function, none other can walk with you on the path, can guide your every footstep towards your goal of sadhana. So it is the specialty of Guru to not only take you and teach you the proper approach so that you may learn discrimination and cut the barriers between yourself and your own divinity. But it is Guru who will help you to break the wall, who will apply the liner of knowledge to your eyes, so that you might see reality. That is the function of Guru and why does He do this? He does this because each and every living beings is a part and parcel of His own existence, each and everyone are a part of Him and it is His desire that all the human beings may come to know Him, come to love Him, come closer and closer to Him so that they might reside in His sphere and that He might give His deep and undying love to them, that they might merge in Him and become one with His infinite awareness. This is the special role of Guru, to bring the living beings unto Him, to call them: come my sons, come my daughters, come to me, come to me, so that I might embrace you and bring you home where you belong. Come to me, do not be distracted by all of these flashing colors, bright lights of this world, come home, come home from whence you have come to your divine origin. Feel the love that is unending, feel the joy that has no beginning and no end, feel the love that is yours always has been yours and will be yours for ever, should you turn around and remember your divine origin. So it is with utmost love and caring that Guru makes Himself known to the living beings, in so many ways, in so many forms, through so many circumstance, He will make Himself known to the living beings so that they might get inspired to pursue the path of introversial evolution and gain knowledge of divinity. Guru is none other than that divine self which lies within each of you, that is the Guru, that self of self, homes of homes, the residing place of the Supreme Purusha is the very core of your existence and is also the essence of Guru. When that pure undifferentiated Purusha takes manifestation to guide the living beings, that is the expression of Guru, the one who leads from darkness to light, from death to immortality, that expression is endless, for the love that Guru has for all the living beings, is beyond comprehension. Thus He comes to guide, to assist, to be the benefactor of living beings that the human beings might find their way, both individually and collectively to their home of homes.

Now I have said, that Guru is both guide and the manifestation of the guiding principle which has its origin in the cosmic nucleus, but Guru has another function also. That is to guide the human society when it is in a time of dire need and cannot move forward without assistance. So you see Guru is both for the personal guidance of each and every child who should seek His assistance and He is also for the collective development of the human society because if the society is ill, there will be so many barriers that so many children will not be able to find their way home to Parama Purusha, because of all of the psychic and physical barriers which will be present in a society which has lost its balance. Therefore, Guru must assist the collective development as well as the individual developments. And that is why in times of great need, you will find that there will come certain individuals who will help the society to move forward, who will give noble ideas which will spark a new turn in the human development. This is required if human society will move in a progressive fashion, in a forward movement towards a bright and new future. Thus there is both a collective and an individual movement within the society that is initiated through the influence of Guru. Guru may take many forms, come in many ways, make Himself known through many expressions, but you will find that through all of these there is one factor which will be overriding and that is that He will be always demonstrate a deep and eternal love for all the living beings, for all are His children, all are near and dear to Him and He will be with each and everyone for all time to come.