Today is Guru Poornima, a day when we offer thanks to all our gurus. Indian wisdom says that to reach your full potential, you always need a Guru. But in this world of showbiz, advertisement and PR, how does one find a true Guru ? As always, I went looking for a discourse of Osho’s for the definition of a Guru and what he/she does for you. This excerpt is from the “Book of Secrets” which is a compilation of 80 discourses that Osho gave on Vigyan Bhairav Tantra.
Guru – defined by Osho
“The role of the guru is to give you a glimpse of the real – not a teaching, but an awakening. The
guru is not a teacher: the guru is an awakener. He has not to give you doctrines. If he gives you
doctrines, he is a philosopher. If he talks about the world as illusory and argues and proves that the world is illusory, if he discusses, debates, if he intellectually gives you a doctrine, he is not a guru, he is not a master. He may be a teacher, a teacher of a particular doctrine, but he is not a master,not a guru.
A guru is not a giver of doctrines. He is a giver of methods – of methods which can help you to come out of your sleep. That is why a guru is always a disturber of your dreams, and it is difficult to live with a guru. It is very easy to live with a teacher because he never disturbs you. Rather, he goes on increasing your accumulation of knowledge. He helps you to be more egoist; he makes you more knowledgeable. Your ego is more fulfilled. Now you know more, you can argue more. You can teach yourself, but a guru is always a disturber. He will disturb your dream and your sleep, and you may have been dreaming a very beautiful dream. You may have been on a trip, a beautiful trip. He will disturb it, and you will get angry.
A guru is always in danger from his disciples. Any moment they can kill him because he is going to disturb; that is what his work is. He cannot help you to be yourself as you are because you are false. He has to destroy your false identity. It is painful. That is why, unless there is a very deep love, the work is impossible. A very deep intimacy is needed; otherwise hate will be there. So a guru cannot allow you to be near him unless you have surrendered; otherwise you are going to be an enemy. Only with your total surrender can a guru work, because it is a spiritual surgery.”
In some other discourse, Osho says, you cannot find the Guru, because you are still asleep. When your desire or quest is deep enough, the Guru will appear. I don’t know if Krishnan and my quest is deep enough but Osho has arrived in our lives and there he is looking at me and smiling as I write this blog. Deeply grateful to him for holding out his hand… we will find a way to catch up and be in his presence. Thank you Master.
Guru, defined by Osho ! Indeed….
Other blogposts – Happy birthday Osho
Nice one, Bindu.
Thanks Sandeep :).