Lots of people claim dead Gurus as their root or Sat Guru. Sri Sivananda, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Sri Ramakrishna, and Neem Karoli Baba are favorites of the dead Guru disciples. This is somewhat of a tradition, and it seems to be even more prevalent in India.

Add to this the more recent phenomenon of the world-itinerant Guru. Many teachers now travel incessantly around the globe, hitting each location for a day or two. A student might see her or his Guru only once a year, or even less frequently. Just enough time to get a hint of instruction. During the other 364 days, one is free to dream up feel-good fantasies.

By and large, people with dead or absent Gurus are in greater danger of remaining wrapped up in illusion and delusion that preserves the sense of separation and feeds fixation.

How can you discern if this is your situation? If your dead Guru never scares you, confuses you, pisses you off, makes you cry with frustration, or electrifies you with self-recognition, you are not in a Sat Guru relationship.

Dead or alive, near or far, a true Guru is a mirror of unconditional openness in which you can clearly, and terrifyingly, see the degree to which you are caught up in the tensions of “me, myself and I.”

Even the open flow of compassion through your Guru should have an edge of the terrifying. Why? Because the oceanic compassion of a Sat Guru sweeps away all concept, all safe bunkers of self-limiting ideas. The Sat Guru shows us what is possible in the context of a human life, and it is so much more than anything we can imagine.

The Sat Guru answers our longing so fully, we discover the cosmic nature of that longing. You might cry like a baby upon hearing Reality’s answer to its little child, but it will be a cry so simple and complex, so complete and inadequate, so full of wonder, relief, and despair, so utterly paradoxical, there will be no way to tell stories about it later on.

If, in your relationship with your dead Guru, you are always in a state of nice, comfortable, blissed-out bhakti, or ordinary and equally comfortable rationalization, you can be sure that fantasy is still at play.

The Sat Guru is not comfortable to those who are not used to the full flow of Reality.

The Sat Guru’s compassion is both tender and fierce. Not knowing the fierce aspect of compassion means, for most of us, that we will not find the strength to recognize our real condition.

The Sat Guru’s compassion is utterly personal and utterly impersonal. Not knowing the impersonal aspect of compassion means that we will not open to unconditional compassion. Our expression of compassion will remain limited and self-motivated.

Discovering the Sat Guru, meeting the opportunity of Sat Guru, is discovering the ineffable something for which you have always longed but could never name.

You may want to throw yourself at your Guru’s feet, fall into your Guru’s arms, and run away all at the same time.

Whatever your Guru says or does, and whatever your reaction, even in the midst of seeming to reject what your teacher is showing you, you will know without a doubt that you are being delivered to the truth of your situation.

The Sat Guru is an explosion of Reality in your body, your mind, and your heart.

This explosion may be noisy and dramatic, or nearly imperceptible. But nonetheless, it is a situation of enormous dynamism. You cannot help but be moved. You cannot help but tremble at times with both fear and gratitude.

A teacher is chosen after due consideration. You do not choose a Sat Guru. Sat Guru is not a decision. Sat Guru is a sudden discovery of your Self. Sat Guru is a phenomenon, a shift in awareness.

The world presents us with infinite possibilities for Self-realization. So, why not a dead Guru, or far-away Guru? If a student is capable of meeting the ever-present phenomenon of Sat Guru in this form, why not?

Sat Guru operates irrespective of space and time. Sat Guru is focalized through a human being, but it is not contained by that human being. However, recognize that to meet Reality in this way requires tremendous determination, longing for Reality, and discrimination.

A dear friend of mine who is a direct disciple of Sri Anandamayi Ma’s told me that he feels it is easier for those disciples who never met her because they do not have to encounter the Guru’s personality. They only perceive her “pure” form. This is a misunderstanding. Human personality is also and only God expression.

Sri Anandamayi Ma and all of the great Sat and Jagad Gurus transmit unconditional compassion that never excludes personality. Unconditional compassion is not “in spite of” any aspect of world expression. It includes and encompasses all without judgment.

And we must learn to do likewise through our relationship to our Gurus, dead or alive. First, however, we must recognize that we are not yet participating with awareness in unconditioned Reality. We need to discover Reality over and over again.

Sat Guru is both a pervasive phenomenon and a rare thing. It is pervasive because the possibility of realization, of Self or Reality-recognition is inherent in every moment and in every breath we take. We should not ever feel that this possibility is denied to us because of our behavior or “bad karma.” There is no final “mistake” we can make that would shut forever the door to Self-realization. All mistakes are temporary.

On the other hand, to meet this ever-present possibility requires a special set of circumstances that reveals our capacity for realization. To meet Reality and realize our infinite potential is where our own effort comes into play. The first effort is always to see our situation as it is with all of its potentials, and all of its bumps and warts. And to do this, most of us need the phenomenon of Guru in our lives up close and personal, showing us the way.

OM Shanti,
Shambhavi

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