Surrender and Satguru
Monday, July 16th, 2007To have a teacher is an immense blessing. To discover Satguru is immeasurable grace.
And yet, even having discovered Satguru, there can be arguments, criticisms, fears, and doubts. Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati once became so angry with his Guru, Sri Sivananda of Rishikesh, he locked himself in his room and refused to come out for two days. This was ostensibly because his Guru insisted on feeding some late night guests after the ashram kitchen was supposed to be closed.
Sri MA Anandamayi had a disciple who often complained and criticized. MA said that the disciple was constantly thinking of her Guru and that this would benefit in the end.
What is the difference between the criticisms and negative emotions we cultivate around a teacher and those that arise in the company of a Satguru?
There is no difference. Our limitations are our limitations. However, in the presence of Satguru, everything that arises more readily reveals itself as a vehicle for realization.
The Satguru’s function is to continually give the disciple a taste of Reality without fixation. So, for instance, if I am floating in a swimming pool inside of a building, I am having a different experience than if I am floating in the very same swimming pool under the open sky overlooking a vast ocean. In the second situation, I notice the limitation of the swimming pool more easily.
Under the influence of the vast, oceanic presence of Satguru, we find it harder to convince ourselves that it is worth remaining imprisoned in our concepts and compulsions. We are more likely to bring these into our practice, take responsibility for them, work with them, and let them go. We are more likely to surrender the deathly grip of “me, myself, and I.”
Many people have trouble with the whole idea of surrender. We are trained to think of ourselves as victims, or as always in danger of being victimized. We are always on guard, protecting our “independence.”
But the state of the world is continuity, not independence. Independence is just a concept, and one that is at the root of our suffering. Surrender of our fixations, surrender to the state of our Guru, is nothing but surrender to our real condition of continuity with all life.
Satguru continually creates opportunities for us to taste our real condition of continuity and relax into that. This is the actual meaning of surrender.
Satguru, while usually appearing to us in the form of a teacher, in truth permeates all life with the light of primordial compassion and intelligence. Recognizing this, there is no impulse to declare one’s independence by criticizing others, or by proclaiming one’s superior accomplishment, beliefs, realization, or understanding.
Eventually, all of these “pleasures” surrender themselves in the vastness of Satguru, like petals of flowers voluntarily offering themselves at feet of the world.
In Matriseva,
Shambhavi
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