XXIV

Guru is the Greatest Gift of God

The truest riches and the greatest gift of God is the Godman, the person who, having realized himself, is established in his Godhead. He is in a sense a polarized God or pole from which God manifests Himself amongst His people. Limitless and Infinite as God is, He is beyond comprehension by finite powers of perception. He can, however, be apprehended in the Master somewhat as a vast sea can be apprehended at the beach with bathing ghats, where sea waters gently flow in so bathers can have a safe dip.

As like attracts like, man must of necessity have man as his teacher, for no one else can teach him. The way to God, therefore, lies through man. Some Godman alone can tell us of the Way out from the world and a Way in into the Kingdom of God, now a Lost Province to mankind in general. The fall of man was brought about by man and the regeneration of man too is to be brought about by man. But there is a world of difference between man and man – the latter being God-in-man.

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants – the Prophets.

Amos 3:7

All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

2 Timothy 3:16

The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

St John 1:14

Guru is God personified, for God speaks through the Guru.

Poor Nanak speaks whenever He desires him to do so.

Guru Nanak

The words of the Master are the words of Allah, though seemingly uttered by Abdullah (the Servant of God).

Maulana Rumi

I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.

St John 14:10

The greatest prayer a person can therefore offer to God, that He may, in His unbounded mercy, establish his contact with His prophets who may lead him Godward. The Godman or the Prophet shows him the Way – the Grand Trunk Road that leads to God. It is nothing but the Sound Current or Sound Principle differently called by different sages: the Word or the Holy Spirit by the Christians, Kalma, Bang-e-Asmani or Nida-e-Arshi by the Mohammedans, Udgit, Akash Bani, Nad or Sruti by the Hindus, and Shabd or Naam by the Sikhs. Zoroaster calls It Sraosha and the Theosophists the Voice of the Silence. Christ speaks of It as The Voice of the Son of God. God overflows in the Guru and unites man with the Word to reach back to his True Home.

[…] when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.

St John 5:25

This Sound Current then is the means to salvation. It is the Master Key that unlocks the Kingdom of Heaven. It bestows life eternal on man and restores him once again to the Garden of Eden from which he was driven away by disobedience to God. What greater boon can a man seek from God but restoration to the Kingdom lost by him. It marks the end of his long exile through countless centuries as He hails back the lost sheep to His fold. The Master is the kind Shepherd who, out of compassion, does all this for erring humanity. Such high Souls hold a commission from the Most High.

I am come in my Father's name.

St John 5:43

No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

St John 6:44

We have similar references in the Sikh Scriptures as well.

Kabir knows the secrets of God and brings His message to the mankind.

Kabir

He who sent thee into the world, He calls thee back again and wistfully awaits thy homecoming.

Guru Arjan

Herein lies the greatness of Master-Souls. They effect a reunion between man and God. The long-drawn period of separation comes to an end and the lost child is restored once again to the Father. It marks the Grand Homecoming through endless trials and tribulations. The Saving Grace of God is stirred by the Godman and the purpose of life is fulfilled. Henceforth the Son and the Father are not only reconciled but become One.

From the great deep to the great deep he goes.

Lord Tennyson

No longer is he an exile in the world but an inheritor of the Kingdom of God: Established once more in his native Godhead.

This is the true fulfilment of the covenant between God and man, and the true resurrection or rising from the dead as vouchsafed by the Son of God to man. This is the fulfilment of God's Law and the purpose of human birth.

This is the fundamental Law of God: that no one can reach Him except through Satguru (the Master-Soul).

Guru Ram Das, Bihagra-ki-War M4

Again:

God clothed Himself in vile man's flesh, that so He might be weak enough to suffer woe.

John Donne

Therefore, always pray God to bring us in contact with a Godman – the Master.