VIII / (vi)

Who is the Guru

In the terminology of the Saints, the Saint who practises and teaches the science of the Word, is called a Guru.

The word Guru is a Sanskrit word which comes from the root Giri which means to sound or speak. The word  Guru is, therefore, held to mean one who practises the Sound Principle, who communes with It, and who makes It audible within man.

Paltu Sahib defines the Guru, as the Being who brings the Word – the Eternal Song – from the heavenly spheres and makes It audible to us.

Guru Nanak also says:

He who shows the Real Home in this body, is the true Guru – the All-Powerful. He makes the Five Sounded Word reverberate in Man and thus sounds forth the clue to the Word.

Guru Nanak, Malar War M1

Swami Shiv Dayal Singh Ji defines the Guru as:

Guru is He who loves the Word. He worships none else than the Word. He who practises the Word is the All-competent Guru. Revel thou in the Dust of His Feet and humbly stick unto Him.

Kabir also says:

All Sadhus are great, each in his own way. But He who communes with the Word is worthy of adoration.

But to meet such a Guru is trough Divine Dispensation alone.

In the fullness of Thy Grace, Thou makest a Godman meet us.

Guru Arjan, Majh M3

Without instruction from a Godman, the Word cannot be communed with, and when this communion is received, it leads the soul to the Lord, from whom the Word emanated. Then all our efforts have their full reward.

Communion with the Word means union with the Lord, and all efforts blossom forth into full fruition.

Guru Arjan, Sri Rag M3

When you, through immeasurable good fortune, find such a holy person, stick to Him tenaciously with all your mind and all your soul; for you can realise through Him, the object of your life – self-realisation and God-realisation. Do not look you to His creed or colour. Learn the science of the Word from Him, and devote yourself heart and soul to the practice of the Word. Guru is one with the Word. The Word is in Him and incarnates in the flesh, to give instructions to mankind. Truly the Word is made flesh and dwells amongst us.

In the Gospel, we have:

Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.

When we learn to shake off the mortal coil at will and are able to rise above the body-consciousness and enter into the astral world, the Guru appears in His Radiant Astral Form to help us on in the planes above. He does not leave us until we reach the Almighty. Christ has said in clear words:

I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee until the end of the world.

In the words of the Master:

Bani or Word, is the True Teacher, and the True Teacher is the Word Personified.

Guru Ram Das, Nat M4
Guru Nanak, Ramkali M1

Again:

Within is the heavenly Light and from it Bani or Sound doth proceed, And it doth attune the soul with the True Lord.

Guru Nanak, Sorath M1

There in the inverted well, a Light is ablaze without any oil or wick, And from the refulgent Light, there flow symphonies sublime.

Paltu Sahib

Now comes the question: Where can we find the Sound and Light? It is far away from the mortal gaze, encased in sheaths upon sheaths of matter. We must rise above the stronghold of matter if we are to find it. It can be seen and felt, but with eyes that are different from the mortal eyes of flesh. We have full respect and regard for all the holy scriptures, because we find therein the teachings of the Word – the Bani. Strictly speaking, ink, paper and the print, do not form the object of our worship, but with them the Word, the world-teacher, written large. Similarly, in the physical body of the Saint, we worship the Word Personified in His person. And as such the two are inseparably respected. It is just like a beloved, sitting inside a house with the doors closed. We want to bow. How can we? We know for certain that it is the beloved to whom we like to bow and not to mud, lime and mortar of the house in which the beloved resides. We bow down before whom? Do we bow to the mud walls? No, but before the indweller of the house behind the walls; however, to all appearances we may look as though facing the mud walls.

The Word, or Bani, is the True Teacher for all mankind. It is the one for all. It was the True Teacher in the past. It is the same Teacher now. it shall ever be the Teacher for all times o come. There is no second Teacher or Guru of mankind. The man who has found Him (Word-Guru), who has become one with Him – the Word in Him – is related to us in the same way as the beloved referred to above. It is the self-luminous Radiant Figure within the physical body of the outer man, who is our True Teacher, and who is one with the Lord.

It is none other than the Lord Himself as He Himself appears in the Form of a Sadh, for

God verily appears in the form of a Sadh.

Guru Arjan, Gauri Sukhmani M5

The great treasures of Guru Granth Sahib, as all other holy scriptures, sing paeans of such a God-man who can unite us with the Lord and lead us across the ocean of matter.

In this context we read:

He who hath his seat across the Heavens is sounding the Eternal Song; oh Nanak! The Glory of a Sadh, the holy scriptures cannot fathom.

Again:

Without the Word, darkness prevails within; man does not have It, nor escapes he the endless cycle of births. With the key in the hands of a Godman, none dare unlock the door, rare good fortune may bring a Godman to the rescue.

Guru Amar Das, Majh M3

The Godman and the Lord, consider Them as one, and struggle not thou in ignorance.

Guru Arjan, Gond M5

All ye that hanker after a state of inner silence, called Sahaj, know thou for certain that without a Godman, there is no admittance.

Guru Amar Das, Sri Rag M3

Whosoever glorified the Godman, knows the Lord. All pain is annihilated, all pain by discerning the true Shabd – the Word.

Guru Nanak,  Asa M1

Meeting the Godman the mind leaves off all ramifications, and one obtains an ingress into the True Home within.

Guru Amar Das, Asa M3

Great is the Godman, the Sat Purush, for He gives satiety and satisfaction.

Guru Ram Das, Wadhans War M4

To taste the precious ambrosial water for which you came into the world, that you can taste only through the Grace of a Godman.

Guru Nanank, Sorath M1

The service of the Master makes the Sound Current audible, and then one gets to know salvation.

Guru Amar Das, Sorath M3

The Word of the Master manifests the Divine Light.

Guru Arjan, Bilawal M5

When the True Master is served, the Eternal Music becomes audible; and then only is the mystery resolved.

Guru Amar Das, Sorath M3

The Godman lights the lamp of the Word.

Guru Arjan, Bilawal M5

When a Godman is met, the Lord makes His appearance.

Namdev, Bhairon Namdev

Through the favour of a Godman, you will see the temple of the Lord within you.

Guru Amar Das, Parbhati M3

With all the dexterities at thy command, thou cannot commune with the Naam, for It comes as a gift from the Godman.

Guru Arjan, Malar M5

Consider Godman and Lord as one and the same, for whatever pleaseth one is acceptable to the other.

Guru Arjan, Gond M5

The treasure of Naam – the Spiritual Current – is in the temple of God (body). The ignorant do not recognise It. Through the favour of the Guru, It is realised and the Lord gets embedded in the core of the heart.

Guru Amar Das, Parbhati M3

The prophet says that God had said:

The earth, the sky and the higher regions are all quite insufficient to accommodate me. I cannot be contained in them all, know thee, oh dear ones. But strange as it may seem, I abide in the heart of a Saint. If thou seekest me, seek me in Them.

Maulana Rumi

Therefore learn to worship the Satguru.

Guru Ram Das Ji says:

The worship of the True Master is the worship of the Lord; With boundless compassion, He connects you with Naam, and ferries you across the ocean of delusive matter. Those that worship the lifeless and the tombs, go with their labours all in vain.

Guru Ram Das, Malar M4