Guru is everything

Author: Gopal Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Namaskaar Guru krpáhi Kevalam …“The grace of the Guru is everything”.

In the word “guru”, there are two syllables, “gu” and “ru”. “Gu” means “darkness”; darkness in spiritual life. And “ru” means “dispelling entity”. “Guru” means the entity that dispels all sorts of darkness from your spiritual and psychic bodies.

In Ashram, all of these Guru Mantras had to be memorized, and we had to recite them after Guru Puja. Parrotlike, we did, not knowing the power behind these mantras.

Perhaps we should realize that the True Guru is not a Sadhu or Panditji that administers the Diksha. The True Guru is ever present in you as Paramatma, as Parama Purusha. Let me explain:

Nirguńa Brahma has no objectivity. Hence, Nirguńa does not keep any link with this world. So the Nirguńa Entity, as it is, cannot be the Guru.

And Saguńa Brahma is under certain bondages. So Saguńa cannot be the Guru.

Táraka Brahma is the only Guru and nobody else can be the guru because he is the only one keeping a sweet link with that expressed world.

What is Krpá? In Saḿskrta, the root verb is “kr”. “Kr” means to help one in one’s progress even when one does not deserve it. So if one deserves it, that is, if one has the qualification to get oneself fully developed and fully exalted, then in that case there is no necessity of Krpá, there is no necessity of help from Táraka Brahma. But when one does not deserve it, when one has not got the qualification for development, and still one is helped, that sort of help is called “Krpa”.

There is a shloka for Guru Prańáma,

Nityánandaḿ paramasukhadaḿ

Kevalaḿ jiṋánamúrttim,

Vishvátiitaḿ gaganasadrshaḿ

Tattvamasyádilakśyam.

“Nityánandam”. What is nityánandam? Parama Puruśa is Nityánandam.

Jiivas enjoy nityánandam and viśyánandam. When one acquires something worldly, something mundane, one feels a sort of happiness which is known as “viśyánandam”, and when, by dint of one’s spiritual practices and the grace of the Supreme, one enjoys spiritual happiness, it is known as “nityánandam”.

But for what reason is Parama Puruśa creating the world? Why is He doing so much for created beings? Certainly for ánandam. And He Himself is also ánandam. So His ánandam is created within, merged within, enjoyed within.

For Parama Puruśa there are two kinds of ánandam: nityánandam and liilánandam. What is nityánandam? Nityánandam is His self-satisfaction. The bliss that He enjoys from Himself is nityánandam. He was in nityánandam, He is in Nityánandam, and He will be in nityánandam. When there was no world, at that time also there was nityánandam. And when, in theory, there will be no creation, He will still be in Nityánandam.

In this shloka the first word is “nityánandam”. “O Lord, who art always in nityánandam.” “Nitya” means “of permanent nature”. Therefore, ánandam which is of permanent nature is nityánandam.

The next word is “paramasukhadam”. The happiness that a created being enjoys from mundane objects is called “sukham”, and all this sukham comes from that Nityánandam Entity, so He is Paramasukhadam for the Jiivas. Here the word is not “sukhadam”; the word is “paramasukhadam”, that is, sukha of the maximum degree, sukha to the zenith of its efficiency.

“Kevalaḿ jiṋánamurttim”. What is the meaning of “Kevalam”? “Kevalam” means “the only entity”, the “non-dualistic entity”. That is, in His realm, in His jurisdiction, there is no second, external entity. There is no scope for any Satan to be there, that is, there is no Satan. He is everything. He plays with His vidyámáyá and avidyámáyá. That is Kevalam. Kevalam means “the only entity”, “the only existence”. And when one becomes one with Him, one is said to be ensconced in “kaevalya”. Kaevalya means “nirvikalpa Samadhi” The Highest stae of Samadhi where the unit conscious Mind merges with the Supreme Cosmic Mind). That is when one acquires Kevalam-hood that is kaevalya.

And what is liilánandam? When Saguńa – Attributional Consciousness or Attributed Consciousness – was created, He wanted liilánandam. He wanted to enjoy liilánandam. And what is liilánandam? He creates so many things, so many animate and inanimate objects, so many sons and daughters. And while playing with His sons and daughters, He gets a sort of pleasure. That pleasure is His liilánandam.

And spiritual aspirants who have cosmic awareness, by dint of their advanced intellect know this fact. They know that everything in this world is His liilánandam. He is playing for Liilánandam, so there should not be any worries and anxieties in this world – all things are different phases of His Liilánandam.

This Supreme Truth applies equally to individuals as well as to the entire universe. When a person attains an exalted state of spirituality, he or she can bring welfare to millions of people, and they can do so due to the grace of Parama Puruśa. So the final word is “Brahma Krpá Hi Kevalam: Gurukrpá Hi Kevalam” – “The grace of Brahma is everything, the grace of Guru and Brahma are one and the same.”

Nityánandaḿ paramasukhadaḿ Kevalaḿ jiṋánamúrtim;

Vishvátiitaḿ gaganasadrshaḿ tatvamasyádilakśyaḿ.

Ekaḿ nityaḿ vimalam acalaḿ sarvadhisákśiibhútam;

Bhávátiitaḿ triguńarahitaḿ Sadguruḿ Taḿ namámi.

(I offer my salutation to the Sadguru who is the embodiment of absolute knowledge in the form of eternal bliss; who provides unending joy; whose periphery extends beyond the vast azure sky, beyond the last boundary of the universe; who is One without a second, one with the import “Thou art that;” who is ever permanent, ever steadfast, ever spotless, the witness of all beyond the scope of thought, and free from the influence of the triple principles.)

Guru Kripahi Kevalam