Wednesday, April 23, 2008

To obtain his Sat-sanga, we have but to think of Him, pray to Him, read His teachings, reflect on them and practise them.

"Sri Bhagavan's help and guidance is never lacking or insufficient," Sri Sadhu Om used to tell people, "indeed, His Grace is the sole existing reality in this false world. There can never be any need of any devotee of Sri Bhagavan to go to any other God or Guru. No intermediary is necessary between Him and us. Of his own accord, He directly contacts the heart of each devotee who comes to Him, without the need for any intercession from others. To obtain his Sat-sanga, we have but to think of Him, pray to Him, read His teachings, reflect on them and practise them. Such mental contact with the Sadguru is the best Sat-sanga. And if at all we want Sat-sanga with His physical form, He is and ever will be standing here in the form of Arunachala. In his works Sri Bhagavan has revealed that Arunachala is Himself, and He has said that just as we identify our bodies as 'I', so Lord Siva, the Supreme Reality, who is none other than Sri Bhagavan, has chosen to identify this Hill as 'I' in order to guide us and give us solace. Arunachala is the foremost physical embodiment of the reality or Sat, so there is no better form of outward Sat-sanga than to live in Tiruvannamalai and to do Arunachala-pradakshina."

Sri Sadhu Om truly stood as a peerless example of perfect Guru-bhakti. Though there were some people who wished to take him as their Guru, he always steadfastly refused to accept for himself the position of Guru. He often used to point to the shining example of Sri Muruganar, who was the foremost disciple of Sri Bhagavan yet who never accepted for himself the position of Guru even after Sri Bhagavan had left the body. Sri Sadhu Om used to say that one of the most important signs of a true disciple of Sri Bhagavan is that he will never accept for himself the position of Guru but will always encourage all devotees to take Sri Bhagavan alone as their Guru. Occasionally people used to ask Sri Sadhu Om whether it is not necessary for an aspirant to have a living Guru, but he always replied, "The Guru alone is living, we are all dead. If by the term 'living Guru' you mean a Guru whose body is living, then such a living Guru will one day become a dead Guru. What is the use of such a Guru who will not be living forever? But if you take Sri Bhagavan alone as your Guru, then you will have an ever-living Guru, because Sri Bhagavan is the ever-existing Self shining in the hearts of all people.

~ Michael James, "Sri Sadhu Om: An Exemplary Devotee"

1 comment:

Nate K. said...

This is a great quote/excerpt. I have found a few modern individuals who cleverly misuse topics that sound similar to that of Bhagavan in order to make money or control people.

This quote reminds us/me that the true guru is not a person or body - that the guru is within waiting for us to seek them.

Thank you for another great contribution.