What is tougher, to find a perfect Guru or find a great disciple? I feel the Guru part is easy since there are too many who want to teach. But to find a great student is tough because hardly anyone wants to learn.
Those who try to be a good disciple, try to teach even before they can know anything. There are classes for teachers at every school or the modern gurukul. They churn out teachers by the hundreds. Look at all the yoga schools or Vedic institutions. You can get one diploma or degree and you are on your way to minting money. Either through Instagram or YouTube, Facebook or Google, can a man become a household institution and start preaching and making money or name. So don’t you think it’s easy to get a guru or to become one?
But students are very rare species. They stay student for a very short amount of time. They realize very fast that they know too much or everything and want to teach ASAP. To be a dedicated student is extremely tough. You should have extra patience and willingness to learn. The most important thing to do as a good student is to listen attentively without your mind talking in the middle. The moment the mind speaks, the one pointedness is lost and there are confusing signals.
What are the characteristics of a great disciple? A great disciple is hungry for knowledge and is willing to sacrifice anything at all to acquire it. He should have a lot of patience and perseverance. He should enjoy learning and be ready to serve a great master as an apprentice. How many years could that learning extend is a tough question to answer since it all depends on the absorbing capacity of the disciple. Listening attentively first without interrupting and then soaking it in and assimilating every aspect, the disciple should ask relevant questions to further enhance the knowledge.
You should know that seva or service to the Guru at the ashram is a very important feature of any disciples life there. Absolute adherence to the guidelines set at the place of knowledge. Disciplined approach and an impeccable and absolute faith in the Master will take one ahead. Since the disciple has come there to learn, his job is only to do that but the moment he indulges into criticism or interfering into the personal affairs of the Master, it destroys the sanctity of the relationship.
Jackie Chan was such a disciplined student to his Master. His other brother at this ashram was Samo Hung. The Master was an absolute tyrant and stickler for every little thing. The students were staying there free and the Master took care of them. They did a few jobs also in some Golden Harvest and other films. But these students served dedicatedly there for many years. You know where Jackie reached in his life. He was a very dedicated student and excelled himself in the art taught by his master.
Now when the disciple shines, can we say that he had a great master? Or if the disciple fails, is it the failure of the master? Which one applies here? Who is greater, the pupil or the master? It’s a tough one for you to answer.
If you say Vivekananda was a great pupil, then we are acknowledging his Guru Sri Ramakrishna. If we say Shankaracharya was the greatest Guru, then what happens to his Master? Does he not have any hand in his disciples greatness?
So let me remove your doubts here.
The Gurus or Masters are knowledge personified. They are potencies in human form. They are just like a book full of knowledge but with an ability to implement the teachings practically. The Guru and Shishya complement each other. They both exist for propagation of knowledge and furthering the impact of knowledge in this world. So the primary reason for a perfect pupil is to further the legacy of that knowledge and grow ahead. Knowledge brings about changes in the world and induces the world to progress. Evil is reduced and goodness grows. Dharma is established and life progresses.
So both are needed to make future happen. The Guru needs a Shishya to progress and so does the Shishya need a Guru. Both are dependent on each other for good. So the Guru searches for a Shishya and also the reverse is true. Both are a via media for knowledge and dharma. They are like the spoke and the wheel. Without one the other is useless.
Image Credit: Pixabay
