“Why is it important to be with the Guru? Is physical presence so very important?”asked Ramakrishnaji.
Now the purport of the question was to know if there are any important reasons for being in close proximity to the Guru. Wouldn’t it be easier to just think about Him and mentally worship Him?
Surely, you can do it that way. But the truth of the matter is how much would you be able to focus or get spiritual ken that way? Being a material worldly person always till you happen to meet your preceptor, the sadhak needs to be under the complete guidance of the Master, otherwise it would be very easy to slip down the mundane life path.
The material worldly life is full of pitfalls and every moment the great Maya is constantly egging you onwards towards a desire filled existence.
When you surrender to the Master, it is His job to take care of all your basic needs. You will never be falling short of your day to day existence. But when you strive in the material world with your own mind, without the constancy of the Master’s presence, you have to personally handle even your smallest karma.
Now there are multiple types of karma at play. The one that you arrived with in this world to dissipate, which is Prarabdha karma. Being in constant company of your Master, He will be able to cushion the effect of the impact. You will still have to face that karma but the impact will be reduced.
The next important thing to note is how you can face the futuristic karma or agami. Being in the company of the Master, He helps in reducing it greatly. For those hapless ones who are not in His August company, they will have to go through the travails of facing its future impact. Since Agami accumulates in this life, the casual sadhak has to take birth once again to use it up. But this cycle doesn’t ever end. The Spiritual Preceptor teaches the regular sadhak to work it out in this life itself so that he is not needed to face it once again.
Then there is the accumulated karma or sanchit. The Master takes you through the motions of various sadhana so that it completely dissolves. The Master takes on himself to work that karma out so that the devotee can focus on his sadhana during the training.
Then there is the tendencies which the sadhak comes with. That cannot be eroded by natural methods. The constant teachings of the Master makes one overcome them. These vasanas are extremely dangerous for the humans. They make one succumb to their behavioral traits again and again. Tendencies or Vasanas are ingrained or absorbed in this life. To stay out of reach of these destructive tendencies the path open for a sadhak is to completely surrender to the will of the Guru. That way he only follows the teachers instructions and never falters to his own mind.
Overcoming the mind is the most difficult aspect of sadhana. Hardly anyone can win against the mind. But by pure devotion to the cause of learning under the tutelage of a great Master would ensure the disciples victory of curbing the evil influence of the mind.
So having complete trust and faith in the preceptors words and teaching, surrendering to His will would benefit the devotee or disciple the highest. Devotion and unconditional love for your Guru would take you towards emancipation or enlightenment.
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