Guru Gita-Part IV

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Maya (Illusion) Standpoint

The first syllable 'gu' illumines 'Maya' and the 'Guna'. 'Ru' is the supreme 'Brahman' which removes both illusion ('Maya') and delusion (bhranti). (1 :47)

Para'Brahman' (The Supreme Self) illuminates 'Maya', but always remains beyond 'Maya'. The person who knows this is called the guru. Basically there are only two things - 'Maya' and 'Brahman'. There can be no third factor. Samartha Ramdas in Das Bodh, asks, "There is but one Creator, one manifest world; amidst this, where is this third factor that creeps up stealthily saying, 'Aham... Aham (lam lam)?" In fact, even 'Maya' is not a real entity. There is only one Truth that exists and that is 'Para Brahman'

Vedanta says that the material things of this world are false but we have to live in this world after all. The problem arises only as long as we keep these two areas apart. Once we understand that the One Truth appears as the many, there is nothing more to reconcile. When it is said that the material things of this world are false, we have to understand that the limited, finite things derive reality only from that 'Substratum' and so there really are no two different things. Then it also follows that the individual ego has no more voice in an already fictitious division.

The guru declares, "Spiritualize your vision and then look at this world!"

A young father bought a mask of a dragon to play with his child.

He wore it before he rang his home doorbell and the child, on opening the door excitedly, screamed in fear. The father immediately realized his mistake and removed the mask. The child lost his fear then and in fact wanted to play with the mask! Vedanta says that the material world is an illusion, it is unreal, and it is the 'One Infinite' appearing as so many finites. If this is understood, duality disappears and one can see that that 'One' is this one. It is the guru who gives blazing clarity to this vision and takes a student above the world of illusion and accompanying delusion!

Summarizing, the guru is the one who dispels the darkness of our ignorance by bestowing true knowledge; cures us of the afflictions of this transient world by the understanding of "being, rather than becoming".

The guru, verily the Supreme 'Brahman' in human form, bestows that knowledge which dissolves all our sorrows of identification with this illusory world.

In the Guru Gita, Lord Shiva has explained the sublime state of the guru to his consort Parvati, and thereby to all of us. It is not easy to be a guru.

Even celestial beings and highly accomplished persons fall far short of the requirements. Hence it is better to share one's knowledge with others and guide them in true humility, invoking the Lord in the form of the guru.

About the author

Swami Tejomayananda

Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. He is an outstanding teacher of Vedanta and an accomplished poet, author, and composer.