GURU POORNIMA GRATITUDE : Unmasking the Mask!
A while ago, on such a sunny morning, I went down to cycle in my society. Suddenly I spotted a girl, waving at me from a distance! She seemed like a girl of my age, but she was unrecognizable to me because of her mask. My immediate reaction seemed to be waving back to her, even though I had no idea who she was, and was too embarrassed to ask that to her! So, I wrecked my brain to think who that girl was and finally realized that she was one of my friends, who I hadn’t seen for over a year, because we all are so cooped up in this pandemic, and we both used to come down at different times, and not seeing each other often!
If only her mask would not be there, I would have been able to recognize her very easily!
In the same way, it’s impossible to know a persons’ true self if they keep their invisible, artificial egoistic masks on!
Artificial Human masks you ask? Well, these are the distractions, false perceptions, ignorance, ego, and the many more qualities which reside in all of us Humans. We can’t recognize whos’ who, when people have these masks on. This mask situation is even more relatable in the current Pandemic!
While writing this, I was reminded of a statement that Dr. Ananda Balyogi Bhavanani had mentioned in his Satsangha 999 ,and I recall it as , “In order to reveal your real potential, you’ll have to unmask the Self mask! However, this can only happen under a Guru! We as individuals wear a mask, which is all Maya (illusion), and makes people around us think that this fake mask is our real nature. However, the Guru is the one who helps us remove this mask, shows us our real potential, and eventually makes us capable of becoming a Guru for other ‘Mask wearing’ people!”
This artificial invisible human mask is false, it’s a type of darkness, and has to be removed!
As said in Yoga Sutra 2.52 by Sage Patanjali:
Tata kshiyate prakasha avaranam
Which means:
Thus we remove the shroud, covering our inner light/luminosity!
How is this attainable?
By a Guru!
The Sanskrit word GuRu means:
Gu- Darkness, Ru- A light that dispels the darkness
To sum it up, a Guru is the divine soul who dispels all the darknesses in the Shishya’s life!
As Dalai Lama rightfully says, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!”
That is totally correct! If only we as 1 out of 7 billion people take off our invisible masks, we will definitely inspire many and 1 day, the whole world can become free from the bondage of ego, only under the guidance of our Pujya Gurus!
The Guru frees us from the clutches of the ‘mal identification syndrome’ and is the one who enables us to unmask ourselves, making us realize who we truly are! They make us shift from Koham (Who am I) to Soham (I am she/he/that)! The compassionate Guru plays the role of a catalyst in our transformation, and thereby helping us BE the true potential of ourselves.
However, we can only achieve this when we, as disciples/students (Shishyas) will sacrifice our ‘I’ or the egoistic self to the Guru, as a Guru Dakshina!
|| गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु र्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः
गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्मा तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ||
|| A guru is the Creator (Lord Brahma),
Guru is the Preserver (Lord Vishnu)
and Guru Deva is the Destroyer (Maheshwara).
The Guru is the Lord himself.
I give my salutations to Sri Guru! ||
Therefore, the role of a Guru is to make us aware of our inner Guru; the Guru Saakshat is the Para Brahma itself!
Just as the moon shines by reflecting the light of the sun, and glorifies it, all Shishyas can dazzle like the moon by gaining from their Gurus.
Today, 23rd July 2021, is also known as Vyasa Purnima as it is a day celebrated in the memory of the great sage Maharishi Veda Vyasa's birthday, and it also happens to be the Lion Yogi of Pondicherry, Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri's birthday, to whom I dedicate this blog post to!
Thinking and Thanking all my Gurus on this auspicious day, who are slowly unmasking my masks step by step!
This was the smallest of Dakshina that I could give to my lovely Teachers/Gurus, and whatever I do, it’ll never be equal to what lessons they have taught me _/\_
As our beloved Ammaji- Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani says,
Hari Om Tat Sat!
Sharing a Guru Vandana Bharatanatyam Dance by Avniyati, dedicated to all our GURUS!
References: https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/the-biggest-festival-of-spirituality-guru-purnima
https://www.slideshare.net/anandabhavanani/ammaji-tribute-lakshmansir
https://www.youtube.com/user/yognat2001
Wonderful✨😍✨😍✨😍
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