ShirdiSaiBaba

Diksha is a special process for removing evil taints and initiating pupil with powers and siddhis.

Kinds of Dikshas are:

Chakshusi by mere glance

Sparsa by touching the head.

Vacha by words blessing.

Manasi mentally blessing.

Sastri by teaching sastras.

Yoga is Guru entering into the pupil’s mind inwardly.

Howtri Kriyavati performing homas with fire.

Howtri Jnanavati doing the homa mentally, to bless the pupil.

Need for a Guru.

The question is whether Guru is needed or not? Even now people conduct heated arguments. Some arguing that there is need and others arguing that there is no need. These debates are usually fruitless and they excite and result in loss of peace. A good example is Heamdpant alias Anna Saheb Dabolkar’s case. On his first visit to Shirdi, he hotly contested for one hour or so that a Guru was an unnecessary fetter and quoted the Gita, in his support. Bala Saheb Bhate took the opposite view and maintained that destiny was supreme and that all had a Guru. The discussion made Anna Dabolkar less fit to approach the great Guru Sai Baba by reason of restlessness. But Baba by graciously revealed his Antarjnana. All that passed during the discussion made Anna Dabolkar feel humble and contrite. He felt that Baba was a wondrous Supreme Power before whom he and his weak powers should bend and given up his “reason” and supposed independence. And thus he became the sishya of Baba. By Baba’s grace he found that destiny had fixed him up.

The Sastras, for example, Srimad Bhagavata, Bhagavata Gita, Guru Gita, Katham Mundadam Taittiriya, Maha Narayanopanishad say clearly that without a Guru Brahmanjnana and Moksha cannot be attained.

The need is questioned as a rule by persons not yet fit to be sishyas that is those without humility, reverence, patience, receptivity and other virtues, or the proper attitude towards great saints. They must be advised to have Satsang. That is they must move with bhaktas and fit themselves for further progress. When they are fairly fit, they will get their Guru. It is not the truth that sishyas always go out to find the Guru. The reverse is often true. There are many noble souls waiting to be approached by persons who want to become sishyas and have the proper attitude and training.

“Let students come.”

There are great souls who have attained perfect peace and who are working to benefit and bless the world like the spring season. Though they have themselves crossed the terrible ocean of samsara, they are ferrying others across without any reward or recompense or motive. Sai Baba himself sent for N.G. Chandorkar expressly and drew hundreds or thousands to him inwardly and unnoticed by them. Baba says, ‘No one comes to me except by my drawing. I draw people to me under various pretexts such as the worldly objects they want. When a boy ties a bird’s foot with one end of a string and pulls the other end, can the bird refuse to come?’ This drawing is mostly due to rinanubandha. That is prenatal ties and obligations. This is termed by Baba Saheb Bhate, the irresistible pull of destiny. The need for a Guru is patent especially in worldly affairs. People do not expect the children to learn the three ‘R’s, drawing, etc., without a teacher. If this is so in the material world, how much more essential is the need in the subtle spiritual field? Generally one’s spiritual progress and the stages one has to go through, and the way of mastering problems that arise there are often dealt with in books on religion. These books will not suffice to enable one to tackle this subject effectively. Religious literature is a vast forest, through which one cannot pick one’s way.

The Kula Moolavatara Kalpa Sutra Teeka Gata Kulagama mentions six classes of Gurus in regular gradation. They are;
Preraka One who just starts the pupil Suchaka One who indicates and carries further Vachaka One who regularly teaches and coaches Darscaka One who points out the way and goal to the pupil. Sikshaka One who regularly teaches and guides the pupil fully. These five are preparations to go to the 6th. Bodhaka one who is also called the Karana Guru, who thoroughly illumines the pupil and prepares him for Brahma Jnana and Moksha.

There are Gurus who are seen and others unseen; and there are Gurus who merely impart teachings and do not care for results. That is, they do not undertake any responsibility for the disciples.

There are others who give definite undertakings and carry out the same at all costs and if necessary life after life proceeding to seek the disciple in subsequent lives for the purpose. The best instance of such a Guru is Sri Sai Baba who undertook liability for H.S.Dixit, N.G.Chandorkar, Bandara Master and M.B. Rege and others.

Another classification is based on the powers and methods of the Guru. The Guru who teaches something secular or religious is merely called Guru. He who teaches about God or Sath is called SathGuru. He who uses all his siddhis and superior powers to carry the disciple right up to the goal is called Samartha SathGuru. Ramdas, Guru of Shivaji, and Sai Baba belong to the class of Samartha SathGurus.

ParamaGuru is a Samartha SathGuru who looks after the entire welfare secular and spiritual of his disciple.

Diksha Guru who formally initiates the pupil and invests him with mantra, power.
Siksha Gurus, that is the usual Guru who teaches or trains a pupil.
Male Gurus usually prescribed in all Sastras for pupils to attain Moksha.
Female Gurus specially referred to in Tantra works to give mantra and training to pupils who aim at siddhis. The Sastras generally dissuade persons anxious to attain Moksha resort to female Gurus. In the case of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Bhairavi Lady Guru trained him in tantras. After that came the Nanga Avadhuta Guru who initiated him into concentration on Nirguna Brahman. Similarly in the case of Sri. P.R. Avaste, a lady Guru initiated him into Mantra that is Siva Panchakshari permutations and combinations Japa, which would result in seeing various gods and produce various powers. Later he came to Baba.
Kula Gurus – hereditary

Other Gurus

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Deciples prefer the Kula Guru to begin with. When there is no benefit, then go to a competent Guru. Baba was not the Kula Guru of Nana Chandorkar, but his rinanubanda Guru and in a sense the Guru of his Destiny.

Baba was a siksha Guru to N.G.Chandorkar and Balakram Manker.
Gurus for all round training and teaching for example, Venkusa.

Gurus for some push or help (for example Sai Baba to Narayan Asram)

Gurus for some mantra, tantra, special vidya, yogabhyasa, and asana.

Gurus for Vydeeki profession and Vedic study.

Gurus for secular purposes only.

Gurus for inward working Dakshinamurthi method and Baba’s.

Gurus for Oral teaching mainly.

Gurus for Both.

Derivation: The word Guru is a Sanskrit word. A number of Derivations are found in Guru Gita. Guru Gita is a part of the Skanta Purana. ‘Gu’ generally means ‘Guna’ and therefore means ‘darkness’. ‘Ru’ denotes light overlapping the darkness like fire. So Guru means the dispeller of darkness or ignorance.

Another derivation says that Guru is one who takes you to Brahman by removing the Gunas.

Sai Baba’s teachings are unique and cosmopolitan. In Arabic and Persian, Guru is called MURSHAD. Hence, Sufis used the word Murshad for Guru. Baba himself used the same word. For example Baba said. ‘My Murshad has taken me away from this body which is but my house’. This means his Guru had destroyed his indentification of self with the body (Dehatma buddhi). His Guru made him realize that He the Atma is not the body just like the fire which burns the fuel is different from the fuel, and the seer is not the seen. The Sufi equivalent for Sishya is Talib and Shakir.

we find everywhere in the world, the usual practice is to have Gurus.

Purpose for a Guru: Guru is a teacher. The essential question is, what he teaches or what help he gives or is expected to give.

Classes of Gurus: There are various classes of Gurus depending upon what is or given by Him to the deciples. For example Siksha or Diksha, secular or religious subject, sex of Guru, methods adopted, whether Guru is visible or invisible.

Guru Gita classifies Gurus under seven heads such as:

Suchaka is the ordinary school-master who gives secular teachings – the three ‘R’s and arts.

Vachaka is one who imparts ethical teachings, that is Dharma Sastra.

Bhodaka is one who teaches mantras for various purposes – secular or other, and stops with that.

Nishiddha is one who teaches mantras and other methods for achieving lower purposes just as marana, vasikarana, sthambana and akarshana. These are almost invariably used to achieve low earthly objects and are hindrances to one’s achievements of the spiritual goal. It is a danger for one to get under a Nishiddha Guru.

Vihita is one who teaches Virakti or detachment, that is frees one from all attachment to earthly things and prepares one for achieving one’s spiritual welfare. Vairagya or dispassion is the sine qua non for progress just as its opposite, namely, extreme attachment to kamini and kanchana, is a powerful barrier to all progress.

Karana instructs the sishya as to the import of the Mahavakyas the axioms or axles of the Upanishads. After securing thorough vairagya one is ready to get at least an intellectual grasp and then a realization of the grand basis of all mukti. Mukti is the realization of the real nature of oneself and of Atma, that is Paramatma; and the mahavakyas embody that truth. Thus the teacher of this basis of salvation is the cause, Karana for salvation and therefore the Karana Guru.

Parama Guru: The last and the greatest of all, who enables the sishya to thoroughly absorb the truth of the Mahavakyas and to realize for himself the Mahavakyas and thus escape samsara or rebirth, is the Parama Guru. He is also called the Moksha Guru. Others are mere Gurus.