My Guru seeks Sishyas from the whole world

TipriTV.com In eastern cultures, like India, a Guru (master) is Dyvasamman (god equal). Therefore the affluent generally send their children to a guru not only to train them in various trades but also for blessings.

A guru is the pride of his sishya (student). Kabir Das, a fifteenth century saint— Mohammedan by birth but influenced by the renewed Hindu saint Ramanand—in one of his dohays (couplets) expressed that if his guru and god appeared at the same time he would be in a fix regarding whom he would honor first (by touching his feet).

But the god solves it easily by asking him to touch the feet of his guru for he is the one who showed the way. (Guru Govind Dou Khare Kake Lagu Paye, Balhari Guru apney Govind diyo bataye).

Thus, a guru is the one who shows the way to God. The word guru consists of two consonants “gu,” which means darkness, and “ru,” meaning that which dispels. Thus, guru means that which dispels darkness and hence is the one who leads his disciples from darkness into light.

The sacred writings explicitly say that a guru should be the one who has the following character – gentle, peaceful, soft spoken and able to overcome natural instincts (Guru saadhu, nirmalashanthah, mrudhubhashi, khamakhrodha jitheyndhriyah, ethath guru lakshanam)*.

Cliff Richards, in one of his hit numbers, sings that everybody is under the influence of somebody. Influence is the modern concept of guru. Who is influencing you?

According to the Vedic writings, that guru should have the above mentioned characters, if not, there is every possibility of being misguided. Here, I would like to propose the guru whom I am following because he has the above mentioned characters and he seeks followers irrespective of culture, community, caste, color and country. Here, I plead you not to log off until you read the reasons as to why I consider Jesus Christ as the true guru.

First, there are many gurus in this world who can claim to know ways to God but Jesus is the only one who boldly said “I am the way and no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14.6). He is himself the way and that gives his sishyas the greatest assurance.

Second, gurus like Buddha searched for light but Jesus claimed that he is the light of the world and he promised that all his sishyas will have the light of life (John 8.12). He being the light will dispel the darkness of sin, ignorance and aimlessness.

Third, his gentleness and peacefulness are seen in the way he encouraged the little children to come to him and his soft spoken nature is explicit in forgiving the prostitutes and the worst of sinners.

Fourth, he is the true overcomer for he was tempted in every way as we are but was without sin (Hebrews 4.15). Thus, he is not only a winner but can also sympathize with us. He can understand the testing and temptations we endure and therefore we can approach him without fear as he is willing to help us in our time of need. Would you like to seek his help and become one of his sishyas?