Sri Guru Gita – 28 February 2014 – Episode 70

Jaya Guru Datta Sri Swamiji! _/\_!!

Jaya Guru Datta. English summary:

Sri Maha Ganapataye Namaha.

We discussed that a real Sadguru will ponder over the disciple’s sins because the more he thinks about them, the more the sins diminish. We discussed that the Guru is the only one with such powers. We also discussed a few analogies such as iron being exposed to fire and pounded on to make sharp implements, or gold placed in fire and shaped to increase its shine or the sculptor cutting and chiseling to sculpt a figure. That is why, the Guru doesn’t think much about the merit of the disciples.

Once the sculptor chisels the face of the figure, he doesn’t pay much attention to how it looks. People praise the figure half way through the sculpting, but he doesn’t give it much thought. He only sees its flaws. Even after sculpting the figure completely, he doesn’t give much thought to the praise and appreciation he gets. He’s not satisfied. He knows what else needs to be done to improve the sculpture.

But, the onlookers praising the work don’t know the flaws. They praise, “How beautiful is this art !” The sculptor feels ashamed hearing this. He alone knows where the flaws are. The onlookers don’t know. The more they praise, the more he’s ashamed. Similarly, when the Guru praises us, we should realize our mistakes and resolve to set ourselves right. Your thoughts should be along the lines of, “I should correct my mistake, I am ashamed, I am ashamed of what I did yesterday, I can’t even lift my head up in the presence of the Guru”. You should not be proud. You must not be complacent assuming everybody else makes these mistakes too. Or you shouldn’t be nonchalant assuming the Guru has forgotten. That is why, the Guru only thinks about the disciple’s sins, not his merits. The Guru will not think about your merits, the Guru will not praise you. If the Guru praises the disciple, the merits will diminish.

If the Sadguru praises you for your work, your ego will be boosted and your work will be ruined. You will not be able to do anything else. That’s why he’s always chiding you. Every time the Guru chides you, you should be ashamed and should correct your mistakes. Once you get to the stage where you cannot leave the Sadguru, he will keep chiding you all the time. He knows you will never be annoyed. If he knows right upfront that you will be annoyed, he will not chide you at all. He will leave you to your fate. Some people who don’t know this secret are disappointed when the Guru doesn’t praise them. They keep pestering him till he praises them. That is a huge mistake. Doing something solely to win the Guru’s appreciation is also a mistake. You should work till you are satisfied with it first. “I cooked this well, with all my love and I am dedicating this to the Guru. It tastes good now. I should do better next time. I should do even better the next time”.

I should do even better the next time”. You should work day in and day out, with humility, thinking about it and wanting to do even better. If the Guru still finds fault after all the hard work, you should realize your mistake and fix it, but you should not be disappointed. You should not say “I worked day in and day out, but my Guru didn’t accept”. You should be thankful that your ego was reigned in and you should work on correcting yourself.

If the Guru doesn’t accept whatever we dedicate to him, that is not good for us. But, if he appreciates what he accepts that is not good for us either. Understand this: If he doesn’t accept our offering, that’s not good for us. But, if he accepts and then praises us for it, that is also not good for us. That is why, real Gurus sometimes chide you while accepting what you offer. They will say that you could have done better. Some people suffer from ego and disappointment after the Guru chides them.

Jaya Guru Datta.