Me, My Guru – Indra and I

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Me, My Guru – Indra and I

One who is lost in penance with one pointed mind and complete enthusiasm can win over even death - Saint Thiruvalluvar.

Shishya called ‘Manda’ was 25yrs old when Guru had a strong urge to do penance in Himalayas. Asking Manda to come near him, he repeated and revised all that was taught to him. He said “Son, my destiny calls me to go to Himalayas for at least 10yrs and meditate there. I am leaving you with all this know-how. Work with the techniques till I come back and become eligible enough for me to give you higher knowledge. Here take an extra ‘dhoti and angavastram’ for you. Stay simple and be in meditation all through the day. Work on your mind and learn to control it. Go to village only once in a day for bhiksha*. Putting everything aside, work on your mind”.

So saying, with heavy heart he left his student. Manda kept looking at his Guru till his form crossed the distant farms and then returned to his hut to resume his life. He would get up at 3am, as was his routine, attend to his personal duties, go to river to bathe and sit in meditation after doing homam. As the sun shone above the head, he would go to the village, seek alms, come to the ashram, eat it, take rest and then meditate till late in the evening. As the sun set, after few hours he would go to bed.

This was the routine. Few days passed. 

One day, he took dhoti (cloth used to cover the body) that he had washed and kept for next day’s use on the mat. He was surprised to see that it was bitten by rat and the holes were so many that it made that dhoti ‘un-wearable’ to him. He had only one spare dhoti and even that was bitten by the rat. Not knowing what to do, he went to village and asked for a dhoti. One of the villagers gave him but said “Sir, I’ll give you this. But the rat is sure to bite this too. This way you’ll receive dhoti by us but lose it to that rat soon. Instead do something about the rat first”. 

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(*bhiksha – alms received by Brahmins from the village they stayed in. this way, the Brahmin caste would be able to devote all their time and energy in pursuit of spiritual knowledge. This way the group of Brahmin would be rich in spiritual strength and that would be passed on to the next generation who would come to them as students)

# My, my Guru, Indra and I, purpose of life, right and wrong, on following orders, on breaking rules, 

also read : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=buddha+alms to understand how 'ONLY WHEN WE take what other gives" do we suffer. The other person can give anything. We can condition and expect him to give ONLY blessing, love, respect, affection, material comforts and benefits BUT he can choose to give anything away from any of our expectations. It is our CHOICE as to what we choose to take when given. WE NEED NOT TAKE EVERYTHING GIVEN BY THE OTHER. WE HAVE A CHOICE TO REJECT. There in lies our clarity of thought. There in lies our freedom. There in lies our power. 

Self healing tip : 

How to avoid disappointing Guru or for that matter anyone in particular?

We get angry at others for following reasons:

When we expect something from them

They don't fill our expectations and conditions

The 'Dharma' to be followed in any relationship is instead of looking at 'what is in it for me' to 'how can I contribute in this relationship?'

Homework : 

Meditate. Look within and search for any one relationship where you think on the grounds of 'giving' instead of benefiting or receiving. Are you not happy in that relationship?

Now, apply the same principle in every other relationship in your life. Start with the one where you have maximum complaints and you think is the cause of misery in your life.