Guru and Disciple

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

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The Guru and the Disciple
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for worship, in the Tapi River. He was bothering me so much that I became frustrated, so I threw them away.' But why did you worship those photographs in the first place? And after doing so why did you throw them into the Tapi River? The guru did not tell you to worship the photos and then throw them in the river. You should have not worshipped them to begin with. If you worshipped him, the liability is yours; you have done wrong. One day you worship the pictures and the following day you throw them in the water? You yourself are the worshipper and you are the destroyer too. Is that not a sin? Then why were you worshipping them? And if you need to destroy it, then make sure you do a vidhi (special prayers) before you do so. This is not acceptable because it is himsa (violence) to worship a photo one day, and throw it away in the river the next. If we know that a picture is a picture of God, and still we throw it in the river, then we are liable for it. It would not be a problem if it was done in ignorance.
Questioner: It was because of the guru's action that he had to resort to doing that, is that not so? Did the guru not become a nimit in that? Is the guru not at fault?
Dadashri: The guru can do whatever he likes but you must not make a mistake. The karma of your mistakes will apply to you and the karma of his mistakes will apply to him. If you insult me and shout abuses at me, and I get angry and shout back, then the karma will bind me. I have no need to do such things, do I? You bind karma. If you are wealthy, if you have the status and the money, then you bind them. I do not have that kind of energy nor do I have that kind of wealth. If one had that kind of energy then he would bind karma, is that not so? That is why we say that if this dog bites you, does that mean that you should bite the dog back? The dog is likely to bite anyway!
Questioner: How is it a sin to throw away photographs of such a guru?
Dadashri: You should not speak this way; you cannot say
The Guru and the Disciple
that. God resides in that guru. He may be bad, but God lives within him! You should see him as faultless (nirdosh). It is because of your previous life's demerit karma (sin), that you found such a guru, and became trapped. If not, you would not find such a guru. It is based upon an account of give and take from your past life that you met this particular guru. If not, then why did you two meet? No one else but you came across him. Why has he come to you?
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Later, I did vidhi (special inner blessings), for him and told him not to speak badly or have ill thoughts or enmity towards the guru. I made him do pratikraman in his mind and taught him everything. I paved the way for that man and for the photographs he threw in the river. I showed him what kind of a vidhi he had to do and after that he became free.
Then, for twelve months, he did not go to the guru. Eventually, when the guru realized that someone had kept the disciple from coming to him, he wrote a letter saying, 'Come back, I will not bother you in any way.' The habit the guru had of exploiting his disciples had hurt only the guru; his own greed had hurt him! Now this man does not go there. Is a fish that escaped likely to enter the net again? He who is greedy should not take up a guru. The one who has no beggary and is independent may take up a guru. If the guru tells you, 'Go away from here,' then you should tell him, 'Sahib, as you wish. I do have a home and my wife is a guru anyway!"
If you do not have a guru, make your wife your guru!
If you do not find it easy to make a guru, but you feel uneasy being without one, then you should tell your wife, 'You just sit down. I will treat you like a guru. Do not look at her face; tell her to turn around. After all, this idol is a living idol!
Yes, so make your wife your guru. What do you want to do? Are you not married yet?