Guru and Disciple

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

Page 52

The Guru and the Disciple
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The Guru and the Disciple
No matter what the guru is like, revere him until the end. If you cannot revere him, then never criticize him because to look at the fault of the guru is the fifth ghaati karma (one of five grave demerit karma). That is why they teach, "Be careful - the guru is the fifth ghaati, so if you look at the guru's fault, know that you will fail."
A man came and told me that his guru had told him to leave and not to go back to him and since then he has not had the desire to go back. So I explained to him that it did not matter whether he goes back or not, but he should ask for forgiveness from his guru. "When you ask for forgiveness, you become free from the world. You may have asked for forgiveness verbally. Now, ask for forgiveness through your mind and do your pratikraman at home according to whatever I have written on this piece of paper.' So someone here wrote down the pratikraman vidhi for him.
Do not fall into gossip about the guru you have chosen because everything is according to unfolding karma (udayakarma). Man cannot do anything. Now, to not raise objections is also wrong but you must raise them with vitaragata, i.e., detachment or without raag-dwesh, not by throwing dirt. You can comment, 'It should not be this way,' but do it 'dramatically' (superficially), because the guru's karma is unfolding. Besides, what are you going to do by finding faults in him? What do you think?
Questioner: Yes, that is right.
Dadashri: And you should be thankful to the guru because he pulled you out of these boundaries, he made you progress, so do not forget that. How can you forget the grace of your guru? So go and visit him. After making someone your guru, you should not spoil your bhaav (feelings) for him at all. Be very careful of this.
The danger in the guru-disciple relationship
If a guru says to his disciple, 'You have no sense,' the disciple will go away. He goes away because he feels insulted. If
he retaliates and says to the guru, "Your brain does not work and you have become my guru?' things would get even worse.
You were bowing down to him yesterday and today you are throwing insults at him? You can never do that to the one you have been holding in the highest regard. Do not revere him again if you are going to attack him.
If your guru says that you are not to go anywhere from here after eleven, you should not do so even if your mind becomes very restless. Some people remain completely in compliance (aadhinta) with the guru's instructions. But the gurus today are so weak and inadequate, that the disciple, out of frustration, will say, 'This guru is useless.' Once a disciple says this, all efforts and achievements of the disciple go to waste.
Say a disciple has done a lot of work for the guru, say for ninety-nine years he has done good things, and for just six months the guru does something wrong. By criticizing the guru, the disciple can ruin all his spiritual gains.
Therefore, if one does not remain compliant and surrendered (aadhin) to the guru, he can ruin everything in no time, the reason being that the relationship of a guru-disciple is like a gunpowder factory, nothing else is like that. Only this relationship is explosive. You may have done everything, but this explosiveness' comes with a very heavy price. Therefore, be very careful, be very aware, because even a small spark will destroy ninety-nine years worth of work. In addition to that, you will get burned. Negative thoughts of the guru converted to positive thoughts
One man told me, *There is a great Sant Purush(saint), that I go to see and whose darshan I do. But lately I am having bad thoughts about him.' When I asked him what kind of thoughts, he said, 'I have thoughts like he is worthless and wicked.' I asked him if he likes having such thoughts. He told me that he did not