Guru and Disciple

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

Page 66

The Guru and the Disciple
119
120
The Guru and the Disciple
books. So the gurus of today will not benefit you. Instead, it is better to remain without a guru.
Questioner: According to our culture, a person without a guru isnaguno (has no qualities).
Dadashri: Where did you hear this? Questioner: From a saint.
not a naguro! So let me go and get a kanthi! Let me make a guru!' That is how they made gurus. They are the sheep and those gurus are the shepherds. Nevertheless, I cannot use words like this. But when you want to know the facts, then I tell you this purely for your information and, I speak with vitaragata. Whenever I say anything, it is without raag-dwesh (attachment or aversion) I am a Gnani Purush; I am considered a responsible person. I do not have any attachment or abhorrence anywhere
Dadashri: Yes, and what do they mean? It is not naguno but naguro, meaning without a guru' ('na' = no). If a person does not have a guru, people will call him a 'naguro.
Questioner: I met two or three ascetics who wanted me to tie a kanthi on me and I declined.
My kanthi (a traditional necklace of tiny wooden beads given to the disciple by his guru) broke at the age of twelve and so people kept calling me 'naguro.' They kept telling me I had to wear a kanthi and that they would arrange for me to wear one. I asked them, “How can I get a kanthi from these people who have no knowledge themselves and have no power to give knowledge to others? They told me if I did not wear a kanthi, people would call me 'naguro.' Now what is a "naguro"? I thought that it might be a curse word or something like that. It was not until I was older that I realized that it referred to a person without a guru."
Dadashri: Yes, but only the shrewd will not allow it; the naive would allow it, will they not?
Questioner: If we have not tied a kanthi by any guru but we feel an attraction towards a guru, and we take his gnan, can that be regarded as an established guru-disciple relationship or do we need to have a kanthi? Many scriptures and acharyas (spiritual principals) say that one should not even look at the face of someone without a guru.
Dadashri: It is like this: if you want to join a sect, then you should tie a kanthi and if you want to remain free, then you should not. Wear the kanthi of the one who gives gnan (knowledge). What the sect is saying is that first, you should learn about this standard (prescribed rituals and practices) and until then, you should not be looking anywhere else.
Otherwise, how can one be called naguro? No one these days is a naguro. Who used the word naguro in the first place? The gurus with a kanthi started the whole concept so that they would not lose any 'customers.' There is nothing wrong in not wearing a kanthi. The kanthi creates kind of a psychological effect. So what do all these sectarian opinions do? They push their kanthis on others so that a person feels, 'I belong to such and such a sect,' so there is a corresponding psychological effect.
Questioner: Is it necessary to go through all the vidhis (special ceremonies and rituals) to wear a kanthi, beaded necklace, and change clothes in order to make someone my guru?
Dadashri: There is no need for such things.
Questioner: Why do the religious gurus say that God will help those who wear kanthis and not those who do not? Is that true?
Dadashri: It is like this. The 'shepherds' have spread such talks. Shepherds would tell their sheep, 'Do not be a naguro and wander around.' So then the sheep would feel, 'Oh ho ho! I am