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Sense of Gratitude
been helpful to us in some way. Do we, however, do anything in return?
Maximum obligation arises from a Guru; from the deep darkness of worldly life he brings us out into the light of knowledge. He does it out of innate compassion, without expecting anything in return. Let us therefore think over the characteristics of a Guru. A true Guru restrains five sense organs; observes celibacy with its nine stipulations; is free from four defiling instincts (anger, arrogance, deceit and greed); adopts five major restraints (avoiding violence, untruth, stealth, sensuous pleasure and accumulation); observes a five-fold spiritual code (of knowledge, perception, conduct, austerities and vigor); takes meticulous care while making movement, speaking, accepting or moving any object and while disposing the wastes; and constrains the faculties of mind, speech and body. He is thus imbibed with thirtysix attributes.
Lord Mahaveer laid these stipulations for the Guru so that a spiritual aspirant can recognize a true Guru and fulfill his life by resorting to him. The more valuable however an object, the greater efforts are made to imitate it. As such, there now seems to be a race to become a Guru. It also happens that one changes his name and dress, gets some accomplices and professes to be a Guru. It is therefore necessary to test them. As we buy gold after testing its purity, so do we need to examine the true qualities of a Guru in light of the stipulations mentioned above.
Guru's life is identical to a tree or a river. A tree gives shade to those, who come to it and a river quenches the thirst of those, who go to it for that purpose. Neither of them invites anyone to take those benefits. We have come here alone and have to leave alone; no one is going to accompany us. Under such helpless conditions, Guru gives us the shelter in the form of extending the right perception. Upadhyay Yashovijayji has therefore said, “How is it possible to return the obligation of the Guru, who brought us out of darkness of ignorance and provided the right perception?” Obviously his obligation can in
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