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Kriya Yoga/Advaita Vedanta
L.M.: You found that as a disciple of Swami Premananda.
S. SHANK: Yes, and sometimes, the disciple sees the guru as a father figure. But I never did that.
L.M.: Some regard the
guru as God.
S. SHANK: Or, God: no, it's not that. It is a spiritual marriage. And how do you communicate to someone the meaning and significance of a spiritual marriage, if they have no feeling for that?
L.M.: If they're not married.
S. SHANK: If they're not married, period. Even a human marriage is a reflection of that ideal, and has its roots, if you will, in a spiritual marriage. That can exist between a husband and wife without its being a spritual marriage, as in the guru-disciple relationship. In that relationship the disciple recognizes the guru as the guru-and the guru recognizes the disciple as the disciple. It is a spiritually ordained relationship. The guru is one who dispels the darkness by the light of illumination. The Bhagavad Gita says that the disciple is one who approaches the teacher with reverence, and right questioning, and humility. That is required of the disciple. So if that right attitude is not present, the will not guru accept that individual as a disciple.
L.M.: But we don't have to be perfect to be accepted as a disciple.
S. SHANK: Well, if we are perfect, then we are no longer the disciple, are
we?
L.M.: Then we don't need to be the disciple. We are one with the One.
S. SHANK: Then we are not seeking anything further. Now, if I see that someone has a real yearning to know the truth, but is not familiar with the manner and approach that is called for, and, let us say, has some rough edges. I am sure that I had some of those when I met my guru. But what I did have is this reverence for the truth, this love of the truth. And yes, the guru looks into your heart, and it is the disposition of the heart that is the deciding
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