In Focus

• “Does modern man need, more than ever, a Sadguru?”
  by Swami Deva Rashid
• The Real Master and His Presence
  by Swami Chaitanya Keerti
  
• “Does modern man need a Satguru more than ever?”
  by Ma Anand Bhagawati
  
• A Master is a Nourishment
  by Swami Satya Vedant
• No Sad Guru, Only Sadguru
  by Swami Harideva

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  Actually we need about a million Sadgurus.

For those of you gentle readers who are not Easterners, a Sadguru is the one who yells outside your bedroom window that flames are sweeping through the house, he’s the one who holds the mirror up for all who don’t remember what they are, he’s the one who starts pandemics of a viral love, contagious joy, infectious creativity.  In the East it is recognised and understood that the Guru of Truth (Sat or Sad Guru) has a wider and deeper perspective than us and we bow to his or her vision.

In the West we are brought up to be “fiercely independent,” to believe we are whole individuals sufficient to ourselves and that we have the right, if we have the might, to dominate our world. We won’t bow to anyone.  Halleluiah!

Now look at the mess we’re in!  Environmental degradation on a scale we cannot even grasp.  Let alone agree on repairing.  All our cultural institutions – social, political, economic and religious – built brick by brick over the centuries - all are on the wobble. 

We need help.  In all this chaos and confusion we need the wisdom of one who knows, one who sees, one who has realised their true nature.

Not that they will solve our problems for us.  Not that they will tell us what to do.  Not that they will wave a magic wand.  No, not at all.  At first they might make things more difficult for us.  We understand that the enlightened ones are coming from a different place – they are coming from vastness, from no-ego, from freedom itself.

In these times of upheaval i myself feel ever more grateful for the experiences i lived through with Osho.  I was forty years old when i came to him and like most of humanity my real age was twelve.  What i learned from him in the work-a-day events of the commune or sitting in the silence of his words or in the devices of his field of energy was to detach from the mind and act from the heart.  I learned from Osho that i did not need the armour of ideas and beliefs, or the scaffolding of concepts with which i had shored up my fragile ego.  I needed to be stripped down so that my response to any situation was spontaneous, appropriate, unencumbered by attachments and judgements, fears and desires.

With Osho we learned to live more consciously, not just survive on automatic pilot.  With him too we learned to accommodate the paradoxes intrinsic to this life – of the inner and the outer, of the sacred and the mundane, of the individual and the collective. 

As the world plunges deeper and deeper into its chaos, these gifts of the Sadguru, of a more whole and inclusive vision, are, it seems to me, a necessary part of the healing of our planet.  In fact they are the only hope.  I heard Osho talk frequently about this rare flowering in Consciousness that is available to humanity and manifests as Enlightenment or Self-realisation.  Without the benefit of it what chance does humanity have? 

Since the years when Osho was in the body there has been, it seems to me, an increasing evolution of more and more teachers of truth both from the East and from the West.
Great!
Bring on the Sadgurus i say.

Swami Deva Rashid

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It has been a real blessing and contentment to be in the presence of my beloved master over two decades—and even after he left his body, his presence remains with me as ever, because the true master is nothing but Presence. His leaving the body could not make any difference to me—he continues beating in my heart. And there’s no feeling to go anywhere to seek another master—living or dead. There are quite a few gurus claiming to be living master. This claim is becoming so ridiculous, so much so that every other day one finds somebody marketing himself vigorously as a true living master. They even quote Osho in support of their argument about seeking a living master. But why should any one seek a living master, when one feels the true master is already living in his heart, throbbing in his heart. To me a true master is one who enters in your heart and never leaves you. Your heart beats in synchronicity with him. You become one with him. And this is the true fulfilment.

This is how I feel and I do not get pulled towards so many so-called living masters who are marketing themselves heavily—the more heavily they do it the more repulsive they are to me.

A few months back I had gone to a friend’s farmhouse on his invitation. He was hosting one of the so-called living masters. This friend had invited his extended family members and some of his friends to introduce his guru. The guru gave a good intelligent talk of common sense and answered some questions. He had a sharp mind and was convincing. But his presence did not have the Presence that radiates something that I have felt in Osho’s presence. I remembered what Ma Yoga Laxmi said once: “When you have seen Mahasurya, you cannot be pulled by dim light stars.” I was not pulled towards this so-called living master who was sitting in the middle of lawn of the farmhouse of my friend. The 50-odd people who had come to listen to him, had their lunch and left. I left also without having a personal audience with this guru.

My friend did not like this. He might have expected that I would join him in following his guru. But what I could do, I was not seeking any guru. There is no such seeking in my heart. And this certainly impress me that whenever any guru has some program in Delhi or any other city, he fills up the whole city with his publicity. He hangs at every electric pole. His publicity is more than the publicity any politician or movie-star. And what is the result of all this? For a while some guru remains fashionable then comes another guru who comes in fashion. This every guru has his public impact, and is able to get some politicians at his feet. These politicians are impressed not with him but the crowd that he is able to pull. You know all the politicians like to attract crowd, and they can touch the feet of any guru who is popular with crowd.

Osho does not come into the category of people of this mentality as this the lowest kind. Osho is not for the blind crowd—no enlightened master can be interested in such crowd.

Osho is for the individuals who have the seeking in their heart to transform himself and who has no desire to impress others.

Osho says: “The real master is only a presence. He has no intentions of being a master. His presence is his teaching. His love is his message. Every gesture of his hand is pointing to the moon. And this whole thing is not being done, it is a happening. The master is not a doer. He has learned the greatest secret of life: let-go.
The master has drowned his ego and the idea of separation from existence itself. He is no longer there as a separate entity, he is just a window. You can see through the window the infinite sky and the expanding universe: the sunrise, the sunset, a bird on the wing, the lotus opening its being, releasing its fragrance.

The master is certainly not one of the so-called masters you will find everywhere, pretending to be masters, posing as masters.

The master is just an immense emptiness.

And, naturally, the disciple is one who comes closer and closer to the same qualities: nonexistence of the ego; no separation from existence; an overflowing love, unconditional; a tremendous sensitivity to beauty... a great revolution -- that you are not, existence is. The dewdrop has disappeared into the ocean.

The function of the master is to give you a taste of dissolving into the whole, of becoming part of this tremendously beautiful orchestra of existence. He has no creeds to teach you, no dogmas to preach to you, no catechism, no theologies. He is not to give you more slavery, more mental bondage.

That's what all your so-called masters are doing. Somebody is making you a Christian, somebody is making you a Hindu, somebody is making you a Mohammedan. These are not masters. These are all phony, plastic, American -- or better, Californian.

The authentic master is immense freedom.

To be close to him is to be close to the infinite sky, which knows no limits.

To be in his presence is to be lost, utterly lost.”

Swami Chaitanya Keerti

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The very question for this article indicates that yes, we ARE in need of a Satguru. Nonetheless, this is a very philosophical question; the inquiry does not come from the inner being, it comes from the mind. Thus as long as we inquire with the mind we definitely are in dire need of a Satguru to help us understand how to let the mind be and dive deeper into self to find the answers we are seeking!

To begin with, who is this modern man? This humanity is so old, so overcooked, it can only be the new man who will be able to deeply immerse himself with the inner search that ultimately will lead him to the feet of the Satguru. Osho said,

“Just the other day I told you: When the disciple is ready, the Master appears -- and in no other way. When the disciple has really prepared his heart, has opened himself up, is vulnerable, has dropped his armour, the Master immediately appears. The disciple is the question: the Master is the answer.”
OSHO
The Perfect Master, Vol. 1, Chapter 2, Question 1

So-called modern man thinks he is on top of the heap and the master of the universe. He has acquired much knowledge; he dapples with intricate research into the mysteries of the cosmos and has decoded most of man’s DNA. Now in the ongoing pursuit of knowledge he is eager to find out more about the other realms. In his obsession to be in control – even over nature – we can see into what sorry state all this got us in.

With man’s mind becoming heavier and heavier, he begins looking for spiritual release and can find easily accessible teachers and masters widely advertised on the internet, with new names popping up by the week, promising salvation and help, teaching this or that. Maybe, maybe there is one among them who is a satguru yet there is so much deception and so many false gurus that the shortcut will only lead to frustration and denial.

As Osho put it, “A Master goes on creating Masters. First he teaches you to surrender so that all that is false disappears. Once the false has disappeared he will tell you to surrender too. Once the false has disappeared he will now tell you to surrender your disciplehood too. A Master is satisfied only when he has created another Master.

In the vicinity of a Master a chain starts working -- one flame jumps into other lamps and they start burning. And then they in their own right will start jumping into other unlit lamps, and many more will be burned. People come to me and ask why I am not going into the world. I need not go. I will create many Satgurus, I will create many Masters, just sitting here. They will be traveling, they will be my ambassadors; they will go around the world to share their light.”
OSHO
Sufis: The People of the Path, Vol. 1, Chapter 5

Now don’t turn your head! Yes, you are one of them– and you over there too!

Ma Anand Bhagawati

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Descartes is famous for his statement, “I think, therefore I am”. For many, such a statement can be seen as an attempt to reduce human existence to a minimum assumption which is quite misleading. In a much more realistic sense this is an attempt to avoiding awareness in a large measure to continuing with uncomfortable unawareness. At a more existential level, we exist by affecting someone or something by our feelings and not necessarily by our thoughts. It would look more in tune with reality, therefore, if Descartes were to have said: “I feel therefore I am”.

The modern man is predominantly suffering from the tyranny of the world of “feelings” and emotional turmoil. His inner world is a battleground of anxieties and longings, hopes and aspirations, rights and wrongs. There is clear evidence that the modern man/woman is facing a split between unconscious manifestation of mental functioning and a conscious behavior based on alert attention. This very fact has made today the presence of having a Sadguru of such momentous importance – indeed, more than ever.

But then, one may ask: how does one find a Master, a Sadguru? Here are the keys given by Osho for finding a Master:

“If you can find a man who is interested in you AS YOURSELF -- that is your Master. That is the criterion, the definition of a Master: one who is not putting any trip upon you, who is simply interested in helping you to be whatsoever you can be. He is not driving you in any direction, but simply nurturing you, nourishing you, so that you can have any direction that comes naturally to you; who is not pruning you, who is simply putting fertilizers onto your roots, so if you want to grow to the north or to the south, or you want to go high in the sky, or you want to become a thick bush, you become whatsoever you want to become. A Master is just a benevolent presence, a nourishment. He does not guide you to be this or that, he simply helps you to be that which is hidden in you.”
OSHO
I say unto You, Vol-2, Chapter-7

But there are two overriding factors which are relevant whay a Sdaguru is needed today. As Osho explains, firstly, the whole present generation is in a very difficult situation. The situation is that nobody wants to learn. Learning gives a very deep fear, because learning means learning the new -- so people are dropping out from all sorts of learning. Hence, Osho points out: “And this too is a learning, and one of the most significant. You will never be the same again once you have learned this that I am teaching here! But the problem is that you can know what it is only by going into it; there is no other way to be convinced about it. You can think about it and you can drive yourself crazy -- that is not going to help. It is not a question of thinking about it; it is a question of tasting it.”
OSHO
What is is, What Ain’t Ain’t, Chapter-3

The second factor, as Osho points out, is recognizing that Love alone is the principle which overrides everything in life. In fact he says, “Love is life, and it is greater than you. You cannot possess it. I would like to repeat it: love is greater than you; you cannot possess it. You can only allow yourself to be possessed by it; it cannot be controlled. The modern ego wants to control everything, and you become scared of whatsoever you cannot control. …You will not be in control. With love you cannot be in control, and the whole trend which has led to this century was one of how to control. All over the world, and particularly in the West, the trend is for how to control nature, how to control everything, how to control energies.

 “You can possess money; you cannot possess love. And because of this we have been turning everything into a thing. You even go on turning persons into things because then you can possess them. If you love a person, you are not the master; no one is the master. Two persons love each other, and no one is the master -- neither the lover nor the beloved. Rather, love is the master and both are possessed by a greater force than themselves, encircled by a greater force -- a whirlwind.”
OSHO
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, Vol-2, Chapter-4

In view of how significant it is to have a Sadguru in the modern times, it is, however, out of great compassion that Osho has equally drawn our attention to beware of the so called gurus. So, he observes, if there is one sadguru in the world, for each perfect master there are ninety-nine pseudo-sadgurus. This is always the ratio: 1 to 99. And the joke lies in the fact that the pseudo-gurus are more successful in attracting people than the genuine guru, for they speak our language. The pseudo-guru knows us very well and does all that you wish of him deep within yourself. He tries to satisfy all our desires. Therefore you find crowds of thousands, around a pseudo-sadguru, for he is but a reflection of our own life.

Hence, Osho draws our attention to the following so that the need for a Sadguru in our times could be seen in the right perspective. He says:

“It is difficult to recognize a sadguru, for it requires a transformation in your life: you must change! A pseudo-guru gives to you and tries to satisfy your desires; an authentic guru snatches away all you have.

“Thus you usually find crowds around the pseudo-guru. Whenever you see such a crowd, beware! For a crowd is always of deluded people. You will find very few people in the right place, near a sadguru. And they are extremely hard to find. You will find only a selected few whose aim is to attain God. A crowd is always made up of desire-ridden people.”
OSHO
Trans. from the Hindi: The True Name,Vol. 2, Ch.6

Swami Satya Vedant

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The last thing we need is a 'Sad' guru.

We need to have a glass of good wine with someone less fortunate, give some friends out of work some employment, apologize to someone you've hurt and forget about these friggin spiritual questions as if if we all decide "yes we need a Sat guru..." one will descend from the heavens. All of these postulations give us yet another excuse NOT to do whatever good we can TODAY.

Probably the question was inoscent and meant to "PROVOKE DEEP REFLEXTION..." No nastyness meant in that case...

Let me offer an alternative question- "What have you done recently that might make Osho smile?" Then do some more. 'Sitting silently doing nothing' is not enough. Sit silently then get off your ass and do something heartfelt...you know, plant a tree, help feed the homeless- This shit is very very good for the heart... and others are watching. For all you know,. the person next to you also serving food might be the Satguru...

In deep apology for being myself, harideva.

Swami Harideva

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