Sharp Like an Arrow

Gurudev's Talk on the Hiranyagarbha Lingam: http://swamivishwananda-info.blogspot.com/2009/12/speech-from-swamiji-about-manifested.html

“…you need a Master who is sharp like an arrow to put you in your place.” -Swami Vishwananda
Very often, men have an arrogant attitude. They think they know best. Many talk loud and know little. It’s said that the one who talks less knows much; and the one that talks a lot knows less. And it’s true. When somebody does not know much, they want to be heard; so, they raise their voice very loudly. But when you look at the Master, you look at the spiritual guide, they talk when they have to talk. But they keep quiet most of the time.

Masters analyze everything and they have a solution for everything. Only in quietness you will get a solution. Solutions are here always, but the mind is too busy to see them. When you have a problem, you look for a solution; you keep looking, looking, looking and get crazy about it. But at the end you say, “I am tired of it! Then you realize that the solution was there, but you did not see it. Then you ask yourself why you did not see it. Actually, it's because the mind was busy; the mind was too much in action.

When the mind is in deep action like that, one always will think that one knows better, even when you don’t know much. When it is like this, where is the quality of humbleness? Where is the quality of obedience? Where is the quality of surrender? Where is the quality of love? There is none of these present! This is why you will hear that there are certain Masters who are really, really strict with the disciple.

God will send you a Master. And if you desire God, but have greater work to do, of course you need a Master who is sharp like an arrow to put you in your place.

Mahavatar Babaji today offers the following quote from Swami Rama for our contemplation. Babaji appeared in meditation after I had posted the above and requested I locate the story of the bundle of sticks offered to the Guru. Thinking I would save time in searching, I asked Him where to find the story. He smilingly replied, “Look on the internet, of course, you can find everything there [of course, tongue-in-cheek - Babaji has a good sense of humor).” No matter what I typed into “Google” I could not find the story. So I tried Wikipedia and clicked into a site where the beautiful voice of beloved Swami Rama was chanting and I knew…bingo! Below is the quote from the article I clicked into that Babaji would like you all to read. Babaji says that it is applicable to what our beloved Swami Vishwananda is speaking about above. For those of you who wish to read the entire article I have provided the link.

Swami Rama: “The relationship with the guru is based on the purest form of unconditional love. There is complete openness with the guru. The disciple should hold nothing back from the guru. This is why in the tradition [tradition of the Himalayan Masters], a student goes to the guru and offers a bundle of sticks to burn. The bundle symbolizes that everything the disciple has is offered unconditionally to the guru. Everything is offered to the guru so the guru can do the work of shaping the student spiritually. The disciple comes with full faith and entrusts his whole life to the guru. The guru takes that life and chops it and burns what is not necessary, and then carefully carves what remains into something sacred.

"In this chopping and burning, the guru is merciless. The guru's job is not to hold hands with the disciple and wipe away tears, but to cut into pieces the disciple's ego and all that stands between the disciple and freedom. The guru does not allow dependence. If the disciple becomes too dependent on the guru, the guru pushes the disciple away, insisting on independence. It is a remarkable expression of the deepest love.

"Guru is that force moving a soul toward enlightenment.”
http://www.swamij.com/swami-rama-guru-grace.htm