Guru the Beloved

There is a verse that says:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshvarah
Guru Shakshat Param Brahma
Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha

Meaning of this Verse: The Guru is the Creator, the Protector and the Destroyer of ignorance. Being Param Brahma and being the incarnation of God manifested through the Guru, the Guru helps each one until one reaches the Self, until one reaches the inner Guru.

Sri Swami Vishwananda

GURU’S MANIFESTED HOLY ASH

An urn carries sacred ash of the Guru
Spun by his human hand,
Brought forth from the depths of his soul,
The essence of his Self,
No beginning–No Birthday–No end.

His devotees gather to partake
Of the Ash—the bounty of his wisdom.
The Guru’s Ash conveys the meaning
Of life, the everlasting Truth
Which is this. . .
Love is All There Is—the Divine.

Fish do not know the wisdom
Of the Guru’s Ash—
That they are One with the All.
In total unawareness,
They don’t know that they are fish
Swimming through God.

Humans strive lifetime after lifetime,
Even a million or more,
To reach the truth that lies within
The wisdom of the Ash.

All material things, be it Guru’s body
Or the Ash of wisdom he conveys,
Eventually return to the eternal —
“Dust thou art, and to dust
Thou shalt return."
But the Truth of the Guru’s Ash
Stands as a sentinel of the Divine —
Like an urn full of water poured from the
Guru’s hand into the tranquil, celestial
Himalayan Lake Manasarovar,
Sending ripples of Love
To the shores of the Divine.

Swamini Vishwalakshmianandama

Note: In the Hindu Tradition, Lake Manasarovar represents the human mind.

Om Swami Om