Drops from The Ocean
Topic Starter
The Ocean is an unmeasurable quantity of salty water. However, to taste the ocean, one need to taste only a drop. Guru is limitless knowledge. But each experience with a sadguru is a wholesome experience of truth. One could say these are facets of the same knowledge. Of differing flavors, but not disparate. I would like to share a few snippets from my life about experiencing Muni Guru.
Mana-apamana sama manasa (Equanimous in both honor and dishonor)
I cannot exactly remember the year, but I guess this could be somewhere between 1992 to 1998. I would have been in my teens. I recall attending a gurukula seminar in the Edapally gurukula, Kochi. Guru Nitya was going to deliver the pravachanam (main discourse). Before him, Muni Guru (Prasad swami then) addressed the gathering. Prasad swami spoke about the one ultimate wisdom that was taught by various wisdom teachers hailing from different parts of the world. He told that although it is the same ultimate truth that each of them invoked, the teachings will seem different as they were influenced by the culture and flavor of the locality. However, when Guru Nitya spoke after him, he strongly criticized Prasad swami’s idea about the enlightened ones addressing only the local people rather than speaking to the whole world. To my teenage mind, this public critique on Prasad swami’s understanding by his predecessor, seemed nothing short of a scathing attack. And naturally I looked intently on Prasad swami’s face to study the effect of these words on his face. There he sat, with a serene face, listening intently to Guru Nitya, showing not even a trace of any disquiet. This did make a lasting impression on me.
Decisive and unambiguous
When I finished my MBBS training, I was in a dilemma. On one hand I was expected to pursue a postgraduate degree because that was the ‘popular’ trend. On the other hand, I was not in a frame of mind to undergo the rigorous ‘entrance coaching’ for the breakneck speed rat race. This put me through some mental distress and I struggled to take a decision. Soon I lapsed into some kind of anhedonia and depression which was compounded by a concurrent family problem. So, I went visiting Guru Muni. Guru heard me out and told me decisively, “You start working as a doctor now. Later, if you feel like taking the entrance exam, you go ahead then.” And thus, ended that indecisive phase of my life. It is noteworthy that after practicing for a while, I gathered enough will power for entrance preparation and got admitted to a sought-after specialty in a premier institute.
Busting a false-identity
This was one of those occasions where I would discuss my doubts over phone with Muni Guru. On one occasion where we were having a conversation about the wisdom path, I described myself as ‘sensitive’, ‘sentimental’ and ‘diffident’. I was expecting Guru to advise me regarding how to counter these innate tendencies which I counted as adverse. Rather, all I could hear was silence at his end. A silence which eloquently cut through my false identities. A silence in which I needed to seek my true identity, the one with no affiliations with either good or bad.