Rare is the Guru

[Miss Hepburn]

Can't anyone be a guru?

Here, I will be a guru to anyone that would like...I will teach you
about the heart...
about love and charity...
about compassion and forgiveness.
I will guide you to gently drop the trappings of the ego...
and to appreciate and savor the world of selflessness.

And that is just the beginning...interested? I ask for no money, but I do demand doing the lessons daily.
Still interested?
I promise such freedom, wisdom and happiness you will be very pleased.

I will teach you how to enter the secret chamber of your heart...to reach a
point where you realize you are pure and loved and deserving of every thing your heart desires.

Or maybe that is just being a teacher.

[muffin]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Can't anyone be a guru?

Here, I will be a guru to anyone that would like...I will teach you
about the heart...
about love and charity...
about compassion and forgiveness.
I will guide you to gently drop the trappings of the ego...
and to appreciate and savor the world of selflessness.

And that is just the beginning...interested? I ask for no money, but I do demand doing the lessons daily.
Still interested?
I promise such freedom, wisdom and happiness you will be very pleased.

I will teach you how to enter the secret chamber of your heart...to reach a
point where you realize you are pure and loved and deserving of every thing your heart desires.

Or maybe that is just being a teacher.

Thanks Miss Hepburn

But, we are all that now, for each other.

[jonesboy]

From page one of the thread.

Many are they who are given to the discipline

and conduct according to varna (class),

asrama (stage) and kula (family); but he who is

devoid of all volition is the Guru rare to find.

He is the Guru by whose very contact there

flows the supreme Ananda; the intelligent

man shall choose such a one as the Guru and

no other.

[kralaro]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I promise such freedom, wisdom and happiness you will be very pleased.

PMing you.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by kralaro

PMing you.

And since this private message is ME writing back
so not personal to 'you', I am going to make it public in case it could help someone...I don't think you will mind, kralaro. It was a great point.

"First, you must start to recognize what is of the ego thought system and what is of the Holy Spirit or Godly Thought System.

Anything that is not kind, loving, compassionate, forgiving and charitable is of the egoic thought system or the worldly thought system.

So, frustration and impatience is a creation of the lower ego self.
Get rid of it...forget yesterday.
Begin right now to understand your spirit or soul is pure, perfect, lovable and innocent...this is who you are...
Be free and happy and light-hearted realizing
this unchangeable Truth, my spiritual brother."

PS I'm not a guru...I just think we all can be for each other.

[kralaro]

No issue Miss Hepburn. Thanks for the reply.
:)

[jonesboy]

Anyone can be a guru but rare is the guru who's mere "contact" flows the light that can move us along.

[django]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Anyone can be a guru but rare is the guru who's mere "contact" flows the light that can move us along.

I've heard of glimpses of Self in the presence of guru, and states of deep peace, but not really 'light'. Can you explain what you mean by 'light'? Thanks.

[running]

ok. this is about as basic as it gets in what a guru can offer. one that has transcended into bliss and silence.

the way he explains is simple and without clutter.

Django not trying to but in on your question for jonesboy but this may help.

this is written by Jan Esmann. i have read a lot of his stuff and listened to many of his videos. to me this is a perfect basic example of a teacher whom does his magic through presence. via shaktipat. im gonna look through his website and see if anything else is worth posting here.

Love-bliss
Lovebliss is your true nature. If you don't feel it and live it fully, you are identified with the small self or stuck in nothingness-being. I urge you to move on in either case.


The throb of the divine

The pure being of the Self is not an emptiness or a vacuum, as it may at first be experienced to be. It throbs, or vibrates, and this throb is love-bliss, also known as Shakti. But understand that the throb is no different from the nothingness-being. The Self simply is lovebliss and it is nothingness-being at the same time -- and this is vibrant and dynamic. In the beginning of your spiritual journey, you may predominantly experience one or the other, love, bliss or nothingness, but as you progress the three will merge into one and the nothingness will certainly be realized to be an unmanifest oneness of Being-Bliss-Awareness.


Not a state of consciousness, but pure being

Lovebliss is not a state of consciousness, nor an experience, though it will seem so in the beginning when you only get it in glimpses. In the beginning, because you think of it as a state of consciousness or an inflow, you will think in terms of change: how to change your consciousness from one state to the state of lovebliss. But the truth is, lovebliss is not a state, it is the nature of pure being, so no matter how much you change consciousness, you will not get it that way.

You only (initially) get it as a state by transcending consciousness, merging into nothingness-being and letting that nothingness-being "vibrate" into your consciousness as love or bliss. This you will experience as what is often called "cosmic orgasm", but cosmic orgasm is not the real thing, it is just an ecstasy.

In the beginning, the body will feel like it is on fire with bliss. Your hands may shake and tears flow. The skin will feel electric and as if tingling. Your heart will expand with great love and your chest feel far too small. The brain vibrates and the scull feels as if being massaged with pure delight. There are no words to describe love-bliss. In the beginning it is agitated ecstasy, later it is ecstasy without agitation or unrest, but at total peace, finally it is Pure Being and Shakti in One. It is a fierce force, yet incredibly gentle. It is unmanifest, yet love, bliss and consciousness. As you get used to it and it integrates more and more into your system, every breath will send waves of lovebliss through your body. You will stop thinking and every act will be a spontaneous expression of lovebliss. Even the body becomes lovebliss. You will realize nothingness-being is not nothingness, but is lovebliss. And in that there is no ecstasy, only complete stillness, which is lovebliss.

At that point the focus of your spiritual practice will change from transcending into nothingness-being, to merging in lovebliss. Finally you simply are lovebliss, though it will fluctuate in intensity, and your practice will be to be it to the highest degree at all levels of your being and during all kinds of activity. Even the body will become love-bliss. Simply breathing becomes lovebliss. Everything you see is seen as lovebliss. This is known as sat-chit-ananda.


Lovebliss is the source of enlightenment because it is enlightenment

Nothing can stand in the way of lovebliss (Shakti) and it simply crushes ignorance. I have worshipped lovebliss -- the divine mother Shakti -- all my life. Mother Shakti is the giver of enlightenment, the giver of love, the giver of bliss, and lovebliss is her nature and how you will recognize her. Know that to connect with any kind of bliss from cosmic orgasms and up to pure lovebliss, you will need to activate and arouse kundalini. True, pure lovebliss comes when kundalini moves her seat to the brain. Until then it is ananda (bliss), not paramananda (supreme lovebliss). Surrender to Shakti, who is lovebliss, then merge with her. She is One with Pure Being and is the Self.

[running]

copied from Jan Esmann's website. this further explains what a guru can do through presence.

The following explanation of shaktipat by Shri Anandi Ma were gleaned from her website www.dyc.org. I agree with everything she says.


What is shaktipat?

A powerful yogi awakens the aspirant's Kundalini by a transfer of his or her energy to the aspirant. This process, known as Shaktipat, activates the dormant Kundalini and is like lighting a candle with one that is already lit and glowing. Shakti means power or energy in Sanskrit, and pat means transfer. Thus Shaktipat is transfer of energy.

A powerful yogi can transmit energy to an aspirant and awaken the Kundalini. This is accomplished in one of four ways: by touch, gaze, sound or thought. The yogi may touch the disciple and transmit energy through physical contact, or gaze at the disciple and energy flows from the yogi's eyes. The yogi may utter words which carry energy or, more subtly, energy can be transferred directly by the yogi's thought or will. The process of Shaktipat can be performed only by those yogis who have gained complete control over the life force, which in Sanskrit is called prana.

Some people may have fears about working with the Kundalini, but it is absolutely safe to practice Kundalini Maha Yoga under the guidance of a realized teacher.


What happens once kundalini is awakened through shaktipat?

Once the Kundalini is awakened through shaktipat, the student may have a variety of experiences: seeing flashes of light or colors, hearing internal sounds of bells ringing or bees humming, spontaneous vibrations or movements of the body, and greater mental peace, to name a few. Different individuals will have different experiences -- there is no definite pattern applicable to everyone. Once the Kundalini is awakened, this fact becomes known through the student's own experiences. If at this stage the student persists in spiritual practices like meditation, then the Kundalini will travel upward from the base of the spinal column where She lay dormant before.

During Her upward journey through the spinal column, She pierces all the chakras in succession and ultimately reaches the sahasrara. When this happens, the student attains a state of transcendental consciousness called samadhi, understands one's true identity, and is thereby liberated.


Will kundalini become dormant again?

Once the Kundalini is awakened through Shaktipat initiation, She does not become dormant except in some very special circumstances. The Kundalini will always try to make Her upward passage. She will try to keep the aspirant on the spiritual path by providing the necessary encouragement and protection.


What are the benefits?

Self-realization is the ultimate and the most desirable state to be attained, and the awakened Kundalini leads to this state. However, even when the Kundalini is aroused and spiritual evolution is substantially hastened, there is no guarantee that Self-realization will be attained in the current lifetime. Therefore, it is encouraging to know many tangible benefits are gained even during the early states of the awakening and upward travel of the Kundalini.

Awakening the Kundalini has a general purifying effect on the body and mind. For example, the aspirant's health often improves; the student often feels light and energetic; the mind becomes restful. Diseases of the body and mind are caused by irregularities in the functioning of the prana, which can be gradually eliminated once the Kundalini is awakened.

At more advanced levels of the Kundalini's progress the benefits are intensified and encompass more subtle realms. The student can achieve peace and mental control, can become more creative, can develop a profound understanding of nature and experience inner joy. The aspirant becomes a stronger individual, a more complete person who can function in adverse circumstances with great poise, and is able to consciously absorb prana from the universe and direct it for physical and mental well-being. Ultimately, the student encounters total reality, the absolute truth, knowledge of the Self.