The Śiva Sūtras say the Guru is the means (Sūtra II.6). For me, my Guru, Swami Muktananda, Baba, has been and is the means. In all the years I knew, studied and worked closely with Baba, he never let me down. He was and is always guiding me to the state of union with God.
If the Guru is the means and does everything, then what is my job, what is our job? Our job is to surrender and let the Guru do everything. We tend to want to remain in the mix. Big mistake. Right effort is having our attention on the Heart where the Self resides, where God and Guru speak to us. Our effort should not hinder the Guru; it should be in harmony with the Guru.
A great teacher like Baba is not personal. Great teachers discern and are able to give each student the teachings they need. Many times, however, the student does not want those teachings, and then the teacher will withdraw. If we are obedient to our teacher, we will gain what our teacher has gained. The teacher wants us to attain what he has attained.
When I received shaktipat from Baba, I had already surrendered to years of discipline and had had many experiences and breakthroughs. What I wanted from Baba was to live in the awareness of who we are even during my mundane life. From my shaktipat experience I knew Baba had what I wanted.
Having studied with so many different kinds of teachers, I knew what I needed to do with Baba. My job was to not fight him, but to surrender and be open to receive what I knew he knew and what I professed to desire. Right effort was not fighting Baba. Every time I forgot this, Smack! Accepting his direction even when I did not always understand always brought me to a greater understanding and a lighter sense of me. It was not personal. We wanted the same goal, whatever it took.
So when a breakthrough occurs, you need to know how to use it. First, you have to learn what and where you are internally doing during a breakthrough. What did you lose? What did you break through? And the most important question you should ask is this: why did I again pick up that which I had let go?
The answer to why breakthroughs tend to delude us is that most breakthroughs are unconscious. They happen to us; we have no control and then just go with them without any awareness. We may enjoy the moment, but usually we believe we have arrived at a new place from where we cannot return to the old. Even with shaktipat, Baba used to say the momentary experience is showing us a glimpse, where we want to go. But we will not remain there; our job is to practice in order to return consciously.
Śiva Sūtras I.5 tells us that when we are practicing right effort there will be an opening, an upspringing of the Truth—who we truly are. As I have said, that glimpse happens either consciously or spontaneously. When it happens consciously, I know I am practicing correctly. And what is this correct practice? Complete surrender to and complete awareness, concentration on God and Guru. Our direction, our attention, our perception is trained toward God and Guru.
When this opening occurs spontaneously, it is like magic, and we do not know how or why it came or left. We tend in this situation to find erroneous reasons for our experience. So even though we have breakthroughs, they do not aid our sadhana. The breakthrough is followed by a closing down. We remain unconscious and unaware of the right effort we should be applying.
The Guru is pointing us always toward God. And the Guru is both within and without. So when the true outer Guru points us in a direction, our inner Guru is pointing us to the same place. Remember, the Guru is not personal. The Guru is the Grace-bestowing power of God. The Guru works for God and brings us to God.
On this Guru Purnima I pranam with great respect to my Guru, who has been my mother and father these many years. May I always obey you and honor your greatness. Sadgurunath Maharaj Ki Jai! Glory to Muktananda!
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