Skip to main content

Q & A: Some Sincere Questions

One participant of my early Art of Living course raised these questions which I thought is worthwhile to answer here so that it can be helpful to others too.

Q. 1. What's the difference between a Guru, Yogi, and a Swami?

Guru: First of all I feel this space is too small to talk about Guru and the glory of Guru. Just one advice if you are walking on this path don't see Guru as physical identity. Guru is one who makes you realize there is no difference between Guru and you. Like Guruji (Sri Sri) says Guru, God and Self are synonymous. Now since God is one who is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient and We as 'self' don't realize that omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience BECAUSE we are asleep. The Guru is one who wake us up and give us this realization that there is no difference between God, Guru & Your own Self :-) Guru doesn't make the follower rather he brings us up to realize our true 'self'

Yogi: Yogi is one who is practicing any kind of yoga for a long period of time without a break to evolve his consciousness and to realize his/her true 'self'. So we can count ourselves as Yogi.

Swami: The word Swami comes from the sankrit root word Swa which means self so Swami is one who is firmly established in the self and not swayed by craving and aversions of the world. It means Swami is one who has advanced on the spiritual path.

Q. 2. Why are there so many? And how should I take it?

We live in free world and everybody has Freedom to choose to act like what ever they wish to act like whether Guru, Swami or Yogi. But just realize that on this path there is no room for Hypocrisy so better you behave for what you are. I would prefer to be Yogi for this purpose :-) and rest let my Master decide for me :-)

Q. 3. Should I have more than one guru? I have noticed many people with more than one. It's confusing me. Not to mistaken that I did not appreciate and love AOL and Guruji... just noticed that even some in AOL that are close to have more than one.

I am aware the many people have this fix in there mind I have seen people in AOL as well outside. They are all searching. My personal take is One real guru is enough to fix your life forever while hundred of fake guru can put in FIX. So better to go with one Guru.

Also see the quality of mind of people who says they have more than one Guru. Why do you need more guru. Since you don't have complete faith on any one. Take a example if you sick you go to one doctor take prescription and complete the whole course or you keep jumping from one doctor to another one, it will spoil your health conditions. In similar way One should 100% follow one Guru since different Gurus may have different way to approach the truth and in the process you might get utterly confused and it will spoil your case rather than help your recovery faster.

Now what is the Guru is fake. Guruji (Sri Sri) has talked about the two qualities in seeker which seems very opposite in nature: Faith & Alertness. Once we have faith we keep our mind shut and resting and become blind follower while on the other hand if we do not have faith, we are fully alert and keep judging things. Guruji says for sincere seeker what is needed is faith with alertness and awareness. So that you are not trapped :-)

Further more when I meet other spiritual leaders, Masters I respect them, relish their company and have pleasant interaction and do the mutual exchange of ideas & blessings and come back and take all the spiritual advices from Guruji (Sri Sri ) because it is for my own Good as I have complete faith that I am in right boat :-) It will take me to destination.

Also you forget about other people whether they have one guru or many you fix your life first :-) That is sutra you can't fix others if you haven't fixed yourself.

4. Remember a few years back when I had initially taken the part one course with you, I had traveled to OH, and a friend had taken me to an ashram of another guru. I felt really uncomfortable with the whole thing, and told you about it. I mentioned this to you before, this guy, Dhyanapeetam Nithyananda Swami... recently came to light the issues with small thing mentioned in news about him and Guruji... wanted ur take on it from a AOL teacher point of view. I am aware of the controversy of Dhyanapeetam Nithyananda Swami.

Guruji has talked about Dhyanapeetam & Nithyananda here is the statement: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that Swami Nithyananda has violated UNAIDS guidelines as well as the rules of tantra. Only a house holder is entitled or tantric sex. Claiming to be a monk and using so many people for one's pleasure is unpardonable. "He should have had one partner and announced himself as a tantric guru. It has caused damage to the faith of people in the institution and traumatized many."

I hope if you contemplate on the answer I wrote above and what Guruji is saying. See what your conscious is telling. Have faith and Be alert too and at any cost save your mind :-) and BE FREE.

Jai Guru Dev

Your comments are welcome! :-)

Comments

Mark said…
I find this very interesting. I question the use of these labels at all. I believe the labels of Guru, Yogi and Swami are somewhat limiting and they also create a barrier between people. We are all students and we are all teachers. I respect the use of these labels and at the same time find the labels create some confusion. If one is living their authentic self and from love not ego then why would one don a label?
Dinesh Nath said…
Hi Mark!

What you said is really true But I just describe these term how they are literally used in language and what we can expect from these words. I agree with beyond all identity we belongs to divine and we are divine :-)

Popular posts from this blog

Meditation & its secret-1

Meditation is an art by which one go beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness where mind dissolve and pure timeless, space less, blissful consciousness BEING which is described as सत्चिदानंद satchidanand (सत् -चित्-आनंद) sat-chit-anand (Truthful-consciousness-blissful) by the enlightened MASTERS. About Meditation there are so many myths and concepts. And the truth is what you experience that is reality for you. Here in this post "Meditation & its secret-1" and upcoming series of post on this title, I will be writing about my direct experiences of the inner journey, the obstacles and blissful experiences which keep coming as journey goes on :) As we sit for meditation what we do we sit STILL with EYES CLOSED that is for withdrawing reflexive mind from visionary senses, other obstacle is auditory disturbances (therefore quiet place is preferable). Now journey start as wondering mind has lost most of distractions which...

Some more Q & A

Here are few more Q & A with Swami ji: Q. What is consciousness? A. Everything is consciousness! Whether you can see it or not, feel it or not! Q. What is the purpose of my life? A. On this question, Swami ji asked the participant to pat himself and said congratulate to yourself that mind is opening up and going beyond the day to day life, my job, my family, prestige etc. Then he said I will tell you three things in reference to this question: i. One who know will never tell you the answer. ii. Those who are telling don't know the answer. iii. Keep asking your question and whatever answer comes keep putting them in trash and one day you will get the answer to this question :-) Q. Who am I? A. Again for this question Swami ji asked the participant to congratulate himself and he said again follow the three things I told you in answer before. i. One who know will never tell you the answer. ii. Those who are telling don't know the answer. iii. Keep asking your question and what...

Patanjali Yoga Sutra Part-6

Keep the faith:- Shraddhveerya smrutisamadhiprajnapurvaka itaresham (Sûtra 20) meaning "By faith, by vigour or courage, by memory of having experienced the self and through the deep state of equanimity, a state of heightened awareness is gained." This is a vital sûtra. Shraddha means faith. Faith makes your consciousness stable, steady and solid. Doubt in the consciousness makes you vulnerable, fearful and uncertain. Faith brings out the totality in you. It pulls together all loose ends of consciousness. It integrates your whole personality. Doubt scatters you. Doubt destroys you. Doubt disseminates you and your energy. Doubt is something that pulls you apart. Dissemination of energy is doubt. Consolidation of your energy is faith. Are you getting what I am saying? The very feeling of your having faith is a sort of consolidation. That is why Jesus always said that faith is your strength. They are synonymous — faith and strength. When you are strong and bold, you have faith. ...