Sadguru and Infusion of Power

1. Choose a Guru who has the knowledge of the Vedas, knows Brahman, has achieved peace in Brahman. Take shelter under a Guru who is a brahmin, desireless, who has destroyed all the six inherent vices (‘Shadaripu’), whose body is pure, not physically deformed, and who has achieved total devotion at the lotus feet of Shree Krishna.

2. Without initiation from a living Sadguru one does not acquire the right to the vision of the creator. Dhruva was a five year old child. In spite of his soulful cries while taking the name of Padmapalash lochan (the one with lotus eyes) he could not see God until he was initiated. Jesus was initiated by John the Baptist. Chaitanya was initiated by Ishwar Puri. I have definitely realised that it is not possible to have Brahmadarshan (sight of the Brahman) without Guru.

3. In the case of taking deeksha from Sadguru, no rituals or formalities are needed. A particular date or time is of no significance. Then how are we to identify Sadguru? Sadguru cannot be recognised by any sign. Only spiritual practice through many births enables one to identify Sadguru by the grace of God.

4. We need a teacher for anything that we learn in our human life. Whatever we enjoy by our senses in the world, the things that we see, hear, smell, touch taste etc., if we are to learn about the root cause for all these, then we have to take lessons from the knowledgeable ones. Thus everybody knows by common sense that God exists, I exist, the world exists. If one is not satisfied with just the general information and wants to know the subject thoroughly then one has to take lessons thoroughly from a knowledgeable teacher. None other than the Guru, who knows Brahman is qualified to give sermons on Brahman. That is why real knowledge is not obtainable from a source other than Guru.

5. The power of God is inherent in everybody. To awaken that power (known as Kundalini) by the intense power of a Mahatma is known as infusion of power. That power generally remains in a dormant state. Even after awakening it tries to go back to the state of dormancy. Those who practice naamjapa constantly in breathing and do not allow it to fall back to sleep, have the force play nicely in them.

6. Deeksha should be taken if the mind is very eager for it. It is not advisable to go for it just on hearing from others. Even while buying a small article, people inspect it well. So one must verify thoroughly if the deeksha one intends to take from someone conforms to the scriptures and good conduct rules. There is no harm if one has hundreds of doubts before taking deeksha. But even one instance of suspicion after taking deeksha is harmful. That is why a thorough investigation before taking deeksha is better.

7. Faith in Guru is very difficult to achieve. One having faith has achieved everything. The only way to achieve faith is to obey Guru’s orders. Belief in Guru’s words is not achieveable without the good deeds of previous births.

8. Goswami Prabhu’s answer to the question that whether the authority to impart this initiation is confined to particular persons, was that this is never possible. The strength to do good to others is proportional to the degree of God’s dharma of truth that one obtains in one’s life. But the one who has not obtained the strength to open up another’s spiritual eyes, or to manifest the yogashakti (spiritual power) of another person, can never have the authority to initiate another. The path of yoga has four stages –

   1) Pravartak (introducer)
   2) Sadhak (austere endeavourer)
   3) Yunjan siddha (constant union with God with occasional breaks)
   4) Yukta siddha (constant contact with God).
   

   In the stage of Pravartak the sadhak displays only the primary emotions like humbleness, non-attachment, love, purity. Subsequently in the stage of Sadhak, God’s presence is felt little by little and towards the end of this stage clear vision of Brahman is achieved. Then the Yunjan Yogis often remain in the company of God and become blessed by accessing various realities. But at times they too suffer from separation. These periods are very distressing. During the stages of separation, sin can penetrate even them and cause disaster. Later by the grace of God they reach the stage of interminable link with Him and stay and move in Him. They are known as Yuktayogi. This is the stage of real accomplishment. Yogadeeksha should be taken from such a yogi. But if some yogis have direct link with some accomplished mahatmas and if such mahatmas infuse power in such yogis and instruct them to initiate others, then also same results can be obtained. Otherwise taking deeksha from just anybody without discrimination should be avoided. How can a blind person show the way to another person? Can the one owing one hundred rupees open a charitable institution? Only one having link with the limitless source of power, the Almighty, has attained the unlimited fountain. No one else has the authority to give yogadeeksha. Taking deeksha from people of such poor states has circulated the dreadful atrocities and beastly customs of Guruvad in our country.

- Above instructions of Gosaiji was compiled by Swami Amalananda Saraswati