Whether it is possible for a typical world girl like me, to reach my guru through meditation? Because I wish to meet my guru but I have some distraction at times? Daily I wish to see my guru and talk with him in meditation. Does he really watch me when I am asking these? Does he really talk with me? Why he is not answering and making me wait and long?
—Nandhini, India
Dear Nandhini,
It is most certainly possible for you to “reach your guru through meditation.” There are innumerable ways and forms this can take. Let me explain:
- Would not all disciples wish to have their guru appear to them during meditation in flesh and blood? Or, at least in vision? Is this possible? Yes, of course. If one’s guru is the sat guru, an avatar, free from all compelling karma, one with the Infinite Spirit: Yes! Why not? The question, however, isn’t the power of the guru to do so, it is the karma, energy, pure devotion and effort of the disciple to draw the guru to appear! It is not done by stern stentorian command but by deep, deep devotion and concentration! Such a blessing is, however it must be admitted, rare. But yes, possible. [Do you recall the story of when Yogananda prayed all night so deeply he thought his head was going to burst? At last, Babaji appeared. In other cases, as with Lahiri Mahasaya, it seemed effortless, even a great surprise, to the devotee(s) to whom he appeared.]
- As one’s devotion to God through the guru deepens with time and practice, there arises a “feeling” that becomes associated with the living vibration and spirit of the guru. In this way, in meditation, a devotee comes to know that the guru is there with you whether in meditation or activity.
- It is not unusual for the guru to appear during the dream state. Sometimes as a voice; as a thought; sometimes appearing human form in the dream; other times in a form not immediately associated in one’s mind with that of the guru but by the intuitive feeling that he / she is there.
- In the stories of Autobiography of a Yogi, some of the devotees to whom Lahiri appeared were not sannyasis (renunciates) but ordinary householders. But in all cases, a devotee must have a deep and pure love and longing for the guru. This includes living according to the precepts of spirituality and the teachings of one’s guru.
So, yes, the guru can appear. I would encourage you to develop attitudes of gratitude, love, service, and, yes, obedience to the guru, whether he/she be currently living in human form or has passed on to no-form. A true guru, being one with God, is near “to those who think me near” and does not require human form (especially having already at one time taken on human birth for the sake of uplifting disciples). As Yogananda said to disciples before his mahasamadhi (conscious exit from the body), “Only love can take my place.”
May the guru live always in your heart and your mind! Your devotion’s “frost” can materialize your guru in an infinity of forms from feeling, to thought, to flesh and blood.
Jai Guru!
Nayaswami Hriman
Seattle WA USA
www.Hrimananda.org
