“Did you receive any help in learning the alphabet? Did you require a teacher to help you in mastering your musical instrument? Were you given instruction to enable you to obtain your degree? If you needed a helper to do these things, do you not also require a teacher who can guide you to the knowledge of the Divine, the wisdom of the Infinite? That teacher is your Guru and no one else.”
– Sri Chinmoy
It is said, that all knowledge and wisdom is already within us; that ‘learning’, properly speaking, is ‘remembering’ – bringing to the fore, uncovering that which we already possess. A teacher is one who reminds the students of what they had forgotten they knew, or activates that which has lain dormant within.
Yes, all spiritual realisation is already within us, just as the potentiality of the tree lies within the seed. Yet most seeds never germinate and grow into a tree, for they are not fortunate enough to find the right conditions for germination and growth – sufficient space, the right climate, proper soil, moisture, sunlight, nourishment and protection over many years.
“It takes two to tango.” All these auspicious conditions might be present, but without the seed there can never be a tree. Helpful conditions without a seed, are useless; a seed without the right environment, is helpless.
A beginner in meditation is a tiny seed, with all the potential to grow into a massive, beautiful, powerful, fruitful tree. Yet most who start the journey of meditation and self-discovery, do not proceed very far.
Only a God-realised spiritual Master embodies and offers all the conditions – inspiration, aspiration, forgiveness, nourishment, encouragement, confidence, patience, compassion, concern and protection – for a meditator-seed to grow into a self-realisation tree.
(to be continued…)