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Guru as a Cloud

Swami Nischalananda Saraswati

I see the guru as a cloud,
Floating here and there
Where the wind and climate of life take him.
If the cloud evaporates or forms, does he resist the inevitable?
No, he lets things happen through him as they must.
He acts out his dharma to perfection while bathing in the
showers of bliss and illumination.
The guru reflects divinity.
He allows the divine to happen, to act through him,
To flower in the world, to express itself in perfection.

The guru manifests egolessness, compassion and knowledge.
Both transcendental and practical,
His actions express perfection.
In the guru's company strange things occur.
Maybe he speaks, maybe not,
but always the air is charged with something.
The guru may express inner peace, knowledge and love.
These have profound influence on his disciples.
The guru may say something very nonchalantly.
Yet this will act as a thunderbolt, stimulating and inspiring
the particular disciple for whom it was intentionally aimed.

Guru symbolises divinity
And at the same time humanity.
He acts out his role as a human being.
He hasn't physically retired from the world but acts within it.
Many people associate saintliness with other-worldliness.
But the guru shows that a saint can contribute usefully to the world around him.

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