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Rebirth Day

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Guru Poornima, also known as the day of Vyasa Pooja, is a very auspicious time for starting any spiritual sadhana. On this day, Sri Veda Vyasa and the Brahmavidya gurus are worshipped. Sri Vyasa, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, began to write his unique Brahma Sutras on this memorable day. Sri Vyasa served humanity by editing the four Vedas, writing the eighteen Puranas, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata.

Begin to practice spiritual sadhana from this day. Generate fresh waves of spirituality. Let all that you have read, heard, seen and learned be transformed through sadhana into selfless service, and continuous prayer and worship of the lord seated in all beings. It is not enough to renounce your home and duties for the sake of god-realization. You will have to awaken unshakeable faith and supreme love for your lord within.

Your soul is all powerful. Your lord is all powerful. He is within you and you will be able to meet him in meditation. He will come to you in flesh and blood. He will talk to you and take you by the hand. In meditation when one rises above body consciousness, the inner lord manifests and comes to you. Then you can experience his loving and divine presence. Strengthen your faith on this occasion of Guru Poornima.

By guru's grace you are given dharma, sadhana and unshakeable faith. These three you should constantly uphold. You are expected to be true and earnest in your sadhana to God and guru. Nobody should be able to shatter your noble faith and spiritual convictions.

Guru alone can break the binding cords of attachment, and release the aspirant from the trammels of earthly existence. Guru is God himself. He guides and inspires us from the innermost core of our being. He is the supreme spirit everywhere.

Behold the entire universe as guru swaroop (guru's true form). See the guiding hand, the awakening voice, the illuminating wisdom of the guru in every object of creation. The guru will reveal all the precious secrets of life and bestow all knowledge. The supreme guru manifested in visible nature will teach you the most valuable lessons of life. Worship this guru of gurus who taught avadhoot Dattatreya. The silent, all enduring earth with its lofty forbearance, the shady fruit bearing tree with its willing self-sacrifice, the mighty peepul reposing with patience in the tiny seed, the dripping water whose persistence wears away the rocks, the planets and the seasons with their order and regularity- all are divine gurus to him who will look, listen and receive. Empty yourself of your petty sense of ego. Become pure and unattached as the mountain breeze, then all the treasures in the bosom of nature will be yours. Be like the river which flows continually, steadily and constantly towards the ocean. Every moment of your life, keep moving towards the ocean. Every moment of your life, keep moving towards the supreme state of existence-knowledge-bliss. Let all your thoughts, words and actions be directed only towards this goal. You will progress and attain perfection in an amazingly short time. Purify yourself through the full moon's reflection of the glorious light of the atman.

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