To become the medium of the guru, there must be some form of conduction between the guru and disciple. If the disciple is resisting, if he is full of doubts and apprehension, if he is afraid of his guru, he is a non-conductor. At the same time, there is no use saying, “Look here, my guru is not working through me.” Between two individuals there is a cord. In ordinary life it is an emotional cord. The same emotion can be sublimated and it becomes devotion. This devotion is an invisible link between guru and disciple.
It is true that the guru has to be the powerhouse, but the disciple has to be a good conductor. In order to be a good conductor, a disciple has to lay down his arms of resistance. He has to make himself empty. When you make yourself empty, the music can flow. Do you know how a flute is made? That is how a disciple is also made. The art is emptying yourself.
I don’t mean that a disciple has to become like an idiot. A disciple has his own mind. A disciple has his own personality, and a disciple has his own ego and individuality. But so far as he and guru are concerned, he is zero and nil. Only then can the disciple act as a channel for his guru’s power.
The Sanskrit word for disciple is shishya, this means he is a medium. In order to be a perfect channel for the guru’s transmission, in addition to meditation, you have to become one with him on the spiritual plane. It is very difficult to explain how to become one on the spiritual plane. It is for one to understand. You see, how does a mother feel oneness with her child? How does a friend feel closeness with a friend? That’s in the realm of awareness.
The realm of awareness has to be permeated. All the time the mother is aware of her son. The awareness of her son is totally in her mind. If you have lost your dearest friend, what is the state of your awareness? That’s called total awareness. He is always in your mind. The awareness is constant. You eat and sleep, you talk and walk, but the awareness is constant. Constant and consistent awareness, that is important between guru and disciple.
This can only happen if there is what we call devotion. If there is no devotion, there cannot be constant and consistent awareness. How should that constant awareness be? Just as a greedy man is always thinking about money, a passionate man is always thinking about man and woman. In the same way, the awareness has to be constant.
The main thing is devotion. You are not attached to his body. You are not attached to his knowledge. You are not attached to his position. You are not attached to his worldly qualities, but still you are attached to him. You do not know what it is. I am attached to that object; I have passion for it, that is worldly. In the case of guru, you do not know why you are aware of him. I am not attached to his body, I am not attached to his money, I am not attached to his wisdom, but still I am aware of him. This is one explanation of devotion.
Secondly, when devotion comes within the range of mind, it consumes all the forms of thinking. For the moment, there are no distractions, the disciple forgets himself, and for that time he can see the light. He can see that there is no darkness, the experience is a kind of bliss within himself, therefore first of all the disciple should develop devotion.
2 September 1980, Chamarande, France