Guru

...Paduka

Anantha Samsara Samudra Tara

Naukayitabhyam Guru Bhakthidabhyam

Vairagya Samrajyatha Pujanabhyam

Namo Namah Shri Guru Padukabhyam.

One of the most beautiful eight verses of the Guru Paduka Stotram (Praise of the feet of the Guru) that has inspired and continues to inspire me. Sung in lilting chants, the verses never fail to transport one to the essence of the word Guru. Gu - Darkness and Ru one who dispels it. Guru also means something that is very heavy.

The essence of the eight verses means I worship the feet of the Guru that sails me through the ocean of Sansara as if in a boat.

When I wondered about the words. 'Guru's Feet,' while chanting the most powerful mantras of the Guru Puja, I realised that feet are not exactly the to parts of the body that touch the ground. They are indeed the bearers of the whole being of the Guru, rooting his body and mind that travels aloft in inter-galactic space, down on the earth so we may be able to perceive them with our earthly senses.

There is no darkness if there is no light too. So what darkness does the Guru dispel. The darkness of misconception that everything is divided and separate - the cause for all the illusion, confusion, desparation, boredom, failure, depression or anything that drags us down.

When there are moments I have gone through all these kinds of degrading emotions, I discovered that all I have to do is chant the name of my Guru, breathe in deeply, letting the breath pierce through the conflicting mind and touch the ocean of stillness not so deep within.

And so life goes on....

Happy....

...birthday Swamiji

For those who have been following my blog since its birth in April 2005 might have noticed the metamorphosis of the title from Aham to Aksharoham to Akshara now. A reader asked me if it refers to Swami Akshara. Indeed it does and I am today happy to join many, many others like me in celebrating his birthday to follow in another hour on June 12.
I invite the readers today to go back to my post on June 12 last year as I present to you a poem I wrote on my Guru, Swami Akshara in January 2004 as my offering for his birthday.

Namaste

"Namaste," he will welcome,
With eyes sparkling without
And placid compassion deep within
His gaze will draw you with reverence
Into the silence that's his home eternal
Swami Akshara they call him
But for many earthlings like me
Gathered around this radiant sun
Swamiji he is, who dispels all darkness.
Like a rock in the sculptor's hand
With just a tiny chisel - working miracles
We find ourselves getting transformed
With his gentle touch from space afar.
"Expand," he would shout
When we go with a mind so shrunken
"Withdraw," he would command
When restless, we want to overdo.
Sometimes it is a pat on the back
And at other times, a rap on the knuckles
But with whatever Swamiji does or says
It's from his love for our tiny selves.

When we laugh, he laughs with us
And in distress, you can trust he's just around
But once caught in his net of love
There's no escape for
He says, "I am with you."
From empty space came he
This Akshara, the invincible emptiness
The nothing that's everything
Is in human form for us to touch and see.
"Look at the space beyond
But don't forget that tiny flower beneath
In everything lies the divine
In all that you see and cannot too."
This is all he says

Through many a talk

And by the thousands they wait

To hear the speech of silence

Many call him a Sathguru

"But I'm Guru to none," says he.

And this infinity walks in flesh and blood

To unite the space across minds.

Some see him as Sankara

For some, he's Christ in form

But Wahe Guru or Allah

The source is one, says he.

His form is Satchitananda

But he can touch you like the wind

Like the rays of the summer sun

The conflicting mind scoots at the thought of him.

To those who close their eyes

He says, "Open and see the divine."

For others who never could shut them

He says, "Sit and feel him within."

My Guru Akshara has a way for each

He plays with us and dines too

But watch out he will not spare

Till the light eternal you do become.

- Swahilya