Happy Gurupurnima!

Today is Guru Purnima, one of the most reverent days celebrated to express our gratitude to the ‘Guru’ (teacher), who has guided us in our journey of life and has shaped us to become what we are today.

In Sanskrit, ‘Purnima’ refers to the full moon, symbolizing our transition from darkness to full light with the help of a ‘Guru’. The further dissection of the word ‘Guru’ gives us ‘Gu’ which means moving away from darkness and ‘Ru’ implies inviting light and illumination into life. India celebrates a rich and long tradition of Guru-Shishya parampara (tradition) and the same continues even today.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “You will need a Guru until the very end. Even if you want to go to the station, you need a Guru. If you want to learn, you need a teacher. Even the Guru needs his own Guru.” Such is the importance of having a Guru in our life!

But just having a Guru isn’t enough; it is equally important to have faith in our Guru. Whoever the Guru may be, it is our faith that gives us the result. We are all familiar with the story of the great Bheema, who wrote the name of his Guru on a pot and daily worshipped it with complete faith.

Along with complete faith, it is also important to cultivate the qualities needed to become the rightful Guru and a worthy shishya. According to Param Pujya Dadashri, “The Guru’s moral character should be absolutely pure. One is not a Guru if his moral character is not proper; it would be meaningless.” Talking about the qualities of a disciple, He says, “When the Guru acts crazy, even then the disciple doesn’t lose faith in him. That is the quality of a disciple.”

As mentioned above, a Guru is important to progress ahead in life. He can bring us up to the stage He is! However, if one desires spiritual progress, then without a Gnani Purush (the Enlightened One), there’s no liberation. The Guru gives Gnan (knowledge) and the Gnani gives Vignan (Absolute Science).

On this occasion of Gurupurnima, let us remember all our Gurus whom we have met in our life and express our heart-felt gratitude to them for their contribution in making us what we are today.