Darshan, Grace of the Guru, Part One
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: The guru system of training is personal and direct. An advanced devotee is one whose intuition is in absolute harmony with his master. The power to meditate comes from the grace/darshan of the guru. The guru opens himself up, creating a oneness to allow the natye to see in - amaunuh in Shum. The devotee is seeing the guru, the guru is seeing the devotee. His grace is hoped for to lift the veil of delusion and release awareness from the darker areas of the mind to soar within. Mingbasida in shum: an inner flow, spine to spine, between you and your guru; you will feel one with the guru and with everyone in the universe, the same energy permeates all.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone. And today we're starting a new chapter from "Merging with Siva" Chapter 44 entitled "Darshan, Grace of the Guru" from "The 1972 Master Course" Lesson 302:
"Overcoming Karma
"Several thousand years ago, a yoga master was born from his own realization of the Self. He was born from his search within, where he found Absolute Existence, deep inside the atomic structure of his being. This master’s realization came as he controlled the mind and penetrated through it to the very core of its substance. After Self Realization, his mind opened into the fullness of knowing. This knowledge he then imparted, as needed, to the students who came to him curious or eager to solve the philosophical and metaphysical puzzles of life. The first esoteric universities formed around the master in this way. Other masters have since come and gone. Each in turn battled and conquered the fluctuating mind and penetrated into the depth of being. Students gathered around them in a most natural sequence of events. Each master brought forth from his intuition the related laws and disciplines needed so that they, too, might attain Self Realization, îmkaîf, as it is called in Shûm, the language
of meditation.
"This is known as the guru system of training. It is personal and direct. An advanced devotee is one whose intuition is in absolute harmony with that of his master. This is the way I teach, not in the beginning stages when my devotees are probing the subject matter for answers, but after they have conquered the fluctuation of the patterns of the thinking mind. When they reach an advanced level of control and rapport with me, they have become śishya, dedicated their lives to serving mankind by imparting the teachings of Advaita Īśvaravâda—the nondualistic philosophy of the Vedas, the basic tenet of which is that man merges into God...
Then as my commentary we have a related Shûm concept:
amaunuh (How this concept relates isn't apparent until toward the end of the definition.)
Looking into areas of the mind that have been explored by others but never experienced by the looker, observer, except from a distant vantage point; view, intuit, cognize; one can look inside a room through a window and experience the room without having entered the room; the indweller can either raise or lower the shades, allowing or blocking the onlooker's view; practicing this portrait allows one to work his mind constructively with another; amaunuh is not a communication or sharing, but totally the act of looking; this can also be done in one's own mind, not involving another; one can tilimf, or psychically look into an area of the mind one has previously experienced but amaunuh only an area one has not yet fully experienced, either in meditation, through another's awareness or through m'mimf; (then we get the part that directly relates) a natye looks into inner states through the mind of his guru; the guru opens himself up enough to allow the natye to see in; listening to a lecture or reading a book can be amaunuh.
Then back to the text:
"Advice can be given freely, but unless the seeker is dedicated to the path of Eternal Truth, it is taken only on the intellectual plane and quoted but rarely used. (That's good: "...quoted but rarely used.") Therefore, the wise guru gives challenges—spiritual assignments known as sâdhana—advice, spiritual direction and guidance that merge with the aspirant’s own individual will. This causes daily, recognizable results from actions taken to produce accomplishment physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Each seeker sets his own pace according to his character, his ability to act with care, forethought, consistency and persistence in the sâdhana given to him by his guru.
"There are five states of mind. Each one interacts somewhat with the other. The conscious mind and the subconscious mind work together closely, as does the sub of the subconscious with the subconscious, and the subconscious with the sub-superconscious. The superconscious is the most independent of them all. Being the mind of light, when one is in a superconscious state, seeing inner light is a constant experience of daily life. To attain states of this depth and still function creatively in the world, a solid training under a guru is requisite.
"The power to meditate comes from the grace of the guru. The guru consciously introduces his student into meditation by stimulating certain superconscious currents within him. The grace of
the guru is sought for by the yogîs and is well understood by them."
Lesson 303:
"Darshan's Mystic Power
"Little is known of the guru’s grace or the power of darśana in Western culture. Darśana (more popularly darshan) is a Sanskrit word meaning “vision, seeing or perception.” But in its mystical usage, it is more than that. Darshan is also the feeling of the emotions of a holy person, the intellect, the spiritual qualities that he has attained and, most importantly, the Śakti, the power, that has changed him and is there constantly to change others. Darshan encompasses the entirety of the being of a person of spiritual attainment. In India, everyone is involved in darshan. Some at a temple have darshan of the Deity. Others at an âśrama have darshan of their swâmî or on the street enjoy darshan of a sâdhu. And most everyone experiences dûrdarshan. That’s the word for television in India, meaning “seeing from afar.” Even this seeing, through movies, news and various programs of mystery, tragedy, humor, the fine arts and culture, can affect our emotions, intellect, pulling us down or lifting us up in consciousness. Seeing is such a powerful dimension of life, and it affects us in so many ways, inside and out. Darshan, in the true meaning of this mystical, complex and most esoteric word, conveys all of this.
"The concept of darshan goes beyond the devotee’s seeing of the guru. It also embraces the guru’s seeing of the devotee. Hindus consider that when you are in the presence of the guru that his seeing of you, and therefore knowing you and your karmas, is another grace. So, darshan is a two-edged sword, a two-way street. It is a process of seeing and being seen. The devotee is seeing and in that instant drawing forth the blessings of the satguru, the swâmî or the sâdhu. In turn, he is seeing the devotee and his divine place in the universe. Both happen within the moment, and that moment, like a vision, grows stronger as the years go by, not like imagination, which fades away. It is an ever-growing spiritual experience. The sense of separation is transcended, so there is a oneness between seer and seen. This is monistic theism, this is Advaita Īśvaravâda. Each is seeing the other and momentarily being the other..."
So my commentary to emphasize this text which is really profound:
The popular idea of darshan is that the devotee is seeing the guru or seeing the Deity in the temple. "I am seeing the guru. I am seeing the Deity. I am having darshan." Gurudeva is adding a second aspect that the guru or the Deity is seeing you. And that when this mutual seeing is deep enough it actually creates a oneness between the seer and the seen. You can't say who is seeing who anymore. Because it's all one.
Back to the text:
"Darshan embodies Śakti. Darshan embodies Śânti. Darshan embodies vidyâ, perceiving on all levels of consciousness for all inhabitants of the world. It is physical, mental, emotional, spiritual perception. Hindus believe that the darshan from a guru who has realized the Self can clear the subconscious mind of a devotee in minutes, alleviating all reaction to past actions and alter his perspective from an outer to an inner one. Darshan is the emanating rays from the depth of an enlightened soul’s being. These rays pervade the room in which he is, penetrating the aura of the devotees and enlivening the kundalinî, the white, fiery, vapor-like substance that is actually the heat of the physical body in its natural state.
"In the Orient, whenever the cloud of despair covers the soul of a devotee, the darshan of a guru is sought. Whenever it becomes difficult to meditate, his grace is hoped for to lift the veil of delusion and release awareness from the darker areas of mind to soar within. Consciously merge into the inner being of yourself, and you will know your guru when you find him."
Then I thought as an appropriate commentary we could look at November Shum Mamsani.
mingbasida nabaluhtye niimf ukanuhshum
Mingbasida, the first portrait of this month’s mamsani, means a beautiful inner flow, spine-to-spine, between you and your guru. In this way the ukanuhshum will become easy, possible, and a lot of joy will be emitted from your accomplishments. Mingbasida—visualize the energy in your guru as being the same energy within you. If you can locate and identify with this basic life force between yourself and your guru, automatically and retroactively you will feel one with everyone in the universe, for it is the same energy which permeates all.
Ukanuhshum names an assignment given by your guru to help you on the path, a challenge to test your ability to direct awareness. Nabaluhtye means the constant working with ukanuhshum, working with yourself, striving inwardly, even when you don't want to. Nabaluhtye is the name of this inner area within the fourth dimension of the mind, a subsuperconscious state in which you are working with the instinctive-intellectual areas of the mind in order to accomplish ukanuhshum on the path. Before a natye, a shishya, is allowed to go further, he must master ukanuhshum, working in and through the inner states of nabaluhtye and mingbasida.
Thank you very much; have a wonderful day.
[End of transcript.]