Article written by Sri Devanayagi, from Holland.
English is not her mother tongue.
What is a Guru?
Being in Holland again taught me many lessons, also to answer questions,
which were asked by people about my life in India. I found that many
people were asking me about “the Guru” I live with.
Therefore, this article is to respond a bit more properly then what I
might have done.
Shri Param does not call himself a Guru, for various reasons, but mainly because
the word Guru in the West where he most of the time teaches is not understood.
Shri Param calls himself therefore a Spiritual Teacher, this is
basically an English translation for the word Guru but people accept it
much better.
At the end it is not important how somebody calls him or herself it all
depends on what the receiver of the teachings, how it feels inside to
call the person from whom the teachings come.
Many misconceptions are being spread of what a Guru should or should not
be or look like. Guru in Tamil means nothing more and nothing less then
Teacher, somebody you go to when you want to learn something. I will use
the word Guru in the rest of the story just to help you feel a bit more
comfortable with the word.
In life, the all of creation is your Guru if only you are open to it and
willing to learn and receive knowledge. I know that there are many
judgments about Guru’s in the West. They would brainwash, abuse and
mislead their students. In my experience that is not so. Since being
with Shri Param, I noticed that he does not volunteer any teachings to
me except only at my request. Most of his teachings come from innocent
discussions that end up being a learning experience. Any topic that I
come up with he gives me questions to think about and to look deeper and
yet deeper within myself, thus helping to come up with my own
realizations.
Since being in India in the company of Shri Param, I have met many
different Gurus. None of them has ever tried to impose their teachings,
in fact hardly speak about their knowledge. My latest encounter was with
a Guru, a Siddha doctor and practitioner, who could manifest ashes,
sandalwood powder, and kumkum from thin air, like Satya Sai Baba does.
Sai Baba is a great Guru known in both the east as the west.
The relationship that he and Shri Param shares reconfirms that I am in
the company and guidance of a truly humble Guru.
Shri Param Eswaran is a Guru to me, a Guru about life. He teaches me to
live my own life, to take responsibility for my life, helping me see my
weaknesses and how to appreciate my strength. Most of the times he does
it in a very loving and joyful way and yet at times he can be a harsh
teacher as well.
He does not place himself higher then me, he always comes as a friend
and treats me, as he would like to be treated, yet he is very much aware
of manipulative behavior and is very clear in pointing that out. He
always encourages, affirming the greatness of being a woman, it is up to
me whether I want to apply this to myself, and start living it.
In the beginning, I tested and questioned everything he stood for, yet
he never judged me or betrayed the trust I had in him. There were times
I did not understand his teachings for me, and I had big fights with
him. Yet, he was always there to listen to me, and help me have a clear
picture of where the stories my mind came up with. He has always been
able to help me find out where I am and where I want to be. He is a
master of trapping my ego. At times, I do not like him for doing so
since stories and ego most of the times are much more convenient than
reality.
In old times, a Guru was somebody who had several disciples. Jesus was a
Great Guru, a Guru who taught about love, and He was trapped, deceived
and crucified for doing so. Even His disciples betrayed Him at the end.
You can only be with a Guru when your own inner Guru is awaken, because
only then you can really receive knowledge and expand on it.
I was not familiar with the term and relationship with a Guru for a long
time. A lady in Holland who had been with many Guru’s told me that a
relationship with a Guru is ”like a Love affair”. The student has the
opportunity to use the Guru for his or her own growth. The Guru allows
the student to do so and to sustain the energy shared by student/Guru,
the student loves, respects and serves the Guru enjoying every moment he
or she can. You use the guru to find your own gratification, in serving
the guru.
It is like when you first meet somebody and fall in love. Your energy is
high, you enjoy and admire everything the other does, but after a while,
the falling in love is over, the energy becomes lower and the admiration
becomes lesser and lesser, then the little self, starts finding faults
in the other. You go back into mundane living, maybe together this time.
When you first meet a Guru it is special to be with him or her, there is
true admiration for the Guru because he shows you things you have never
seen or felt before.
AWAIT!! It is not so much the Guru who makes you experience things, it
is you!!
Because you make it special to be around him or her, your energy is
high, your admiration is high, your love for the Guru is high, then
things can happen, energy moves and life is beautiful. Unfortunately,
after a while, as time goes by you make the Guru become a normality in
your life and your life becomes normality as well, the experiences
become lesser and energy stops moving. I have seen it happen with many
around me, and myself as well. It is a struggle for me to go back to my
initial experience, I think it is gone forever, the journey becomes
harder and longer but then again real growth can take place.
You loose the beauty you experienced in the presents of your Guru. Yet
the Guru remains the same, he or she keeps going on the path they are
taking, and if we do not wake up in time they are gone forever from our
lives.
The changes are not within the Guru the changes are within you. It is
you who made the Guru a part of mundane living. You tend to forget how
he or she made you feel in the first place. In that, you will also start
looking for his or her faults and judging that.
Believe me, faults you will find many since he or she mirrors only
yourself (as everybody else mirrors you).
When the Guru becomes normality in your life, he or she may even become
annoying because he or she has not changed; they are constantly the
same, always there for you, teaching you. However, because your energy
is low or even negative the Guru will help you mirror your own
negativity.
The Guru is a like a battery charger, there to charge you with positive
feelings, and it is up to you to keep feeding on it.
In the West, the word “Guru” makes a lot of people jump into
conclusions, judgments, and negative thoughts. We have a big ego, which
prevents us most of the time from true learning. We feel that we know
everything, and seldom see what, that what we consider a simple little
India Guru, has to offer. A Guru is always there to remind you how
special you are, but be aware of your ego that makes you think that you
are as great or greater then him or her. In my experience, most Indian
Guru’s are very humble, and always make you feel equal, it is their
knack of making you feel accepted, for they see the God/Goddess within
you, and not your ego. Then again your ego, due to lack of humbleness,
do tend to abuse that equality, by making the Guru equal to oneself.
This I have noticed happening many times where students try to feel
equal or greater then Sri Param, or trying to test his knowledge.
People have this syndrome of need; a good Guru normally tries to remove
the need that the student has for the Guru, because finally it is your
inner guru that teaches you, for the Guru is only like a light,
lightening up the path. One who is not in touch with one’s inner Guru
will never be able to learn from an outer Guru. When one disrespects the
outer Guru one will loose contact with one’s inner Guru. One who knows
ones inner Guru, would find inner peace and would not experience
continuous madness, will not judge others based on one’s own needs,
weaknesses or guilt
In my weak moments, I often used to wonder why I did not leave Shw3ri
Param as many of my friends have done for various reasons. However, time
and time again, he has always been their for me, understanding my
madness, never judging me. Over the 2 years with him, I realize that he
has a continuous resource of knowledge that might take me a lifetime to
absorb. He is a true resource of knowledge for those who have the
patience to really grow. Believe me that it is not easy, but with
someone like Shri Param by one’s side, it becomes a bit easier.
After the first 3 months of Tantra Teacher Training, I thought that I
learned everything that I needed to know about sound-healing. Surprise,
surprise, during the next training everything was new again taking us
through different aspects of sound. It is more like the universe is
having a conversation with him about sound and the goddesses and we are
his motivators.
Every lecture that Shri Param gives totally speaks to me as if he knows
what I am thinking or wanting to know. Funnily, this is not only for me
but also for the other students. All Shri Param’s teachings seem very
simple, yet they are very complex
Of course, it is good to be critical, not so much to the Guru but mainly
of oneself. As I said, faults you might find plenty but who looses out
at the end? Who looses the opportunity to grow beyond certain
limitations of the mind, limitations of one’s judgments?
It is not your place to judge the Guru’s actions or behavior, since he
can have so many reasons to do so to teach his students. The students
view is only limited. It is the same as when a junior student in school
judges the teacher about his way of teaching. The student only has to
seek for where the Guru can help and teach him.
People might say now that I am living with a Guru I am brainwashed and
depending on Shri Param. That will be most inconvenient for him since
then he is stuck with me and I will become more a burden then a pleasure
to him. Needless, to say that he keeps me on my toes to always maintain
equilibrium, and keep standing equal to the task of being part of
Mother’s Center.
It is true that I learned many new perspectives on life. That does not
mean that I lost my own, I only got a lot more info and experiences,
which I can use in life. And yes, I did drop many things that were of no
use for me anymore, because they did not work for me the first 30 years
so why hang on to them?
A true Guru prepares the students for their life journey, showing them
reality, the reality of the self, which is the light within. A true Guru
observes, listens, and does not get caught in stories of the students.
The Guru uses the stories of the students to make things clear to the
student and then it is only up to the true student who wants to hear the
message hidden in it.
A true Guru is one who shares love with all those who come, always
forgiving at the same time being detached. A true Guru does not hold on
to students, he or she shares love with them who comes, yet lets go of
students very easily, when the student feels like leaving.
As the Guru is only a boat man, taking all across the river of life. The
Guru does not ask any real student to leave, but yet it is the freedom
of the student to leave.
A true Guru is a person who chose to live in the world, dealing with the
craziness of the people of the world. He or she gives you the
opportunity to go beyond the world, when you can find it in yourself to
see the Guru as your light, because, then you will find your own light
within yourself, since the Guru can only be as a mirror, but never your
real Guru, because only you are your own true Guru.
On the top right-hand corner of this page you will
find the sound of the Goddesses, Bija sound that are used during Para-Tan
sound healing. An Inner Tantric practice, deeper tradition of Tantra,
its multidimensional vision of the Divine and its transformative practices
of bija mantra that take us far beyond the outer models of how Tantra is
usually presented today
The Mahavidya Inner Health Center 3778-A (TKT.1) Jalan RJ 6/11 Taman Rasah Jaya,
Seremban NS, Malaysia, 70300
Mother Center Mahavidya Temple 1/244 Killankulam village,
Periayur Taluk, Madurai district,
Tamil Nadu, India
625703
We are proud to bring to you Bija Mantras of
the Goddesses. When listening to this Audio-video, please use good headphones to
enjoy the maximum healing benefit of the sounds. This is only a recording, when
you receive a sound healing personally, it is much, much, more powerful.
Tantra the Way of Life, talk
given by The Father of Para-Tan and Master of the Living Goddess Tradition and
founder of the Mahavidya Temple in South India,
Shri Param Eswaran
Sri Renee Jeffus speaks about her experience after attending
the Para-Tan Sound Intensive
LOVE IS THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE and it is only through the light and way
of love that we may raise our vibration and reclaim our inner divinity. Para Tan
utilizes ancient sacred sounds to break up cellular memory and circulate Shakti
aka LOVE aka SOUND through the body. This feeling of love is the orgasmic bliss
of cosmic union with divinity within and around us.