Guru Pournami – Receiving the Guru’s Grace
Sadhguru, Isha Foundation
This is the time of the year when Shiva, the Adiyogi’s attention first fell upon the Saptarishis – the now, celebrated seven disciples. In the yogic tradition, Shiva is not worshipped as a God, but is considered the Adiyogi – the First Yogi, and as the Adiguru, the First Guru from whom the yogic sciences originated. So, we are in the month when an ascetic and yogi who was completely uninvolved with what was around him, was beginning to get involved. For twenty-eight days, from one full moon day to the next – the one which is referred to as Guru Pournami – Shiva could not take his attention off the Saptarishis, who had done some simple preparatory steps for eighty-four long years without even a moment of attention from him. Now, his attention upon his first seven disciples was undivided. So this month is seen as a month where even a completely heartless ascetic could not ignore, he became compassionate and was compelled to become a teacher or a Guru. This month is seen as the best time to receive the Grace of the Guru and make yourself receptive to the process. This is a good time to earn that attention from the Grace.
“What should I do?” is always the question. If you don’t do anything of your own, so that you are less of yourself, that is the best way to be receptive. Sadhana is always structured like this, so that it absorbs you into activity in such a way that in the daily process of living, you forget who you are, what you are and what your life is about. You are just absorbed into what is happening. That is the best way to receive Grace.
There is a beautiful expression in the Zen system of allowing human consciousness to grow. A disciple went to a Zen master and asked, “What should I do for my spiritual growth?” “Sweep the floor, chop the wood, cook the food, that’s all.” “For that, why should I come here? I can do it at home.” But there, sweeping is about your own floor. You will not sweep the next house’s floor if it is dirty. You will chop wood for your own use, you will cook food just for yourself and whom you consider as yours. You are using every activity to enhance who you are, not to dissolve who you are. This is all the difference between making our karma either into a bondage or into a process of liberation. Either you are acquiring karma or your karma is becoming yoga.
So, this month is the month of Grace. Grace is like manure for growth, that a human being can catapult himself to another dimension of existence, capability and possibility. So making use of Grace – what should we do? Nothing to do. The less you do within yourself and the more you do outside of yourself, the more available you become to Grace.
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.
