A most widely used metaphysical term
being used in metaphysics,
“Sadguru”
the definition and importance in spiritual life
of
which is almost
“Inexpressible”.

I atleast don’t have words with me.
Not easy to find, and even if one finds,
not easy to recognize properly
till
celestial eyes are not sanctioned.
Even if one does recognize,
not easy to move with HIS compassion
and
to prove own self as worthy disciple
of
an enlightened and totally accomplished sage.
One, who has perceived the truth, remains always in truth.

In Chapter 11 Of Bhagavad Gita known
as
‘ REVELATION OF THE OMNIPRESENT ‘
Lord Krishn says to Arjun:

na tu mām śakyase drastumanenaiva svacaksusā
divyam dadāmi te caksuh paśya me yogamaiśvaram

“But since you cannot see me with your physical eyes,
I grant you divine vision with which
you may behold my magnificence
and
the might of my yog.’’

And in the same Chapter,
Arjun too prays:

pitāsi lokasya carācarasya
tvamasya pūjyaśca gururgarīyān
na tvatsamo’styabhyadhikah kuto’nyo
lokatraye’pyapratimaprabhāva

“Since no one in the three worlds can even equal you,
who are father of the animate and inanimate worlds,
the greatest of all Gurus,
most venerable,
and
of
immense magnificence,
how can anyone else be superior to you?”

“Truth is never extinct at any time- past, present or future
and
the unreal has never any being.
God is the only reality, eternal and immutable”,
this is what has been preached in Bhagavad Gita
by
Lord Krishna
and
“Sadguru” is real image profile of this saying.
Simply inexpressible and beyond any discussion.

There are so many Gurus’ in every discipline.
When one learns any thing from any one,
that
person becomes one’s Guru for that particular knowing
but to know and realize the only truth,
the Supreme Power- one needs Sadguru.
Very rare, very difficult to find such a person
who has a capability to get one realized
about the greatest secret of this universe,
to
enable for having direct perception of GOD.

Such person
is
Sadguru
and
attributes of such personality has been
very widely discussed in scriptures.

Ramcharit Manas says:

“The Vedas, the Tantras and the Purans are at one on this point
and
so declare the Siiddhas and sages in different terms
that
the fellowship of genuine saints is only attained by those
whom Lord Ram regards with favour.
It is only Lord Ram’s grace that one is blessed
with sight of perfect sage
and
then by blessings of such sage,
all doubts disappear.”

It further adds:

“Devotion without a stock of merit can not be attained
except through the fellow ship of real saints.
Saints for their part are inaccessible without a stock of merit;
communion with the Lord’s devotees
in any case brings to an end
the cycle of births and deaths.

There is only one meritorious act
in this world and no other-to adore the feet
of
the enlightened sages by thought, word and deed.
The sages and God are propitious to him
who guilelessly serves the twice borne.”

It has been very clearly stated in Ramcharit Manas
that without a spiritual guide
none can cross the ocean of mundane existence,
though he may be the equal of Viranchi(The creator)
or
Lord Sankar.

Ramcharit Manas adds:

“Rarely does God,
who loves the Jiva without any self interest,
graciously bestow on it a human form,
which is a veritable raft whereby it can cross
the ocean of mundane existence,
with his grace for a favourable wind
and
a worthy preceptor for a helmsman to steer
this strong bark a combination which,
though difficult to secure,
has
been made easily available to it.”

In last chapter of this great scripture,
it is said that they alone are qualified to hear Lord Ram’s narrative,
who are extremely fond of communion with enlightened sages.
They alone are fit to hear it,
who are devoted to the feet of their preceptor,
and are lovers of propriety and votaries
of
the totally accomplished sages.

This scripture confirms that a Sadguru can save one even
if one has evoked the wrath of Brahm,
but in the event of a quarrel with one’s preceptor,
there is no one in the world who can save.

Great sage most revered Kabir has preached:

“Guru the washer man, disciple is the cloth,
the name of God liken to the soap,
wash the mind on foundation firm
to realize the glow of Truth.”

He further adds:

The Master is an expert Dyer,
He has colored my veil 

Removing the dark stains, he gave that color of love
by
washing which fades not but becomes brighter by the day,
using water of affection in the tub of feelings,
He poured the color of love.
Rinsing away the bodily sorrows and dirt,
the Expert dyed it deftly. 
The Master who dyed the veil is expert,
beloved and great. 
I surrender everything to Him – Body, Mind, Wealth and Life.

Says Kabir,
the Beloved Dyer is benevolent on me
Covered with this cool veil,
my being is blissfully fulfilled.

He has preached that without a Sadguru,
Man remains ignorant and lost.

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishn preaches in Fourteenth chapter:

“For I am the one in which the eternal God,
immortal life, the imperishable dharm,
and the ultimate bliss all abide.”

Lord Krishn is the dwelling of immortal God
(through a single-minded access
to whom
the seeker is cured
of
all worldly maladies),
of everlasting life, of eternal Dharm,
and
of
the unblemished pure joy of attaining to the Supreme goal.

In other words,
a
God-oriented saint is the abode of all this bliss.

So if we are seeking for the ineffable, indestructible God,
the eternal dharm, and the pure, ultimate bliss,
we have to take refuge in some great Soul
that
dwells in the incommunicable essence.
Only such a sage can enable a devotee to achieve
what he is questing for.

Sri Krishn is also a noble teacher-preceptor,
a Guru-who is the
GIVER OF YOG,
a
Yogeshwar.

According to the Yogeshwar,
the knowledge of the way that leads to ultimate good,
the means of embarking on it,
and of its attainment,
is
derived from a noble mentor.
Even roaming about from one holy place to another
or
similar other strenuous exertions cannot bring this knowledge
within our reach in the absence of a Guru
who can impart it to us.

In thirty-fourth verse of Chapter 4,
Arjun is advised to obtain this knowledge
from
sages
through reverence, inquiry and guileless solicitation,
for only these wise Souls
who are aware of the reality can initiate him into it.
Close proximity to an accomplished sage,
asking him sincere questions,
and
rendering of humble service to him constitute the means of realization.
Only by pursuing this course can Arjun finally bring
his spiritual quest to fruition.
The vital importance of an accomplished teacher-preceptor is again
stated in Chapter 18 of Bhagavad Gita:

“Whereas the way of securing knowledge,
the worthwhile knowledge,
and
the knower constitute the three fold inspiration to action,
the doer,
the agents,
and
the deed itself are the threefold constituents of action.”

According to Sri Krishn’s injunction,therefore,
an enlightened sage is the primary medium
by which action is accomplished.

We can never find a real sage till and until GOD is not looking upon us
as a result of our dedication and extreme devotion towards him
with all HIS compassion.
This is an exceptional grant for a devotee by Supreme Power
to get 
Sadguru.
One can find commercial gurus, preachers,
social reformers, scholars etc but to find
Sadguru
is
really very difficult and rare.

It is only possible when all our righteous impulses are accumulated
after getting earned in births and rebirths.
This huge accumulation of righteous impulses backed up
by our well deserved spiritual austerities result for finding
a
“Sadguru”.
And once one finds him, will neither loose him nor have any doubt
in path of real spiritualism.

Celestial eyes to recognize such accomplished sages
are
sanctioned by these noble mentors themselves
because they are capable of doing so.
They are exact substitute of Supreme Power
and
dwell in ultimate bliss.

Lord Krishn has preached in Bhagavad Gita:

“The man who perceives,
in whatever he is doing, whether hearing, touching smelling,eating,
walking, sleeping, breathing, giving up or seizing,
and
opening or closing his eyes,
that only his senses are acting according to their properties
and
that he himself is a non-doer, is indeed the one
with true knowledge.”

HE further adds:

“They who achieve the state of equality conquer
the whole world within the mortal life itself,
because
they rest in God who is also unblemished and impartial.”

Sages with perfectly poised minds are freed from material nature
during their worldly life itself.
But what is the relation between an even mind and conquest of nature?

When the world itself is annihilated,
what is the position of the Self?

In Lord Krishn’s view,
since God is immaculate and impartial,
the minds of sages who have known Him are also freed
from all blemishes and inequalities.
The sage becomes one with God.
This is the ultimate birth less state and it is acquired
when the ability to overcome the enemy,
the world of appearances, is fully developed.
This ability is there when the mind is controlled and when one has achieved the state of equality,
for the world of appearances, is but an extension of the mind.

The worshiper,
liberated from desire by selfless action,
knows Supreme Power and realizes him as soon as he is blessed
with this knowledge.
This is named peace; and the one who achieves it becomes God of gods, exact substitute of Supreme Power.
Such perfection is of state of
a
Sadguru.

Lord Krishn sings in Bhagavad Gita:

“Only by worship carried on through innumerable births
does a sage gain identity with him.
The worshiper then dwells in him and he in the worshiper.
There is then not even the least distance between them.
But this achievement is made during a physical life.

When the Soul does not have to assume
a new body-that is the real end of the physical body.
This is a portrayal of real death after which there is no rebirth.
At the other end there is physical death
which the world accepts as death,
but after which the Soul has to be born again.”

Lord Krishn says:

“To extend my grace to them,
I dwell in their innermost being
and
dispel the gloom of ignorance
by
the radiance of knowledge.”

Sri Krishn stands inseparably by the worshiper’s Self
as a charioteer to destroy spiritual ignorance.
Worship does not really commence until,
through a sage who has known God,
the Supreme Spirit himself has not come awake in the worshiper’s Soul
and
taken upon himself the task of guidance from one instant to another
as
also of restraining and disciplining him,
and
escorting him safely across the incongruities of nature.

At this stage God begins to command from all sides.
But at the beginning,
it is through an accomplished sage that he speaks.
If a seeker is not fortunate enough to have such a sage as a teacher,
God’s voice is only faintly audible to him.

The charioteer,
whether he is the worshiped deity
or
a teacher- preceptor,
or
God himself,
is
the same.

When the charioteer has awakened in the worshiper’s Self,
his dictates are received in four ways.

At first there is the experience that is related to gross breath:
of
the infusion into it of a thought that was earlier not in it.
When a worshiper sits in meditation,
he is confronted with a number of questions.

When is his mind going to be truly absorbed?
To what extent is it already absorbed?
When does his mind desire to escape from nature
and
when has it strayed from the path?

The answers to these questions are signaled every moment
by
the adored God through physical reflexes.
Twitching of limbs is an experience related to gross breath
and
it appears simultaneously at more than one point even within a moment.

If the mind has deviated,
these signals are transmitted minute after minute.
But these signals are received only
if the devotee holds on to the form of the worshiped Godlike teacher
with undeviating firmness.
Reflex actions such as twitching of limbs are a much too
frequent experience of ordinary beings because of clash
between their contradictory impulses,
but these have nothing to do whatsoever with the signs
that are transmitted to worshipers who are wholly dedicated
to the sublime object of their worship.

The other experience is connected
with the awakening of breath in dreams.
Ordinary men dream according to their desires,
but when a worshiper cleaves to God
even dreams are transformed into divine instructions.
Rather than dreaming,
yogi perceives the act of becoming.

These two experiences are both preliminary.
Association with a sage who has known reality,
having faith in him,
and
rendering him even a token service
suffice to bring about these experiences.
But the two subsequent experiences of a worshiper are more
subtle and dynamic,
and they can be had only through
active practice-only by really walking along the path.

The third experience is that of awakening into profound sleep.
All of us in the world after all, as it were,
lie immersed in slumber.
We are but lying in a state of insensibility
in the dark night of ignorance.
And whatever we do, day and night, is but a dream.
Profound sleep here refers to the condition
that follows after the stage
when the memory of God flows through the worshiper
so very like a perennial stream
that
his vision of God is permanently fixed in the mind.
This is that serene and blessed mood
in which the worshiper is led gently
on by his affections, and in which,
while the physical breath is suspended
and
he is laid asleep in body,
he becomes
“a Living Soul.”

This is the state of harmony and of deep joy
in which the worshiper is blessed with an insight
into the very life of things.
In such a condition the worshiped God transmits yet another signal,
which manifests itself in the form of an image
that is in consonance with the yogi’s prevailing mood
and
provides the correct direction,
thus acquainting him with the past and the present.

Revered Gurudev quite often tells us that even like the Surgeon
who
first renders a patient unconscious
and
then cures him
by the application of a suitable remedy,
God-when the flame of worship is strong and steady-imbues the devotee
with awareness of the state of his faith and worship
to cure his spiritual sickness.

The fourth and final experience is of the spiritual awakening
that leads to evenness of breath.

This is the state in which the worshiper is on par with that God
whose thought he has fixed his mind on as on a tangible object.
This realization arises from within the Self and once
this awakening has taken place, at every moment
while sitting idly or up and active,
the worshiper pre-visions occurrences
that shall be and thus gains omniscience.
This is the state, too, in which there arises a sense of oneness
with the embodied Self.

This final experience is generated
when the darkness of ignorance is dissipated
by the light of knowledge
through the agency of a timeless
and
unmanifest sage
who has awakened in his Soul.

All these happen under guidance
of
“Sadguru”
and
without his support and supervision,
nothing can be achieved.

Spiritual path is result oriented and if there is no result coming out,
one is not even at the last point of radiance of Supreme Power.

Hence to attain this state and stage in spiritual path,
importance
of 
Sadguru
becomes self evident.

And the thing which is very amazing
that
one need not to search
“SADGURU”.

One has to simply go through ordained actions
as suggested in Scriptures with toughest dedication
and
exceptional devotion for Supreme Power
and
the moment he/she touches the qualifying line for this path,
Sadguru will search automatically the seeker
by
his own divine arrangements
provided
by
Supreme Power.

Bow down in lotus feet of most revered Gurudev
for
such teachings to me.

_/l\_
“Humble Wishes”