Gurus

So, there are books that have lot of knowledge that overwhelms us. And then there are books which has stories about sages, seers & saints. Knowledge  make us ponder on the three-dimensional reality that we witness. The stories about sages and their miracles also do the same, but somehow we are able to relate with them, probably because we may have seen the sages or heard about them from our parents and grandparents.

India is a land of sages who have been guiding the common folk, mortals. Their stories are numerous. I have already written about saints in Uttarakhand. 

In the “The Perfect Ones”, Ruzbeh N. Bharucha has collected stories of various saints. Born in 1967, a devotee of Sai Baba of Shirdi, Ruzbeh N. Bharucha in one of the most renowned spiritual writers of our times. He is an author of twenty books that promote Oneness and walking the path of spirituality with faith and joyous surrender. 

Some excerpts from the book:

1. The night doesn’t descend because the Sun has shown His back to the Earth, but because the Earth has shown Her back to the Sun. (11)
2. He, who was Lord Rama, had reappeared in the world in the soul of Baba Tajuddin Aulia and when his work was finished, He left the earth and He was recognized. (128)
3. When an individual speaks, acts, thinks, without identifying himself or herself with the word, action, thought, that is the time the clock of Karma begins to stand still. Karma cannot effect an individual, who doesn’t identify himself or herself with the action, thought or word. (199)

Try to understand the point 3 above in light with Bhagwad Geeta 3.19.

तस्मादसक्त: सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर |
असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुष: || 19 ||

Meaning – Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty because by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme.

Lord Krishna has talked about doing work without identification of the activity with one’s ego. Probably a challenging task in current world; where we easily get identified with whatever we do. E.g. even though I don’t want to convey that I am writing this blog, I have a subtle feeling that I am doing something for the benefit of others (and even mine, since all points mentioned here, I will read again as reminders). The easy way is to dedicate each action to the Lord Himself (scroll down for mantras).

St. Pete Beach, Florida, United States, November 2010.

The books has 22 chapters covering 22 saints in just over 300 pages. The author has painstakingly collected stories of several greats such as – Sai Baba of Shirdi, Meher Baba, Sarkar Makhdum Shah Baba, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Ramana Maharishi, Guru Nanak & Lahiri Mahasaya. He has even covered angels from Western world such as Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Raphael & Archangel Michael etc. Most of the stories are a quick read, and you can read and put down the book, in case you don’t have much time.