The importance of a Guru... and the vacuum of his absence

By Brother Aravind Balasubramanya
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 The Bharatiya scriptures have always accorded a very special place for the Guru. It is said that the mother points out the father to the child. The father points out the Guruand the Guru points out the Lord.
The term ‘Guru’ is loosely translated as the ‘preceptor’ for want of a better word just as the term ‘Bharatiya’ is often loosely translated as ‘Indian’ for want of a better word. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba says that the term ‘Bharatiya’ is made up of two Sanskrit roots - Bha meaning God and Rathi meaning lover. A person who has love for God is a Bharatiya and the land in which such people reside is Bharat. Since India has been the birthplace of many religions, prophets, men of God and the incarnations of the Lord, it is referred to as Bharat. Thus, when Swami refers to the glorious Bharatiyas in His discourses, He is referring to the people who love God and not exactly to those that reside in the geographical boundaries of India.
In similar vein, Baba says that Guru is made up of two Sanskrit roots - Gu which stands for Gunateeta (beyond attributes) and Ru which stands for Rupavarjita(beyond form). A famous Sanskrit verse says,
“Acharya Devo Bhava”
which translates into, “The Guru is God”, because the Guru shows the way to God.
In this scenario, one can only imagine the good fortune of having the Lord Himself come as one’s Guru as I strongly believe happened with the advent of Bhagawan Baba.
But having a Master / Lord / Guru in human form has a big disadvantage too. The physical human frame is temporary in its nature and has to go one day even when it is occupied by the Supreme Being. And when that happens, the devotees and followers are totally at a loss as to what to do. The form that they love and adore has departed and they are drowned in sorrow.
That is what happened on the 24th of April, 2011 when Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba left the physical frame. All devotees were heart-struck at this act of their Lord. And the question that arose in all was,
“What next now?”……………………….READ MORE from the link below……….

http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com/hub/The-best-God-or-Master-to-follow-Sathya-Sai-Baba-Best-religion