The Teacher-Guru - John Grimes

The great eighth century Indian sage Sankaracharya said, “Why are you looking for God in city after city, temple after temple? God dwells in the heart within. Why look in the East and in the West. Don’t look for God, look for the Guru. God dwells within you; in truth, you are God. You don’t need to find God, you need to find a Guru who will guide you to yourself.”

In his great philosophical text, The Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Sankara defines the qualities of a true teacher (guru) as well as those of a true seeker. The quest for enlightenment, for liberation, begins when one gives up desiring external pleasures. Eternal satisfaction, permanent happiness, is not possible from temporary, impermanent, sensory indulgence. The objects which the five senses record can, at best, give momentary fulfillment. Though, even there, it is said that it is not the object itself which gives one happiness, but the fulfillment of the desire for it. When the desire is present, while there is still a wanting to achieve, to obtain something, there is no happiness. The desire disappears only at the moment of fulfillment.

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© “The Theosophist” (February, 2001) published by The Theosophical Society, Adyar, Chennai 600 020. Website: www.ts-adyar.org. Reprinted with permission.

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