Every year during this time it is celebrated as Vyasa Purnima also. Vyasa Maharishi is considered one of the greatest Gurus who brought into this, the Guru-disciple relationship, the writer of Mahabharata epic, everything. On this day, Indians all over the world, they celebrate it as Guru Purnima giving total obeyance and respects to, reverence to the Guru. That too, you see, if you have a Self-realized guru in your life, you’re really very blessed. So that is the most important thing. Like in the beginning also as I told, we were blessed to have Swamiji, Shivabalayogi as our Guru. So grateful always. Guru’s meaning all of you are familiar by now; the one who can dispel the darkness of ignorance. And my Guru always said, “As long as you are open to learning, there is no problem. Ignorance is not at all a curse. Only the ego is the real curse.” Ego means when you don’t want to learn. And He also used to say, “Never think that you have come to know of everything – not possible. And never stop the learning process also. That’s also very much important,” He always used to tell. So, this is the significance of Guru-disciple relationship.

Like many things are there, Guru is equivalent to God, Guru is like a father, mother, and taking you on the right path as a torch bearer. Like another example, why a Guru is needed, Swamiji my Guru used to tell – “On the road you can go on walking. As long as it is a single road you go on walking, no problem. You can even boast that you know, you don’t need anybody. But suddenly you come to a circle where one road goes to east and another goes to west and another to north and you are coming from the south. You don’t know where to go. You have to reach a place. Then you will be confused. You need somebody to guide you – ‘You have to take this road.’ Then you can reach, otherwise you will be simply going round and round and round and you will never reach the things”. Like suppose you want spiritual truths, you are a spiritual seeker, then you need a right Guru to guide you on the right path. He should not be exploiting the disciples; should be guiding them on the right path.

A Guru is satisfied when a student achieves that Truth. That is the greatest dakshina or donation to me, I have always told. When you achieve that Truth to yourself, all of you, when you practice, that gives the moment of pride for a Guru. That is very important. Like Kabir Das also has told. He sings in the song of “Guru Govinda dono kade; kinike laago paayi; balihari Guru aapano Govinda dio Batai.” Means, He is singing, “O Guru and God, both of you have appeared in front of me. To whom shall I prostrate first?” The mind is a bit confused. “God is the Supreme. He is absolute. But here is Guru also.” But then His mind clears and thinks, “Guru, it is You who told me about God. Otherwise, I would not have known about God at all. So let me prostrate to You first and then to the Divinity.”

So, that is the importance given to a Guru in Indian culture since ancient times. We heard about Guru from my mother’s mouth as a young child. “Even if God gets annoyed, if you worship the Guru, if you have faith in the Guru, your protection will happen. But if you annoy the Guru, no God can help you, you must know this one.” That is where you can learn. Wherever you learn, that is your Guru, that means. You have to have reverence for that one, whatever it is. And a Guru will always forgive you, bless you, pray for you, all the things. He will never have any hatred, any dislike for anybody. Such a one is the Self-Realized Master. And He will never hurt anyone. His mind will be pure consciousness. Even if He scolds somebody, that will get converted as a blessing, Swamiji used to tell. He used to tell, “If I smile at you, I can give you the world.” Means everything of the materialistic world. “But if I get annoyed, I can give you liberation. I can liberate you.” So, we were fortunate to undergo that from our Guru, eventually to get liberated, in the peace.

So, on this occasion of Guru Purnima, to all participants, to all students of the world, to all devotees of all different Gurus, we convey our best wishes, our prayers, our blessings. May you all be blessed to achieve the Absolute Truth in the right sense, guided by your Guru onto the right path, and then you achieve that one. May you be forgiven by your prarabdha. May you be blessed by your Guru. So that is important. So, this is the little bit of significance. Otherwise, you can go on talking, never-ending. Scriptures talk so much about Gurus; Guru Gita, such a wonderful scripture. The first time I wrote the commentary was of Guru Gita. So, you should read and try to understand the Guru Gita, is a wonderful book.