JULY 21, 2024
LET’S CELEBRATE GURU PURNIMA DAY!
Today is Guru Purnima day, it’s the day to honor the teachers, or ”gurus” in our life.
Guru Purnima has been celebrated as Teachers’ Day from ancient times in India, with different meanings according to the different religions and cultures, but it’s still celebrated today in modern India in schools and colleges around the country, when present and past students visit their teachers and greet them with tokens and words of gratitude and respect. Poems are recited and the teachers give their blessings to the students.
We invite you to use this chance to find your own way to honor your teachers and Gurus.
But what is a “Guru”?
A Guru is more than a teacher, as we mean it in the West.
This word is very ancient and goes back to the Vedic Times and it was referred to spiritual mentors. A popular etymological theory considers the term “guru” to be based on the syllables gu (गु) and ru (रु), which it claims stands for darkness and “light that dispels it”, respectively. In this indian folk etymology the guru is seen as the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance.
As Osho is our Guru, let’s read what’s his vision of the relationship between the Gurus and their disciples.
“When you die in your Master as a man, you become divine. A Master is a death and a resurrection. This day of Guru Purnima is a day of death and resurrection. It is no ordinary day – it is very symbolic. If you come to me, you come only in one way: you come to die in me. And you will not be less by your dying – you will be more, you will be infinitely more. You will be losing nothing and you will be gaining all.
This death into a Master is what makes a man a disciple. It is no ordinary relationship; it is the only extraordinary relationship in the world. All other relationships are ordinary. All other relationships are part of the world. Only this relationship is not part of the world – it takes you beyond. It is a golden bridge from the visible to the invisible, from the material to the divine, from the known to the unknown, from death to deathlessness. But… you will have to die first.
To be with a Master is to carry your cross on your shoulders. That’s why only very courageous people can become disciples. I am not here for students, I am not interested in students at all. I am only interested in disciples, those who are courageous enough to go unto this eternal voyage.”
OSHO, Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol 3, Ch. 1
