THE EGO IS A POWERFUL ELEPHANT
D: How is the Guru found?
M: God, who is immanent, in His grace takes pity on
the loving devotee and manifests Himself according
to the devotee’s development. The devotee thinks
that He is a man and expects a relationship as
between two physical bodies. But the Guru, who is
God or the Self incarnate, works from within, helps
the man to see the error of his ways and guides him
in the right path until he realizes the Self within.
D: What should the devotee do then?
M: He has only to act up to the words of the Master
and work within. The Master is both ‘within’ and
‘without’, so He creates conditions to drive you
inward and at the same time prepares the ‘interior’
to drag you to the Centre. Thus He gives a push
from ‘without’ and exerts a pull from ‘within’, so
that you may be fixed at the Centre.
You think that the world can be conquered by your own
efforts. When you are frustrated externally and are
driven inwards, you feel ‘Oh! there is a Power higher
than man!’
The ego is like a very powerful elephant which cannot be
brought under control by any less powerful than a
lion, which, in this instance, is no other than the
Guru, whose very look makes the elephant-like ego
tremble and die.
You will know in due course that your glory lies where
you cease to exist. In order to gain that state, you
should surrender yourself. Then the Master sees that
you are in a fit state to receive guidance, and He
guides you.
D: How can the silence of the Guru, who gives no
initiation nor does any other tangible act, be more
powerful than His word etc.? How is such silence
better than the study of scriptures?
M: Silence is the most potent form of work. However
vast and emphatic the scriptures may be, they fail in
their effect. The Guru is quiet and Grace prevails in
all. This silence is vaster and more emphatic
than all the scriptures put together.
D: But can the devotee obtain happiness?
M: The devotee surrenders himself to the Master and it
means that there is no vestige of individuality retained
by him. If the surrender is complete, all sense of self
is lost, and then there can be no misery or sorrow.
The eternal Being is nothing but happiness. That comes
as a revelation.
From Maharshi’s Gospel
