When you love your guru unconditionally, his grace flows to you automatically. The guru's words never fail to come to fruition. The trouble is, the human mind wants instant gratification, unmindful of the fact that only when circumstances are appropriate, the guru's words bear fruit.
The guru communicates through words and gestures and through his physical actions. Devotees often assume that the manifest form of the guru is what does all the work. We need to realise that the guru works at subtler levels. It's a different realm altogether.
Devotees often tend to stray from the path of love when they engage in worthless pursuits, enamoured by material acquisitions. They shore up their personal ego by making physical offerings to the master. All that a devotee can truly offer to the guru is his love which is unmanifest and which is the latent force in every human. That is a true offering.
There are those who seek gurus to bless them in their pursuit of position, power, progeny, cure of physical and mental ailments. How many people care to understand the real purpose of existence? We have been sent here to do good karma in order to be able to come face to face with our eternal Guru.
The guru has no religion; he has only the faith of love. A realised guru steps down from his higher state into the pond of samsara to help alleviate the suffering of his devotees. We must constantly engage in dialogue with death, as that is something that we must all face. We however perform actions and deeds out of malice towards others not realising that death can knock at our door any moment.
The guru does not have to speak to bestow his grace. His mere physical presence and aura help start the process of transformation. He is aware of our inner life through silence. Distance does not act as a hindrance to this process because inner knowledge comes to us through the transmission of the guru's own energy.
The guru acts as a divine messenger; his outer bearings are of no consequence. What we need to understand and feel is that true love lies inside each of us. What is important for a guru is to silently transform the heart and mind of each of his devotees. It does not matter how many discourses or lectures we attend, what really matters is the pace at which the devotee gets transformed and this is directly correlated with the flow of grace.
One needs to be practical in life and practical spirituality is the answer to today's sorrows. One must remain happy and be in a joyful state because this helps overcome negative thoughts. A person does not have to be a hermit to become spiritual. We must live in the world and yet remain detached from it.
Contemplation of God must be done in complete silence. Keep repeating the name of God over and over again. Having a family or a large fortune should not stand in the way of contemplating God's name. If both husband and wife are spiritually inclined, this comes as a great boon towards following a spiritual path. A happy married couple will prove a source of great joy and support to each other. We must live in harmony with nature and with each other. The world is transformed into a beautiful place if we live in harmony with ourselves and with the universe.
By Nirmal Guruji Who attained Maha-samadhi on May 31, 2007.