repost: sent to I from a bredrin Jonathan in Ohio
H.I.M. and the role of a guru:
Body: "If it were not for YOGA and its various stages...how much poorer would the Western mind be...?"
--Haile Selassie I nov. 1967 Calcutta, India
It is an absolute necessity for one to attach oneself to the Guru in one form or another if one is to be successful on their journey. One who has purified the temple/body with great practice and discrimination should approach a wise Guru from who s/he may learn further instruction. Ultimately, it is taught, when the student is ready, the Master appears.
Guru is a Hindi word which translates as "dispeller of darkness," and the Guru is seen as an incarnation of the Divine. The Guru is learned in texts, is stainless, desireless, and has reached total Enlightenment through arduous training and commitment. Admittedly, the true Guru rests within as the Supreme Witness, though to find an outer Guru can prove ever beneficial in finding the Master in our inner most parts. For this reason the old saying that "one cannot be saved without the Guru, but the Guru cannot save one," is ever full of this paradoxical truth.
As we stated earlier, Yahshua, Buddha, Muhammad(peace be upon Them), and others have served humanity for centuries through their inspiration and teachings. They are indeed World teachers, available to the masses who long for the proper direction in their quest. If one is devoted to these Masters, they will serve the purpose for the guidance necessary in one's practice.
The true power of the Master is the generation of faith and inspiration. One can come to know themselves by studying the life and words of the Guru, regardless of religious affiliation. The Guru is the living vessel of Truth and possesses the power to bring the disciple to their, Bindu, that is, center.
Yahshua, Buddha, and Muhammad never intended to create religions out of their teachings, for as we said, Christ was not a Christian and so on. They constantly told the followers to look within for the Divine, and seek one's own salvation. The Masters are but lights upon the path to Self Realization, and this must not be forgotten in our practice. All are the seeds, waiting to blossom into the essence of Divinity, where one too becomes the Guru of Self Knowledge.
To the Ras Tafari movement Haile Selassie I (Peace be upon Him) represents the Guru/Baba/Master. Again, H.I.M. provided the downtrodden, oppressed masses of Africans the shining light that is ever necessary for spiritual upliftment. Indeed Haile I lived the life of a true Master, and His words remain an inspiration for all to seek unity and Self Knowledge. His Majesty had great admiration for Yahshua, and His life was that of the "exemplary life of Iyesos," as H.I.M. once stated. Selassie I possessed great occult knowledge and knew the secrets of Enlightenment, anyone graced with His presence felt the magnetism He radiated.
Of such magnetism, a clerk in His Majesty's palace stated in the book The Emperor, by Kapuscinski, "A passing notice, a fraction of a second, yet the sort of notice that later would make one tremble inside...Let's say that the Imperial gaze just grazes your face...Immediately you feel the temperature of your face rise, and the blood rush to your head, and your heart beat harder. These are the best proofs that the eye of the Protector has touched you..."(pg. 14)
For the above mentioned reasons Haile Selassie I and the others are worthy of great praise and devotion, but not to be vainly worshipped in the name or form of desire. If it is proposed that these humble one's are worshipped at all, it is to be done for the sake of the love of the Divine within these souls, not for the sake of cravings and desires for another "body" to bring forth salvation; for as we continually say only Self can ultimately liberate Self.
The Masters live in eternity through both their inspiration to the world and through the realization they attained. Awakening gives the Master eternal life, and these beings merge with the Absolute, becoming Omnipresent. All who have reached the summit of Completion remain awake and aware, and when they leave the body, become One with the Supreme Witness. In this light, one can safely say that any "prayer," or form of devotion offered to the essence of these beings, who have long since left the body, is not in vain, for these Masters are one with the Eternal Knower, the Supreme Ear, as the Masters teach.
It is the Guru who bestows initiation unto the student. Initiation means "to commence; to begin," and it may take place in many forms. For some it could be the devoted study of the life, words, and works of the Master. For still others it could be a single glance, touch by such a blessed one. In some ancient paths the Guru performs certain ritualistic aspects of initiation. In the Vodou path the Baba performs certain rites so as to give the novice a feeling of "rebirth," such as the shaving of the head and being stripped naked and left for days in a underground room, representing the return to the Great Womb. The seeker returns to the world a new being, and this is in a sense a form of reincarnation, or more appropriately, rebirth. In any case, the necessity for initiation is of utmost importance, giving the student a new sense of being and the confidence to advance steadily upon the path of Self-knowledge. Remember, it was Yahshua's Guru, John the Baptist that gave Him the inspiration and initiation to move forward and carry out the "Father's Will" in the Gospels. The Trinity of the Guru is that of Teaching, Influence, and Example, and these tools surely permeate the very being of the true Master-Guru.
It is further admitted that life experience itself is one's highest Guru-Teacher. For it is only life which births the experiences of pleasure and pain, slowly preparing each and every "soul" for the eventual Liberation from all cycles. For this reason, it is also proposed that the true Master is the humblest student; for Enlightenment is ultimately boundless and never ending, one continually grows and evolves into absolute oneness with the Divine through this life journey. The Awakening of this truth, however, occurs once, and this is the true initiation.
This ends our discourse on the role of the Guru. We humbly bow and give honor to the blessed feet of all the Masters without boundaries, and prejudice. In perfect Oneness we give this most powerful initiation to the few ripe one's who fully overstand the mysteries contained herein. Blessed Love.
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