I am teaching you this about the Guru because I believe it’s your best chance for awakening in this lifetime.
– Mark Griffin (author of Shri Guru Gita)
Introduction
The Guru Gita (Song of the Guru) is a Hindu scripture authored by the sage, Vyasa. The 352 verses text is a part of the larger Skanda Purana. The most well-known section of this text is the Guru Strotam. By chanting the Guru Gita, you align with the Guru’s grace in the deepest way.
It describes a conversation between teacher and student, Shiva and his wife, Parvati.
The text begins when Parvati observes Shiva explaining the Supreme Truth to the sages. She is astonished when she sees that while the sages were bowing to her husband, He in turn was reverently bowing to someone else.
“O, My Lord, You are the teacher of the entire world, the one Supreme Being. You are fit above all to receive prostrations. To whom do You bow? I am amazed at this. Please, enlighten me!”
The great Lord’s response was simple, direct, and startling:
“It is to the Guru I bow.”
Hearing this, Parvati asked Shiva to explain the nature of the guru, and for the sake of humanity, to reveal the path by which seekers can unite with the Absolute. In response to Her request, Lord Shiva sang the Guru Gita.
The Guru Gita
The Guru Gita contains 352 powerful sutras, however I have selected, in my humble opinion, the most important passages for your reading making this much more direct, powerful and free of redundancy.
- The Guru is the same as the Self, the same as Consciousness itself. This is the absolute truth. Those who seek wisdom should make every effort to find their Guru.
- The Guru knows you inside and out. Withhold no part of yourself from him, including that which you think of as dark.
- The Guru is beyond any description. No imputed terms can describe him. Thus, the Vedas say “neti neti” – he is not this, he is not that.
- “I am unborn, I am ageless, beginning less and deathless. I am smaller than the smallest and larger than the largest. I move and move not. I am far as well as near. I am inside everything and outside everything all at once. I am beyond cause and effect. I am the supreme Akasha. I am consciousness and bliss, never-ending, self-luminous, imperishable and pure.”
- He is beyond the primordial sound of Nada. He is beyond the Blue Pearl, bindu. He is beyond perception, beyond duality, beyond the three gunas and all formation.
- Think of the Guru with every action you perform. Contemplate the Guru Gita with devotion – read it, listen to the Guru recite it, journal about it. This will yield the fruit of liberation.
- Having established inner silence of the mind, repeat the Guru Gita with detachment, in a clean and sacred place. Each and every letter is an empowered mantra.
- Bountiful rewards will be obtained. The recitation removes all obstacles and ends all suffering and hardship. It removes the fear of time and death, and is the destroyer of all adversity. It removes the disease of worldly existence. It bestows riches and siddhis, as well as the ability to influence others. Always repeat the Guru Gita.
- The most powerful yoga, is not the pranayama with its windy breathing exercises, nor hatha yoga with its challenging and difficult positions – rather, it is the Guru Yoga, the supreme yoga, which grants the spontaneous state, whereby the powerful prana becomes still of its own accord, without effort.
- There is no difference between the contemplation of your own Guru and the contemplation of the infinite Lord Shiva. Indeed, chanting the name of your own Guru is was powerful as chanting the mantra of infinite Lord Shiva.
- I bow to my Guru who opened my eyes, that were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, and revealed to me the light of knowledge. It is only by your grace that I can be freed from the wheel of Samsara.
- The source of meditation is the Guru’s form. The source of devotion is the Guru’s feet. The source of mantra is the Guru’s word. The source of awakening is the Guru’s grace.
- I bow to the two lotus feet of my Guru, one white, embodying Shiva; one red, embodying Shakti. My speech and mind focus on the contemplation of this divine mystery.
- It is not the knowledge of the ancient scriptures, such as the Vedas, nor is the wearing of the clothing of a monk, that makes a true seeker. A genuine sadhu is a servant and disciple of his Guru.
- Through the mystery of Shaktipat, the light of the Guru kindles the light within his disciple, just as one candle is used to light another candle. The descent of grace opens the way for the disciple to realize that everything is the Ocean of Consciousness, which is beyond the perception of the senses, omnipresent, eternal, beyond imputed terms and without form.
- Merge into unity with Pure Consciousness and attain oneness with all. As you find everything arising simultaneously within you, you realize only this supreme principles alone exists.
- Beyond the Guru there is nothing. This is the word of Shiva. The Guru Gita is Shiva. This is my supreme command.