Need for a Guru - Surdas

When the student is ready the Guru comes! The student  does not go in search of the Guru. The Cosmic Principle sends the Guru to the student. When Guru and student meet, the Guru is aware of the strong points and drawbacks of the student. Where there is a need for overcoming some shortcomings, the Guru helps the student, and makes him ready for receiving the knowledge and spiritual practices. The student will not be aware of the actions of the Guru and why he is being asked to do some things. When the student obeys the Guru implicitly, he is guided and trained to receive the highest of knowledge as now he is fully ready in all ways.  This is the story of Surdas and his Guru.

Surdas, a young seeker yearned intensely for God. A Guru appeared in his life and promised to guide him and show the way to God. The Guru was aware that Surdas had a major imperfection in him. Surdas used to get angry very quickly and for small things too. The Guru was aware that the anger of Surdas would cause inner disturbances because of which Surdas would not feel close to God. He wished to help Surdas overcome the defect of anger and make him ready to receive the spiritual practices. He told Surdas:  for a month chant the name of God day and night during all your work and activities.  On the day the new month starts, take bath early morning and come to me. I will initiate you into path of God.

Surdas followed the instructions of the Guru. He chanted the name of God day and night and during all  his activities. On the first day of the new month, he rushed to the river at dawn, took a bath, wore fresh clothes and set off for the Guru’s Ashram. As he neared the Ashram, a sweeper who was sweeping the pathway brushed dirt over his clothes by mistake and they were muddied. Surdas was outraged and screamed at the sweeper: You stupid careless fool! Because of you I will have to go back and take bath again!

The Guru was watching the incident from the Ashram. When Surdas came to him, he said: Dear Surdas, you are still not ready. Please follow the same instructions for a month and come back to me.  Surdas accepted the Guru’s dictum and left. He spent another month chanting the name of God at all times of day and night. On the first day of the new month, he went to the river, took bath and wore fresh clothes and set off for the Ashram. The sweeper was working outside the Ashram. He was sweeping the pathways and by mistake he brushed his broom on the clothes of Surdas. The fury of Surdas knew no bounds! He shouted at the sweeper. And the Guru sent him back again to do japa for another month.

At the end of the period of time, Surdas again took bath and went to the Ashram of Guru. This time something unusual happened. The sweeper saw Surdas come towards him. He recalled being shouted at for no reason. Rage filled him. He picked up the dustbin full of dirt and emptied it deliberately over Surdas! And this time, the reaction of Surdas was very different. He folded his hands and said to the sweeper: You are my teacher. You taught me to overcome anger. I am thankful to you!

The Guru rushed out of the Ashram and gave Surdas a warm welcome. He said: you are now finally ready to receive the spiritual lessons and practices!

The sweeper who brushed dirt over Surdas did so by mistake. His error was not intentional. Yet Surdas was angry with him. By continuously chanting the name of God day and night for three months through all his work and activities, Surdas could overcome his anger. This was due to the blessings of the Guru and his orders that Surdas should chant the name of God. Surdas obeyed his Guru and reaped the rewards. His Guru was instrumental in helping Surdas overcome his negativity. Negativities like anger, lust, greed, attachment, pride, vengefulness create distance between our soul and God and we will not be able to feel the presence of God or enjoy the sweetness of Love of God within us. A Guru's guidance and blessings are essential.That is why a Guru is needed!

Selfless Devotion vs Anger

Bhakti or Devotion to God and Guru brings sweetness in the character of a person. God is love. When we love God with all our might and being, His love fills us. The sweetness of the love of God and Guru is very alluring and addictive. Those who have tasted that love will never let go of it. Those who don’t know the sweetness of Love of God will search for that love in human relationships. Love in human relationships is a reflection of Divine Love but shaded with imperfections of expectations. Love for God or bhakti gives strength to us and protects us. The immeasurable strength of the Universe backs us when our bhakti is selfless. We must be thankful to God for His blessings and gifts given to us.  We must love God for the sake of God and not for the gifts He showers on us.

Anger comes from Ego. When expectations are not fulfilled and when importance is not given to a person, he becomes angry. When a person enjoys blowing up all incidents in life to larger than life proportions, he wants to portray self as great. He makes small incidents larger than life and becomes angry and puffed up with egoism and unwarranted self importance. He feels slighted and insulted for no reason and his anger becomes boundless. This ultimately harms him only. Consider this story from the Bhagavata  Purana:

King Ambarisha belonged to the lineage of Sri Rama. He was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was truthful and a good king. He performed a yagna and  pleased Lord Vishnu with his worship.  The Lord blessed him with the protection of His Sudarshan Chakra ( a weapon of matchless accuracy and power in form of a disc with saw teeth).  Sudarshan means good sight or right vision. The blessings of Sudarshan or good vision blessed the kingdom of Ambarisha with peace, prosperity and security.

King Ambarisha undertook the Dvadashi  Vratta or fast. This vratta required that the King fast on the day of ekdashi or 11th day of moon and break the fast on dvadashi or 12th day and feed all the people.  As the time for breaking the fast approached, Durvasa  Muni (Sage) arrived and was given a royal welcome with all honours due to him. The King asked him to be his royal guest after the breaking of the fast. Durvasa Muni agreed and asked the King to wait till he had his bath and returned.  The auspicious time for breaking of fast arrived but Durvasa Muni had not returned.  The King could not eat or drink without offering food to his honoured guest.  Sage Vashishta who was the royal Sage in the court suggested that the King could break his fast by taking  a tulsi leaf and spoonful of water which had been offered in worship to Lord Vishnu. The King broke his fast in this way at the right time and waited for his guest to arrive and serve him food.

Durvasa Muni  was famed for his ill temper and anger. He arrived when  King Ambarisha had just broken his fast and  he was very angry. He felt insulted that the King did not wait for him to come. He felt that the tulsi leaf and water taken by the King was equal to eating food.  The King was not supposed to eat anything before offering food to the guest. How dare the King insult a Great Sage like him?The King’s explanations fell on deaf years. In rage,  Durvasa Muni pulled out a strand of hair and created a demon from it. He ordered the demon to kill the King.  The King simply folded his hands and sat in surrender in front of the idol of Lord Vishnu in the temple. The Sudarshan Chakra swirled out from the idol and attacked the demon and killed him. Then the Chakra began chasing Durvasa Muni to kill him.  He ran and tried to hide but the Chakra chased him relentlessly. He has nowhere to go. So he ran to Brahma Lok and sought protection from Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma refused to protect him.  He said that the Muni had angered Lord Vishnu and he could not save him. The Chakra continued chasing the Muni and he ran to Shiva Lok and fell at the feet of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva also refused to help him citing the same reasons.  Finally tired and worn out and having no place to run and hide, Durvasa Muni rushed to Vaikunta and  fell at the feet of Lord Vishnu and sought protection. The Lord said he could not call back Sudarshan Chakra as the Muni had wronged Ambarisha who had selfless love for Him. The Lord advised him to seek forgiveness and protection from Ambarisha.   Durvasa Muni had no choice but fall at the feet of the King  to protect himself from certain death by the Sudarshan Chakra.  King Ambarisha held no anger or grudge against Durvasa. He was filled with compassion at seeing such a great Muni running for his life. He prayed to Lord Vishnu to recall the Sudarshan Chakra and saved the life of the Muni.

Selfless love or Bhakti for God grants us the highest level of protection in the Universe. When the Grace of the Supreme blesses us we get the Sudarshan or good vision. Then anger, insults, slights and misbehaviour of others have no place in our lives. We are loving and compassionate towards all. We are guided to right action and right speech. We have abundance in our lives and Grace of the Supreme.

How to overcome Anger

Anger comes when our expectations in life are not fulfilled. We seethe with anger when we feel we are wronged by another person; when we feel injustice is done to us. We do work with expectations and seek reward by way of appreciation. When we don’t get it we are angry. Our weakness makes us angry. Others take advantage of our weakness and we are not able to protect ourselves. Anger boils in us and we either  hold it within us or we hit out at a person who is weaker than us. We use anger to justify the wrongs we have done or the addictions that enslave us. Most of the time, anger and bluster are cover ups for weaknesses.  When we lack understanding and we misunderstand people or circumstances, we cause ourselves anger and grief. Genuine anger at the pain of others is a great strength which makes an ordinary Mohandas into Mahatma- the Father of the Nation. But such anger is rare. We wallow in the little pool of resentments and irritations most of our lives and make ourselves miserable and the lives of others around us wretched.

We all know that anger is not good and we should not get angry. Anger damages our body and mind. It colours our thinking and speech. We lose rationality, logic and sense of justice when we are angry. There is no balance of greys. Everything appears black and white in our vision. This is dangerous as life is shades of grey- some whiter than others. We hurl words that we should not speak and hurt others. In anger, we take actions which we should not. We do immeasurable damage to ourselves and others. Later on we repent but by then it is too late. Wounds caused by words don’t heal well. They fester for years within us. Such festering sores provoke further actions of anger and revenge. And the cycle never ends.

How can we control anger? Understand the causes of your anger. Take a positive stand against your anger. Offer the fruits of your work to God and Guru and accept rewards which come your way as divine blessings. Live without expectations. Do not let your ego manufacture mountains of out molehills.  Understand that Earth does not revolve around you but around the Sun. Know that you are a part of the Cosmic Drama and you are here to be loving, compassionate and helpful to all. You are a divine being on an earthly sojourn and not a being who wastes his life wallowing in anger and miseries. 

 Make a strong intent never to hurt anyone by words. There is great power in prayers. Pray to God and Guru that you should be sweet and truthful in speech and that your words should console and comfort others and not hurt anyone.  Do the Sita Ram Japa daily. As you do regular sadhana with the mantra you will find a transformation taking place in you. There is a gap of few moments in between the time your anger manifests and the time you react.  In this gap, the sane voice of conscience will speak out and ask you to calm down. The vibrations from Sita Ram are so strong and powerful that they empower this voice to blare out aloud and force you to hear it. SitaRam Mantra gives you strength to overcome anger and let it go. The SitaRam will not permit the anger vibrations to rise up towards the brain and hit the brain and damage the brain and the entire system. Instead the vibrations of anger are transformed by SitaRam. The anger vibrations become one with the SitaRam and they flow downwards in all parts of the body healing the body and making it wholesome. The force and energy of anger  are transformed by the vibrations of SitaRam Mantra  and this new energy will improve your health, give you energy and direction for work and revolutionize your life!

Nothing is as effective in controlling anger as the vibrations of SitaRam Mantra. Never miss out japa even once. Make opportunities for doing more japa of SitaRam Mantra daily. A time comes when your anger lasts for split seconds and then you are sane and balanced. Then the  full power of the SitaRam Mantra will directly get used  for your health, welfare and transformation  instead of being used for overcome your anger issues.