Every year in India and Nepal, and in all Buddhist countries, on the day of the full moon in July, all teachers are remembered with gratitude, celebrated and honoured. This includes spiritual teachers, religious teachers, school teachers, academics, lecturers, etc., anyone who shares knowledge. All teachers are held in high esteem in these countries. Students consider it a duty to honour them on this day. This year, Guru Purnima will be on Wednesday, 13th July, 2022.
The word “guru” is a compound consisting of “gu,” meaning ignorance and “ru,” remover, which means “The one who removes ignorance of what I really am.” The word “purna” means fullness in Sanskrit. In this context it refers to the guru that delivers the knowledge that removes the ignorance of my fullness, which is known as liberation from bondage to limitation, inadequacy and separation.
In Vedanta, we remember the lineage of spiritual teachers beginning from Ishvara, the Creator and Teacher of all teachers, with Shankara who taught in the 8th Century AD in the middle, down to the present day and my immediate teacher, Swami Paramarthananda.
Because Swamiji is my Guru and because I use His teachings in our sessions, I will use him as the focus, to symbolise the whole lineage of Gurus. The principle underlying the Guru’s Day is this: “through the form, to the Formless”. By honouring one’s swami, we honour the whole lineage of Teachers in Vedanta, ultimately honouring Ishvara, the Creator of the universe and the Teacher of all teachers. A swami is someone who is a master of himself. A woman who has mastered herself is a swamini. “Ji” is term that indicates respect.
Out of deep gratitude, we honour and express our love and respect in our thinking, words and actions. In our thoughts, we remember and visualise Him. If we are not able to be physically present, we do a visualisation in which we picture Him seated on a dais and gratefully offer flowers and fruit to Him. Flowers symbolize the beauty of the teacher and the teaching and fruit symbolizes the fullness of the teacher and the teaching that removes our sense of incompleteness and smallness. We visualise blessings showered on Him by Ishvara and all prior Teachers of the lineage.
Through our words, we say prayers, chant mantras and offer the spiritual benefit of these actions to Him. We pray that His body remain healthy and able to continue teaching. In the Vedic tradition, there is a specific prayer called Guru stotram, “verses in praise of the Guru,” which is chanted daily and is imbued with greater significance on Guru Purnima day, a copy of which appears at the end of this essay. If not physically present with your teacher, a photo is used to direct attention to Ishvara through him. A committed seeker should understand that there is no difference between a purified teacher qualified to unfold the dual knowledge and Ishvara.
Through our deeds, we physically bow to the guru as a sign of respect, love and gratitude. It is a real blessing to be physically present with a Swami or a Swamini because we can bow and offer flowers and fruit directly to them.
Since we live in the West, please make a donation on ShininWorld as it needs financial support so that you and other current and future seekers can benefit from this monumental work. In the karma yoga spirit of the tradition offer your gift to Isvara, from whom Self-knowledge comes. By doing so, we gain the invisible purifying merit (punya) that always culminates in Self- realization.
In the West, the current Teacher in this lineage, who has committed his life to Vedanta is James Swartz. He was taught by Swami Chinmayananda, was his personal carer for some time and has links with Swami Dayananda and Swami Paramarthananda. Being from the West, he understands the western mind and uses western vernacular and idiom to transmit the Vedic teaching. He is a “householder Swami” in the tradition of householder rishis, i.e. teachers who live in the world, are married, have families and teach Vedanta. His wife, Sundari, is also a swamini who teaches Vedanta.
He holds regular classes at various locations in Europe and America and online and has translated most of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and other important prakarana texts (workbooks) from Sanskrit into English, a monumental work freely done over many years, which has benefitted
countless seekers. You can access all his Vedanta teachings free at www.shiningworld.com
Since we live in the West, please make a donation on ShininWorld as it needs financial support so that you and other current and future seekers can benefit from this monumental work. In the karma yoga spirit of the tradition offer your gift to Isvara, from whom Self-knowledge comes. By doing so, we gain the invisible purifying merit (punya) that always culminates in Self- realization.
Guru Stotram
Salutations to the Guru who showed me where to find the
One whose form is the entire universe and by whom
everything movable and immovable is pervaded.
Prostrations to the Guru that brings the healing knowledge
that removes the beginningless ignorance
of my unborn limitless nature.
Salutations to that limitless Existence that
creates, sustains and destroys
the universe caused by Ignorance.
Prostrations to that unborn Awareness
that pervades the worlds of sentient and insentient beings
and taught me What is to be known.
Salutations to that Guru whose rays illumine
the ever-unfolding lotus-like teachings of Vedanta, which are
well known as the eternally revealing Upanishads,
the radiant crown jewel of all scriptures.
Prostrations to the Guru
that is changeless peaceful Awareness,
other than what is seen and unseen,
and beyond time and space
Salutations that Guru
rooted in the knowledge that is true power,
the One, adorned with the garland of Truth,
who bestows of the joy of liberation.
Prostrations to that Guru
which is manifest in the non-dual vision of the Upanishads,
whose wisdom teaches the essence of true wealth
…freedom from want…
and which totally drains the ocean of births and deaths.
Salutations to that Guru which is unsurpassed austere purifying Truth. Prostrations to that beginningless Guru
that teaches the non-separation of
the universe, mySelf and the Self in all beings.
Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah
