BE AWARE OF THE GURU’S PRESENCE

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

12. BE AWARE OF THE GURU’S PRESENCE
Loving adorations to revered and beloved Holy Master Guru Maharaj Swami Sivanandaji in
whose spiritual presence we are at this moment, and whose spiritual presence surrounds us from
without as multifarious scopes for our spiritual evolution in our chosen field of spiritual sadhana!
Whether it is selfless service, devotion and prayer, concentration and meditation, inner discipline in
the form of japa and kirtan, or enquiry, discrimination, analysis and investigation through a keen,
subtle intellect, sharpened by study and by listening to the same teachings, his spiritual presence
draws us from all sides towards our highest blessedness, our greatest good, the supreme and
successful fulfilment of our earth life.
That presence also prompts us from within to a life of goodness, prompts us, urges us,
inspires us towards a life of truthfulness, purity of conduct and character, and of compassion and

kindness. And, by the power of his own lofty, inspiring example as well as his dynamic, awakening
teachings, to be saintly, to be a good Samaritan, to be holy in our thought, word and deed.
Thus his spiritual presence is not confined only to this sacred Samadhi Hall. After this
morning’s spiritual fellowship, as you return to your respective rooms, his presence walks beside
you. As you enter your room, you enter into his presence. His presence is also there as the thoughts
over which you are reflecting. His presence is not confined to this 60 minutes from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
It pervades this entire ashram and prevails at all times, from morning till night and during the night
as well.
If you are conscious and aware of this presence, his presence is a hundredfold more; you feel
it a hundredfold more. If you are either in a state of forgetfulness or a state of distracted attention,
with your thoughts elsewhere, then his presence does not lessen one bit, but you deprive yourself of
his presence to that extent. You deprive yourself of his uplifting, inspiring spiritual support, of his
elevating influence, even as one can deprive oneself of fresh air. If one tightly closes all the doors
and windows of his room, the air will soon become stale. Not that there is not enough fresh air and
light. It is there in plenty, but we deprive ourselves of it if we foolishly bar its entry by not
understanding what we are doing.
So, whether it is done deliberately or whether it is done unknowingly, the result is the same.
We cut ourselves off from that which is very important, very valuable, very desirable and very
necessary. Therefore, to cultivate conscious awareness of the wealth that we possess and conscious
awareness of the need to utilise it moment by moment in all of life, constitutes one of the important
ingredients of discipleship. If this awareness of the immediate presence of the source of your
inspiration is not consciously, diligently, carefully, patiently, earnestly, sincerely cultivated, then
no harvest will come.
It is not sufficient for a farmer to just sow the seeds, important as that is. He must follow it up
with great labour, unlimited toil, day after day until he reaps the harvest. It requires ceaseless
vigilance to protect that which he has sown. One of the essential ingredients of a true Buddhist, for
example, is a conscious awareness that the great Enlightened One is not a WAS personality of 2500
years ago, but He is very much an IS power, an IS principle, an IS presence—an IS factor and not a
WAS personality. If this is lost, the Buddhism of the Buddhist is lost.
The Christianity of a true, devout Christian is similarly such a living awareness of the here
and now presence of the great Master: “When I rest at night, He is there beside me, watching me.
When I wake up in the morning, He is there beside me. When I go about my daily business of life,
He is by my side.” It is this awareness that makes one a real follower of the great Master.
For then, in this watchful presence and as true followers of an ideal teacher, we will at all
times, upon each step of our day-to-day life, before we act, feel: “What will he think? How would
he who is beside me want me to act at this moment? How would he wish me by my action to bear
witness to my discipleship, to my loyalty to his teachings, to his perfection which I keep before me
as my ideal?” For the disciple follows the ideal placed before him by the guru in and through his
own human personality.

The essence of discipleship, the essence of being a true follower of any great teacher, is,
therefore, the awareness of the presence of that teacher—both as an ideal as well as a teaching, both
as a light upon the path as well as the path. For the teacher’s upadesa, his spiritual instructions, his
wisdom teachings, shed light upon the path. And the teacher’s life, by embodying all that is lofty
and sublime, all that is noble and spiritual, becomes the way: “I should live even as my teacher
lived. I should walk and talk even as he taught by the way he walked and talked.”
Great teachers never belong to the past. They belong to the present as well as to the future.
They are ever present. The guru is never absent. He is never removed. He is always immediate, both
in space as well as in time. He is even more immediate in Consciousness that does not relate either
to space or to time. He is always there. You are always in It, and It is always within you. It is
something that does not need the support of space or time.
Therefore, cultivate the consciousness of the permanent and perennial presence of the guru:
“He pervades all my life. He prevails throughout my being and throughout the living of my life. He
always prevails. He is with me morning, afternoon, evening and night. He is with me wherever I go,
not merely when I go to his temple or his samadhi. I am myself a living temple of his presence, and
in and through me he continues to live and to shine. He draws me in the right direction from without,
and he urges me in the right direction from within.”
This, indeed, is the key to true discipleship and to a successful spiritual life. This is the way
to obtain the highest and the maximum benefit from that being we call the spiritual master or the
guru. This is the inner spiritual truth about the subtle and unparalleled relationship of a sincere
seeking soul and the guru that is sent in order to put the individual soul into contact with the great,
eternal, infinite and all-perfect Universal Soul that is at once our origin, our destination and our
destiny as well.
This is the spiritual truth of the inner field of one’s spiritual evolution unto divine
perfection. It is the “guru factor” that is crucial for bridging the gap between the individual soul that
is wandering in this phenomenal existence and the Universal Soul that is one’s eternal abode, one’s
true eternal ground, one’s real natural place of being, one’s true home.
The guru is, therefore, a visible manifestation of the love and compassion of the Universal
Soul. And, the true spirit of discipleship is the manifestation of the grace and benedictions of the
Universal Soul. When these two are present, a miracle happens—the miracle of spiritual
transformation and a spiritual rebirth.
May you realise the loving compassion of God that has come to prevail in your life. May
you realise the grace and blessings of God that throbs within you vibrantly as your true spirit of
discipleship. Realise both of them and become truly blessed!