Honestly, I don’t know what many of the modern Gurus mean when they say that they are ‘realized’.
Someone attains realization while sitting casually on a rock, another gets it when waiting for a train in a busy railway station, and so on!
No matter what exactly they mean by realization, they are referring to a state which is way beyond ordinary. They rarely explain to you how they attained that state except giving stories of their past births and implying how the experiences in those births culminated in whatever they attained in this birth.
In the world of spiritual practice, the word ‘realization’ always had a definite meaning. It meant an understanding about ourselves which is normally withheld from us. It is an understanding that could potentially free us from the worldly mire. It is something that does not lure us back into the traps of worldly life.
A journey towards realization is normally preceded by a well-disciplined way of life, concerted effort to move towards the realization, and finally a feeling of freedom from all confusion when the destination is reached. All traditional paths towards realization always emphasized on disciplined way of life and relentless efforts till it is reached.
But our modern Gurus deemphasize both these and peddle magical and quick solutions. They themselves live a life which is far from what can be termed as disciplined. Some of them even call likes of Buddha, Jesus Christ as old fashioned. Some say that discipline may be needed only before you get ‘realization’ – no matter what it means. But you can live whatever way you want, once you are realized. These ‘realized’ masters live in fabulous mansions, own luxury vehicles, run multiple business houses – after all, they are realized!
These things sound like music to most ‘spiritual window shoppers’ who have no inclination to live a disciplined life. So, they throng to such Gurus 😉
But why is a disciplined way of life a pre-requisite to any spiritual practice? What is discipline after all?
To understand this, we need to first understand the most fundamental assumption of any meditative practice. A meditative practice assumes that we are inherently blissful and liberated. It is only the worldly lures that shroud this innate state of ours. The purpose of spiritual practice is to uncover this shroud that envelops our true nature. Since the worldly lures cover this true state, there is no way we can uncover it by going after worldly lures. It would be like dousing the fire by pouring fuel!
So, disciplined way of life is a must before you attain realization. But once we attain our goal, can we not live the way we like, indulging in all worldly pleasures? Do the worldly lures still threaten us since we have reached our destination?
There are two aspects to it. Firstly, when someone realizes his true nature – which is supposed to be completely blissful, there is no need to further indulge in any kind of sense pleasures since no worldly pleasure can match the bliss that we attained post realization. Basically, there would be no motivation to do that.
Secondly, a realized person has a great responsibility, especially if he assumes the role of a Guru. He should not mislead his followers. If he himself actively indulges in worldly pleasures, that would set a wrong example to people who are striving to attain realization. Instead of living a disciplined life, they would be tempted to live a wayward life totally distracting them from their goal. That would be totally wrong for a Guru to do.
Buddha explains these things with the help of two similes.
When someone wants to catch a snake, he needs to firmly press its head with a forked stick before attempting to catch hold of it. Otherwise, the snake would bite and kill you. Once its head is under your control, the snake can do no harm to you no matter how much it tries. Similarly, before you gain control over the lures of life, you need to practice strict discipline so that the world will not over power you.
Buddha gives another simile to explain how rules become inconsequential once you reach your goal. He says that when someone wants to cross a river, he gathers whatever material is available around, and builds a raft. He moves across the river in the safety of the raft. But once he reaches the other shore, he no longer needs the raft. He can leave it behind and march forward. The raft was needed only to cross the river and reach the destination. There is no point carrying the raft along even after crossing the river.
The raft is like a disciplined way of life protecting oneself from drowning into the sea of life. But the raft is no longer needed when you reach the other shore.
But Buddha says that a Guru has to always follow discipline even when he has attained realization. That is because he has a duty to be a model to his disciples. If he does not, the disciples would just follow him and since they are ‘yet to cross the river’ they drown themselves. So, Buddha lived a simple life throughout, sleeping under the trees, sustaining himself with food that was offered to him in his begging bowl and so on. Realization did not make him live a undisciplined life. That is because he knew his responsibility towards his disciples.
So, did Jesus Christ. On one occasion Jesus said “birds have a nest to rest, but the son of man has no place to lay his head’! That is not being old fashioned. That is the maturity and greatness of a real master.
Our Gurus who set a wrong model to their disciples only succeed in breeding more confused people; people who move farther away from righteous path. Such disciples have no hope of ever reaching any destination. These Gurus only lower the high stature of a real Guru and do disservice to the society in the long run. That is not the sign of a realized person.
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