God Bless you.

[For all initiates] Today is the greatest day of the entire year called the Guru Purnima Day.

The word, Guru, is not used for any particular person or being. It is used for the center of consciousness, for the knowledge. There is only one life force, therefore there is only one Guru from where consciousness flows on various degrees and grades. That is why a human being is called Guru.  Those who follow the spiritual tradition faithfully train themselves, practice, and serve others selflessly, love others, and learn to give knowledge to others. They are called spiritual teachers, and such spiritual teachers are also called Guru.

This day is not like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any other day.

This day makes us aware of the reality that life has some purpose, and the highest of all purposes is to get freedom here and now. Mother is your first Guru—matru devo bhava—who gives you training in your childhood, and makes you aware of other people in your family.  Then comes—pitru devo bhava—a father who makes you aware of your neighborhood, and people around your home. Then you receive education from colleges and universities, environmental education. Yet, you do not know the purpose of life.

Anyone who honestly, selflessly, makes you aware of the purpose of life is a teacher, spiritual teacher, and Guru. Your spiritual Guru and leader is Dr Arya, who follows the Tradition faithfully. Our Guru is still alive. He is in physical form. He lives in the Himalayas, and I go to see him every year. He prays for us all. But in a world tradition, we do not adore a physical Guru. We just respect him because the knowledge that is imparted through the Tradition flows through him.

In our Tradition, a Guru is a messenger who imparts the knowledge imparted to him by the great spiritual teachers of the Himalayas. The purpose of a spiritual teacher and Guru is to make you aware that the Guru is within you, and you should learn to understand life, both aspects of life within and without.

Let you learn to live in the world and remain above, free from all worries and bondage.

Let you be aware that the center of spirituality is within you.

Let you be aware that the Guru is within you.

Let you become creatively intelligent, serve humanity, become good citizens,

Love all and exclude none.

I pray for you in every breath of my life.

I love you.

God Bless you.

Peace. Peace. Peace.

(July 16, 1981)

Editor’s Note

* Swami Rama had shared this Guru Purnima message in 1981, before Swami Veda Bharati took Saṃnyāsa. Swami Veda Bharati was then known as Pandit Dr. Usharbudh Arya.