CHAPTER 10
ATTACHMENT, GOD AND GURU
Wisdom And Conviction
Attachment and illusion are as sweet as sugar
Without the Master’s grace,
these are source of turmoil and disaster.
- Saint Kabir
Getting a Guru or spiritual master is the most important event in life. You cannot even imagine at this time how the Guru can pave the way to take you from attachment to salvation. If you are seeking a Guru who can give you some relief from your worldly problems, in that case you will not get freed from attachment; on the contrary you will get more glued to attachment. People go to such gurus for relief of their problems and not for purifying and cleansing themselves. Then these gurus give them some ritual, some talisman, some words, some auspicious time, some ashes, some neckband or some prasad (an offering made to God which is then distributed among devotees). Only if you are in search of a true Guru, will you get liberation from attachment.
If this has touched your heart, you may immediately contemplate on it and take some action on it. Pray to God, in whatever form you believe, that you may get the true Master or Guru. If there is thirst in your prayer, the Guru Himself will find you. Only God can annihilate attachment. To annihilate this attachment, God communicates with you through the Guru. Once you get your Guru in your life, let Him work for you. Just as you have let your parents, brothers, sisters, spouse, or friends work for you, now is the turn of the Guru to work for you. Make this relationship and gain from it. Once you have got your Guru, always abide by his command.
Guru introduces you to the unlimited power of faith. He fills you with self-confidence. Through wisdom, Guru establishes conviction within you that ‘The one who takes care of his creations living even under the sea and sustains them, will definitely take care of you too; keep faith in that Almighty.’ In ignorance, do not be servile to attachment for things and people. Have attachment only with God. Attachment with God cuts off the worldly attachment just as poison is the antidote for poison and only iron can cut iron. When you have God with you, why do you have to get entangled in attachment and illusion? Will a person sitting on the banks of the river Ganges dig a well there? Try to recognize the opportunity you have got in your life. With love and devotion, you can get everything including wealth, fame, status, etc. - but not so with attachment.