Meditate with the Guru

15. Meditate with the Guru

Deeply meditating disciples should concentrate on their guru, or meditate with him if possible.

Those who are spiritually advanced do in fact meditate with the guru by visualizing him in the spiritual eye and tuning in with him, whether or not they are in his physical presence.

During meditation the spiritual vibration of a great master silently works on lesser yogis who may be meditating with him or who are in tune with him, regardless of distance.

It is sufficient for a disciple to think strongly of his guru before meditation. He will then find his meditation on God to be reinforced by the Lord's power flowing through the direct tangible channel of the guru. (bg)

Through prayer and meditation and faith one does get some inner spiritual sense of direction. No one should be without this attunement. But to be consciously guided by God, rather than by the manipulative rationalizations of one's desires or whims or habits, is another matter, of deeper realization. For most people, the will of God is best understood through a God-sent guru. Guru is one who knows God, and who shows the way to Him. To follow a divine manifestation is the sure way to God-realization. One who knows God becomes the speaking voice of the silent God. Attunement with the wisdom-guided will of a true guru teaches one how to guide his will according to God's will. Those who follow the voice of their own ego, ascribing to it a halo of divine guidance, find out too late that no amount of deluded rationalization will relieve one of the karmic responsibility of wrong actions. To be led by an ego-bound will is to stumble into painful delusive entanglements. Do not remain entangled! Be free! (sc)

"To all of those who are loyal to me and to God through the teachings I have left, I will reach down from heaven and I will lift them, that they too feel, and know the Great Love of our Father.”

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Brother Anandamoy:

In the very beginning of my life in the ashram [1949], I learned to start my meditations by looking at the picture of the Guru and inwardly saying to him:

"You are one with God, and God is omnipresent. Therefore, you are here and I am in your aura of light, of love."

I formed the habit of meditating with him. I have never meditated alone—always with him. And I suggest, if you have not established that habit yet, do so. It makes all the difference in the world.

In meditating and trying to feel the presence of God and Guru, many devotees are impatient and strain for results. I see this problem again and again, in personal consultation and in letters people send. Don't do it!

Straining and trying to force results in meditation will block intuition from flowing. And it is through intuition that you hear the Aum vibration, and see the divine light of the spiritual eye, and experience all the other manifestations of God—love, joy, and so on. Strain and force never work. Be relaxed and patient, and go on practicing the techniques as best you can. God and Guru do not respond to aggression, to straining; They respond to love.

Swami Smarananada:

We can always meditate with Guruji.  That is the reason we have the opening prayer, inviting all our Gurus to join us.

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