Meeting with the guru in Střílky in 1996.I remembered living in the mountains. It was spring; I was living in an inaccessible remote cave and sitting on the rocks during the day. I was reading the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha’s discourses. I was determined, amidst the wilderness, to find an answer to my heart-rending questions. I was sitting on a rock and suddenly realized how extremely subtle the spiritual path was. What a Babylon! If only I had an enlightened Master! I understood that it would be difficult to go on without a teacher. But where to find one? It is said that if the disciple is ready, the Master can always be found. But it is not that the Master taps on the disciple’s shoulder. More likely, you are meant to recognize the Master among a million people. And most importantly, you begin to suspect who the real Master is. I was sitting on a limestone rock, with a buzzard circling high above me in the blue sky, the wind ruffling my hair, the sun shining and ants crawling on my legs. I could only see the wild and beautiful mountains. I suddenly remembered. I made up my mind in a second. “I must go to him!” flashed through my mind. I didn’t wait for anything. Within five minutes, I packed my things and headed back to civilization. We were absorbing the atmosphere of the ashram courtyard when someone beside us remarked: “We are looking for karma yogis to dig a well!” A short yoga story played in my head. A young adept of the spiritual path came to a guru and asked to be accepted as a disciple. The guru accepted the young man and ordered him to practice. The young man diligently practised, meditated and performed his daily sadhana. After some time, however, he was overcome by the feeling that he was not making any progress. “I guess he’s not the right guru,” he decided and went in search of another teacher. After some time, he met another guru and became his disciple. Again he practised faithfully and fulfilled the duties imposed on him, but in time he again felt he was not making any progress. So he left to find a third teacher. But he also left them, as well as the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh one. Eventually, he returned in despair to the teacher he had met first. The guru took the young man back and let him dig a well. He was digging hard all day, but the well was only two metres deep in the evening. The next day, early in the morning, when he wanted to continue digging the well, the guru came to him and said: “Oh no, this is not the right place. Start digging elsewhere.” And he left. So the young man dug in another place, working steadily all day, but in the evening he was only two metres deep again. The next day, the guru was again waiting for him early in the morning. “This is not the right place either. Start again and somewhere else.” This continued in the following days. After a week, when seven two-metre holes were dug around the ashram, the young man asked the guru: “Master, what is the point of such work? If I had stayed to dig the first well, surely there would be water in it today!” “See,” replied the guru. “If you had not left me and had continued with the practice, you could have reached the goal of your Path today. That is why you are still at the beginning.” I didn’t hesitate a moment longer and signed up for karma yoga. We were given the task of unloading excavated dirt from a tractor trailer. The tractor was driven by a man in his 50s. He had prayer beads around his neck, mala. He looked content. I asked him about the progress of digging the well. “You know, there are more problems the deeper you get,” he said, and his eyes sparkled. I realized the spiritual aspect of the answer. I thought it was beautiful and I wondered if this man might be a Master. The dirt was soon off the trailer. “That’s all,” said the driver. “And what now?” asked Betty. “How about we go see that well? We could volunteer for night shift digging,” we thought at the same time. And we were already at the door to the cellar where the well was being dug. I opened the cellar door and the cool damp air of the underground enveloped us. For a moment, I was seized with nostalgic memories of my caving past. I remember a time when exploring in caves, crypts, galleries, was my life. “We’re being drawn underground again!” I said presciently as we were descending a steep brick staircase. With each step, a view of the cellar opened before us, dimly lit by the yellow light of a bulb. We were going lower and lower when suddenly we saw a group of people in front of us looking into a well. Someone was giving instructions about the depth and width of the well in smooth English. We stopped quietly on the last step and dared not go any further. My gaze fell on a man in an orange robe. I recognized him. It was the Indian guru Maheshwarananda. A group of men turned to us curiously. My gaze met the guru’s. His brown eyes glowed with a strange brightness like two embers. He stared straight into my eyes for a few seconds. It was a penetrating X-ray-like look, the likes of which I had never seen before. My head was completely blank. No thoughts or questions. Just full attention. After a while, he turned away from us and continued to give instructions about the well. He said only a few words, however, and again measured Betty and me for a moment with that strange look. I tried to feel it through all my pores and register some special sensations. Friends had told me how, when they first met Swami Maheshwarananda, a powerful wave of energy swept over them, some experiencing a blissful feeling of euphoria, as after a long separation from a loved one, and longing to fall at his feet. However, I did not feel any of this. My mood was completely neutral. The guru finished giving his instructions and cheerfully made his way to leave. Betty and I were still standing on the last step of the staircase. He walked past me, and as he passed Betty, he leaned heavily on her shoulder until her legs almost buckled. I saw something. I was looking at a staircase, which in my vision represented the spiritual staircase to God on which we find ourselves. The darkness of the cellar represented the darkness of our ignorance in which we find ourselves and the top of the staircase bathed in the light outside, the goal of our Path – the light of Knowledge. And then, Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, the Indian guru, was ascending this mystic staircase from the darkness of the cellar. The word “GURU” consists of two parts. “GU” translates as darkness and “RU” as light. GURU is therefore one who leads from darkness to light. He who shows the way from ignorance to Truth.  (23 Jul 2021). |