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Recognizing the Guru

By Dakota Sexton
Web Editor


This weekend marks a special holiday for us at Yoga International. Guru Purnima. No idea what that means? Here’s a hint: Step into a yoga class and pay attention to your yoga instructor. Has she ever offered helpful assists to you on or off the mat? Given advice so heartfelt it was like he knew you as an old friend? Guru Purnima allows you to remember those moments. At YI, we’ll be gathering with new (and old) friends alike to honor our teachers.

Back in 1987, Swami Rama said that on Guru Purnima, he remembered the way he was looked after by his own teacher. “He was so loving. When I see darkness everywhere, in all relationships in the world, from one corner gleams light. I call it the light of the guru.”

He told his students that Guru Purnima is a day to remember and honor that light—the tireless guidance, compassion, and encouragement we’ve received from our own teachers. And, of course, teachers come in so many guises, from the English professor who believed in us, to the yoga teachers who paid extra attention, to our mothers, dads, friends and mentors we’ve collected along the way.

But he also noted something else about this cross-spiritual, international festival: it’s a time to re-kindle our personal commitment to yoga practice. Why? Guru Purnima isn’t just about external teachers: it’s also about recognizing the guru within.

Buddha might have put it best: light thine own lamp. Be your own beacon—your own lighthouse in the perfect storm. Because even when you don’t feel strong, or your teacher feels far away, as Rolf Sovik points out, your practice can reconnect you with the light of the guru that continually inspires and keeps you going.

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore illuminated it this way:

“Within us we have a hope which always walks in front of our present narrow experience; it is the undying faith in the infinite in us; it will never accept any of our disabilities as a permanent fact; it sets no limit to its own scope; it dares to assert that man has oneness with God; and its wild dreams become true every day.”

I hope that the words of each of these teachers will give you as much inspiration as they’ve given me. Want to celebrate Guru Purnima at home? Make kheer. Attend a community kirtan, or honor the holiday in your own way.

We’d love to hear who has inspired you and what makes that person so special in your life.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user 27147

  • David

    Well, I would start with these words by Swami Rama- ”The energy and action of removing darkness are guru. Guru is not a person, it is a force driven by grace.”
    In 2003 I crossed paths with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait who was about to give a lecture at a church in Cambridge, Ma. Although I had never met him before, he smiled broadly, extended his arms out and gave me a hug – like we were long lost friends who had not seen each other in years. I felt he knew me. I listened to him speak that day and returned to my home in New Hampshire and thought about what he talked about – if we are going to change the world, we need to be ready, prepared and equipped to make a difference. At that time I was embarking on the path of becoming a yoga teacher. I was also abusing drugs. I knew that I needed to drop my drug habit if I were going to continue on the path of teaching yoga. I resolved the next day to do it. Once the decision was made I moved forward with teaching yoga and left behind my life of drug abuse. As the months and years went by I began to realize just how powerful this was. Something I had not been able to accomplish on my own was made quite easy by the gentle suggestion of a humble, holy man. I began to visit the Himalayan Institute a few times each year to learn more, and eventually I completed their 500 hour yoga teacher training was initiated into the tradition of the Himalayan sages. My spiritual practice has blossomed and I feel blessed. The more time I invested in practice, the clearer everything became. However busy life becomes, I find time every day for my mantra, my tradition, my teachers, the sages, and the guru. Like Swami Rama says: -”The energy and action of removing darkness are guru. Guru is not a person, it is a force driven by grace.” I am eternally grateful for that grace, that guru, that action, and that energy that keeps me focused. engaged and moving forward. It is a gift, the greatest gift, and one that should be cherished.