Value: Truth
Sub-value-Wisdom, Guidance
In the early years when Swami Vivekananda first visited Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda asked “I have read the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures several times, I lecture and give discourses on the Gita and Ramayana. Do I still need the harbor of a saint; do I still need a guru?”
Ramakrishna didn’t reply to Vivekananda’s question.
After a few days, Ramakrishna called upon Vivekananda and handed him a parcel to be delivered to a nearby village a few hours away by the sea route. Early morning the boat and sailor would be ready and all he needed to do was to go to the village and deliver the parcel to the designated person.
Vivekananda agreed and decided to start early.
He found the boat and the sailor ready to put out to sea. While seated in the boat, Vivekananda suddenly realized that he didn’t know the road to the village. He checked with the sailor to find out if the sailor knew the way to the place, but the sailor had no clue either.
Vivekananda decided to go back to his guru to ask him the shortest way to the village.
Upon this Ramakrishna said, “Narendra, this is my reply to the question you asked me when we met the first time: Today, you have the medium (the boat), you have the resource (the sailor), you have the road (the sea), you know what to do (deliver the parcel) and you also know where to go but you don’t know the way……”
“……..likewise you have read all the scriptures, and you can conduct wonderful discourses on them. However, to realize the wisdom of scriptures one needs a guru, someone who has already traversed that path so that he can guide you through the journey and encourage you to not give up.”
Learning
A teacher or a guru especially, who has traversed or experienced life, is the one capable of teaching and guiding us. If we find such a guru we must hold on to Him so that we can face our life in a better and more easier manner.
The podcast of the story on Saiprem podcast at:
Sai Balsanskaar 