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The Master and Disciple

A spiritual discourse on the guru-disciple relationship and spiritual lineage.

"The master is a candle that is already lit and burning. The disciple is a candle that is still unlit."

"The disciple who enters into the consciousness of the master with devotion will become the master."

Swami Avatarpuri explains the sacred tradition of spiritual transmission from master to disciple, using the metaphors of candles and rivers. He narrates the lineage from Lord Śiva through figures like Devpurījī and Mahāprabhujī to his own master, Swāmī Mādhavānanda (Holy Gurujī), emphasizing the need for devotion and a verified heritage over following a "self-made" guru.

The master is a candle that is already lit and burning. The disciple is a candle that is still unlit. That unlit candle has the ability to give light, but it must come to another candle that is burning in order to unite with it. The tradition of master and disciple began from Lord Śiva, whom we spoke about today. Disciples must develop complete confidence and faith to become one with the master. Consider the holy river Gaṅgā. The water that enters the Gaṅgā becomes holy, not other water. Similarly, the disciple who enters into the consciousness of the master with devotion will become the master. The master and disciple share a long, traditional spiritual heritage and lineage. It is said that God loves children—all creatures—more than their parents do. And the master loves that disciple more than God does. The disciple is the mentor-child of the master. The master is preparing that disciple to inherit the spiritual heritage. Many are ready to take your material heritage, but it is very hard and very rare to find one who is ready to take your spiritual heritage. You cannot give or take spiritual heritage through any protection or force. It is a very gentle transfer from master to disciple. It must not be that there is only one; it can be many. This is the system of how a master transfers his spiritual energy and heritage to a disciple. We could speak long about this, but you can imagine with what kind of attention, love, and strictness I am trying to give to Avatāpurī and many others also. Not only of Thāpurī—this was only one video. Like this, there are many, many diamonds, and I still have to file them to get them shining. That's it. Long, long ago, in the Himalayas, between Kedārnāth and Badrīnāth, high up in the peaks, lived a great saint named Alakhpurījī. If you remember or have read the Mahābhārata, the five Pāṇḍava brothers, Kuntī, and a dog went to the Himalayas to enter Svargaloka, heaven. It is said the path to heaven is there. The five Pāṇḍavas went to Alakhpurījī and received his blessing. The four brothers and Draupadī could not manage to come so high and go through the snowy mountains and ice glaciers. Only Yudhiṣṭhira and his dog managed to reach heaven. There, it is said, something like a balloon with a basket hanging—a chariot—appeared, and both of them entered it, and it lifted up to Svargaloka. There is a beautiful river flowing there called the Alaknandā. It comes from high in the Himalayas, between Kedārnāth and Badrīnāth. From Badrīnāth, you can reach certain points. And from Gaṅgotrī, Gaumukh, flows the river called Bhāgīrathī. The great saint, Ṛṣi Bhagīratha, performed spiritual sādhanā and called the Gaṅgā from heaven. When the Gaṅgā came, it was a big storm, a great force, and no one was ready to receive it. It would have broken the earth in two. So all ran to Śiva, and it was Lord Śiva who said, "Do not worry, I will take it upon myself." Śiva looked up and said, "Gaṅgā, you enter into my hair." So the Gaṅgā from heaven landed on the head of Lord Śiva and began to flow. This river is known as Bhāgīrathī, and the other is known as Alaknandā. These two rivers meet at a place called Devaprayāg. Deva means goddess and prayāg means uniting, coming together, joining, merging. This is evidence for us. Then, the master of Holy Gurujī, Mahāprabhujī, became a disciple of Śrī Devpurījī. Devpurījī gave all his spiritual wisdom to Mahāprabhujī. We all adore Mahāprabhujī as a divine incarnation. Before Mahāprabhujī came into this world, Devpurījī said that now Lord Viṣṇu himself would come. There are two kinds of incarnation: nitya and nimitta. The holy saints are nityāvatāra. Our beloved Gurudev, His Holiness Swāmī Mādhavānanda, served Mahāprabhujī for many, many years, and Mahāprabhujī gave all his divine light and blessings, so the spiritual heritage went to Holy Gurujī. When a disciple receives the spiritual blessing, heritage, consciousness, and attains ātma-jñāna, then he becomes free from karma. Whatever he or she does, karma does not touch them. If you adore them, their spirituality and energy will come to you. If you doubt and speak negatively, then all the karmic effects related to the body will come to you. Therefore, it is the holy tradition that we surrender, we accept, and we develop devotion. And so, Holy Gurujī gave me his divine light, and I took upon my shoulders the responsibility to take that divine wisdom and bring it further to the world. So you and I, we are the ones who received the spiritual heritage of the Gurujī, and now it depends on how we will bring it further. This is a little glimpse of the story of the spiritual lineage. Before you become a disciple of anyone, you should know the background. You should know the spiritual lineage. Otherwise, there are many, what we call, self-made gurus who have no roots. Our spiritual source is from Lord Śiva himself. Or you should read in the Līlā Amṛt. Thank you, God bless you.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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