As per the Vedic panchangam, today is Skand Shashthi, dedicated to Kartikeya, the son of Shiv-Shakti. The Vasant Panchami was yesterday, Sarasvati puja and Gayatri mantra jaap. And the day before was the Maagh Ganapati Chaturthi. Tomorrow is Ratha Saptami, the rising Sun and Gayatri mantra again. Dhyan is a daily affair, but when these energies add to it, it goes deeper. These days from Makar Sankranti to Ratha Saptami are bursting with energy. Vasant Panchami is a very special day for me and this time I missed my Guru. But then he is kind and a dream/vision blessing settled the missing-feeling, yesterday morning I was euphoric.

So today I will write about my Guru in gratitude and specifically on what a Nija-Guru is. There are very few people in this world who have been fortunate that they have been blessed by a Nija-Guru.

• Nija निज means personal, innate, continuous, constant, inborn. He is also called a Sat-Guru. The force which takes you to the Eternal Truth.
• The other type of Guru is the Anya-Guru. Anya अन्य means other, different. (These words/ definitions are from the 11^th Skandh of the Bhagwat Mahapuran in case you want to refer.)

There is a story where a spiritual aspirant was motivated by a honey-bee and he paid respect to the honey-bee by calling it a ‘Guru’. The honey-bee visits several flowers and collects just their essence, this is a quality which a spiritual aspirant must cultivate. Similarly you will read books, you will collect the essence of spiritual teachings written there. You meet with other spiritual aspirants, perhaps some Yogi-s who are on higher levels than you. You learn from them, they might teach you how to do pujas, you get blessings from these Yogi-s. These are also Guru as they are taking you onward in your journey to Moksh. They are adding to your understanding and motivating you. But these all are the Anya-Guru, the other-guru. You learn what they had to teach you, but you do not get satisfied and you still search for someone to guide you further. An Anya-Guru cannot take you to your ultimate destination Moksh.

An Anya-Guru is somewhat like an Uncle, the Nija-Guru is the Father.

I know someone who searching for a Guru, he found the perfect Guru who taught him the perfect Gayatri puja. Now Gayatri puja is in itself very potent and will take you to Moksh if you perform it regularly. But this person was not satisfied with this and now wanted to learn Kriya yog from a proper Guru. He met another perfect Guru who taught him the perfect Kriya yog. The perfect Kriya yog will also take you to Moksh if you do it regularly. But this person was still not satisfied and now desires to learn tantra, mantra, yantra and all the other facets of Sanatan Dharm. He will definitely get those appropriate Gurus who will teach him all that he desires to know, but these will all be the Anya-Guru. This person’s intention is to learn these things and the Parabrahma always grants what is desired with intense intention. Then it may take one life or more lives to complete the desired intention. The choice is always with the aspirant. It depends on what you intend.

I just want to be at the same position that my Nija-Guru had realised, the Nirvishesh Brahma, the Advaita. And that is all. I don’t focus on the steps, just the target. He will take care of the process and also the target.

A Nija-Guru is a realised Seer. He has realised Nirvishesh Brahma and is the Parabrahma himself, he is a Jivan-mukt. The Guru stotra defines just this superlative power ie the Nija-Guru.

The one over-riding quality of the Nija-Guru is this. When you meet him (or her), you know in your innermost heart that you have reached your destination. Your search is over and you are convinced about it. Whatever has to be attained will be attained only under his guidance. The satisfaction is real and the trust deep, but only when one meets the Nija-Guru. When you meet the correct guide to take you home, you are assured of success. You feel the brightness in his aura, in his words; the confidence and the power of Realisation. When he is in front of you, or when you even think of him, there are no questions in your mind, the chattering mind goes silent. You feel it in the core of your heart that this in front of you is not an old 96yr man but the ultimate beauty of the Parabrahma. You know that you are standing in front of the Singular source. When he says to you that you will reach your destination, you do not doubt his words nor his ability to guide you. You search no more. This is your Nija-Guru. Once you find him and in case you need to take more lives to complete your karma, he will be there again and again in every life till you reach your own Moksh yourself.

My Nija-Guru and his Gurus, all who attained Nirvishesh Brahma and were Jivan-mukt. This is my lineage, my source and also my destination.

• My Nija-Guru – Shri Muppin Kadsiddheshwar Maharaj who was the 26th Math-adhipati of the Siddhagiri Math, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
• My Grand-Guru – Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
• My Great-Grand-Guru – Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj
• My Great (2) Grand Guru – Shri Gurulingajangam Maharaj
• My Great (3) Grand Guru – The 22nd Kadsiddheshwar of the Siddhagiri Math
• The lineage goes back a thousand years to the 1st Kadsiddheshwar also called Shri Revan-nath Maharaj and he was of the Nath Sampraday.

My own Nija-Guru left his physical shell on 16^th Aug 2001. In all these years I have never felt any need to search for guidance. Nor have I met anyone living who elicited the same feelings of deep trust, power, confidence, faith and the sheer magnificence that I could sense around him. Whatever I have needed in my spiritual journey has been provided by him, my Sat-Guru, the Parabrahma. Whenever I needed protection, he has always been there. And whenever I have felt that my life has gone bad, he has always brought the solution in front of me. I just do my Dhyan and mantra as much as I can and I leave all the rest to him. He is always there, if I need to know anything specific he can assume an astral form or I hear his words echoing around me or there are visions in Dhyan or in the dream states or the situation changes and things just fall in place.

This sort of full and complete trust can only be put in a Nija-Guru and not in an Anya-Guru. Your soul recognises him. A Sat-Guru is your own constant guide, its a guide and a follower relationship. He has witnessed Pure Reality and thus can guide you till there, you are convinced in your soul about this fact. An Anya-Guru is like two fellow travellers, one is more senior than the other but still both are co-travellers. The soul has not accepted these other Guru-s (who may be at very high levels of spiritual progress/ enlightenment) as the Sat-Guru and still is in search for the correct guide.

My Guru taught each one of his disciples to use the mantra ‘Soham’ for doing Dhyan. But he never compelled anyone to do Dhyan. Surprised? Yes, he would say that doing systematic Dhyan or even reciting ‘Soham’ consciously with the breathing whenever possible, would give faster spiritual progress but he never ordered anyone to do anything. A real Guru will never order a disciple, because if he does so, it becomes a Guru-adnya, the order of the Guru, which has to be followed and it continues beyond death into the next lives. There are no exceptions to a Guru-adnya. And no Nija-Guru takes away the free will of any disciple.

‘Yatha icchasi tatha kuru’, this is the last line of the Bhagwat Gita, where after telling the entire Yogshastra Gita to Arjun, Shri Krishna himself tells him that ‘I have told you everything that is necessary, now you should do as you desire’! This means that the Parabrahma recognises free-will of the individual soul. (Even if the free will is an illusion for the purpose of this Game/ Lila/ creation, it still exists.) Every individual soul always has the choice of action. My Guru would use this phrase often.

My Guru had several lakh disciples from all strata of society. They would naturally ask him about their material life’s problems. He would sometimes indicate a way out but also tell them to do follow it only if they wanted to. Yatha icchasi tatha kuru! ’Guru- Krupa’ is another word which is freely used by modern ‘gurus’. What this word means is, if you sincerely follow the spiritual practice suggested (never ordered) by your Nija-Guru, you will reach Moksh. This is the real Guru-Krupa. ‘Guru- Krupa’ does not have any material connotations. So you have found a Nija-Guru and what do you ask him for, money? marriage? children? job? eg my Uncle is very rich and interested in even more money, (typical Capricorn nature focussed on the material), he would request the Sat-Guru to bless him with more money! If you have the Parabrahma sitting in front of you, what should you ask for, money or Moksh?

A real Jivan-mukt Sat-Guru will never give blessings for material accomplishments. His blessings, his Guru Krupa, is only and only for the spiritual life. (If you meet a ‘guru’ who offers you success in wealth, marriage, profession and says nothing about Moksh, is not a real Guru). In this modern world, spirituality has also turned into a marketable item. So many people out there waiting to capitalise on your faith and your trust.

Your faith and trust is the most precious energy you have. Offer it only to that one Nija-Guru, the correct guide, who you are convinced will take you to Moksh.

Jai Jai Guru Maharaj Guru, Jai Jai Parabrahma Satguru!