By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Your inner light shines, though sometimes dimly. You like yourself better when your light is shining steadily and brightly. So does everyone else. So, how do you get there?

You spend time with someone who already glows. My Guru said that you become a Siddha (enlightened being) by spending enough time with a Siddha. I took him at his word, which is why I lived with him for years.

Guru Purnima was the best! Every year, July’s full moon was when his light shone most fully. We were bathed in his bliss-filled love, shining from outside and arising within.  

I remember going to darshan, to bow to him, on this auspicious day, year after year. So many times I had this precious opportunity, to melt at his feet.

The melting is important, yet it is merely the opening of your inner doorway. After the door is opened, now the inner arising occurs. This is what is truly important. The Guru is the one that triggers the inner arising. This is why I bow to my Baba. Again and again, I bow.

Your inner light is what matters most of all. This is why the Guru is so important, for he gives you access to your own inner light.

Without this inner access, you wait for serendipitous moments to occur in your life. You plan family gatherings, vacations, holidays and birthdays, hoping to have your light brightened. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s more work than it’s worth.

But the Guru always shines. And always makes you shine.

Gukaaras tvandha-kaara”s ca rukaaras teja ucyate,

aj~naana-graasaka.m brahma gurur-eva na sa.m”saya.h.

— Shree Guru Gita 23

Gu is darkness and density. Ru is light, which illumines dark.

The Guru is the Knowingness that swallows the not-knowingness

In Sanskrit, each sound has meaning. The first syllable of Guru is “gu” (goo), which means the stuff you get stuck in. It is the inner darkness that hides your own Self from you. The syllable “ru” denotes movement, like the sound a child makes when playing with a toy truck.

The word Guru combines these two sounds. The word itself names the movement from darkness to light. One who prompts this in you is honored by the title, Guru. They destroy the darkness of you not-knowing your own Self, by revealing the inner light of your own Beingness.

Now you shine. Technically, you did already shine, at least a little bit. Science has now developed instruments that can measure the light shining off your fingertips. And light shines through your eyes.

In your best moments, you are radiant. You can feel it. I would like for you to glow this way in every moment of your life. So would you.