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Discipleship
Helps Us Attune to Our Higher Self
From Essence
of Self-Realization: The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda
Paramhansa Yogananda
said, "When I met my guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, he said to
me, 'Allow me to discipline you.'
"'Why,
Sir?' I inquired.
"'When
I encountered my guru, Lahiri Mahasaya,' he replied, 'my will was
guided by whims. But when I attuned my will to Lahiri Mahasaya's
wisdom-guided will, my own will became free, because guided by wisdom.'
"In the
same way," Yogananda continued, "I discovered that by
attuning my will to Sri Yukteswar's wisdom-guided will, my will,
too, became free.
"This is
the purpose of discipleship, and of the obedience that it entails.
The aim of obedience to the guru is not to enslave the disciple,
but to liberate his will from that which enslaves it truly: whims,
and much more-bondage to likes and dislikes, and to desires and
attachments.
"Most people
consider it an affirmation of freedom to indulge their desires 'freely.'
They don't see that desire itself is compulsive. It blinds their
discrimination. Where is the freedom in any act that leads one more
deeply into bondage?
"Spiritual
healing requires willing cooperation on the disciple's part. It
cannot be achieved by passivity. Surrender to the divine will, as
expressed through the guru, must be offered freely, willingly, and
intelligently.
"Unenlightened
teachers often try to impose their will on the disciples. Freedom
can never be achieved in this way, even if the advice given is essentially
valid. To impose one's will on another is wrong, spiritually. Like
the practice of hypnosis, it weakens the will of the person hypnotized.
"Obedience
must be to the highest that is in your own self. Spiritual instruction,
too, must proceed from that high level of consciousness. It must
be attuned to the guidance for which your own soul is longing.
"The difference
between such wisdom-inspired guidance and human discrimination,
based on introspection, is that the unenlightened mind is clouded
by likes and dislikes, and conditioned by past habits and old ways
of looking at things. The guru's consciousness, on the other hand,
is like a flawless mirror. It reflects the disciple's spiritual
state back to him. It gives him what he needs, to escape the bondage
of delusion.
"Cooperation
with the guru strengthens the will power immeasurably, for it attunes
the disciple's will to the infinite will of God."
Next: Discipleship
Lessons and Initiation
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Magnify Your Efforts
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