On the occasion of Guru Purnima, we offer our humble pranams to our Guru and Founder of AIM for Seva, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
We share a short excerpt below from one of the many writings of Pujya Swami ji.
A teaching method is required because the problem is a very peculiar one. This knowledge is not like a given academic subject that you can learn by simply reading a textbook. It is a complete unfolding and the teacher-student connection is necessary in order to make the knowledge work for the student. It is similar to a relationship with a therapist in which trust and time are necessary.
The guru is more like a super therapist. He must re-orient the student over a period of time, directly or indirectly, so that the student sees through the fallacy of his or her own ingrained self-beliefs, and helps the person see that the self is totally acceptable.
It is so very important to have an insight about you as totally lovable and acceptable. This is what the guru does; he helps you see yourself as lovable. He frees you. That is why the guru-sisya relationship is entirely different from any other relationship and the reason why the guru is given so much praise in the sastra and in the tradition.
Gurupurnima, is thus, a very important day for all seekers. On this Guru’s day, we seek the blessings of all the gurus in the parampara, the tradition, bearing in mind that the ultimate guru is Lord Daksinamurti, the source of all-knowledge. Therefore, we praise him, and worship him, seeking the grace of the guru.
—Excerpted from Gurupurnima by Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati