Question 11

Is it necessary to make someone a Guru in our quest for knowledge ?

 

 

Do not make only one person a guru; make everyone a guru. If you care to move about with wide open eyes, and are willing to learn with an open and relaxed mind, you discover that the whole world is a, master. You may have heard the name of Saint Maluk. He has noted about how ashamed he had to feel before three persons: an alcoholic, a small child, and a woman madly in love with a man. The saint has called all these three his gurus. How so, is interesting to know.

 

Once Maluk saw a drunkard on a road, walking with unsteady gait. Maluk told him, ’Friend! Steady yourself, lest you should fall.’ The drunk laughed loudly and said, ’Brother! Why don’t you steady yourself? If I fall and dirty my clothes, I shall be able to wash them clean; but if you fall, your purification will be quite a job!’ Maluk was aghast at these words of wisdom from a drunken sot!

 

Another time, Maluk met a child with a lighted wick-lamp in his hand. Maluk asked the child, ’Where did you get this lamp?’ No sooner had Maluk said this, than a gust of wind extinguished the lamp. The child said, ’Now you tell me first where the light is gone, then I shall tell you whence I got the lamp.’ For Maluk this child was another guru.

 

In the third episode, once when Maluk was on the outskirts of a town, a young girl came running to him, searching for her lost lover, and inquiring about his whereabouts. Her clothes were in disarray, and she was not aware of her partially exposed body. Seeing her in this condition, Maluk remarked, ’First dress properly; then approach me and have your say.’

 

The girl said, ’Brother! Being intoxicated by the love of a God-made creature, I lost awareness of my body and my dress; if you had not drawn my attention, I would have run to the bazaar in this semi-nude condition; thanks for bringing me to my senses.

 

But is not it surprising that even though you are supposed to be intoxicated by God’s love, you are conscious of my body and my garments? Can he who is lost in God, notice clothed or lack of them?’ Maluk felt like he had been awakened out of his sleep. He realized how impossible it is to gain divine knowledge if one keeps noticing insignificant trifles

 

- Osho, "Lead Kindly Light, #1, Q11"