From darkness to light

From darkness to light

April 2015

By Suma Varughese

By interviewing 17 of the most eminent spiritual luminaries of our times, our anniversary issue offers a tribute to the guru tatva, the enlightening principle, that alone can lead us from darkness to light, says Suma Varughese What can you say of those rare beings who, enlightened themselves, refrain from sinking into celestial stillness, and instead, come forward to aid suffering humanity? To the extent that man has raised himself from the primal swamp of selfishness, and imbibed the civilizing effect of love, forgiveness, generosity, kindness, and compassion, to that extent it is these masters we have to thank for it. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Lao Tse, Thiruvalavur, Shankaracharya, Jnaneshwar, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Vivekananda… For centuries, these great ones have walked with humanity, patiently freeing us of our illusions, ripping through the veil of maya, endorsing us, believing in us, exhorting us, and never, ever writing us off. Seeing in us what we cannot see, the shining image of Godliness. “Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya cha dushkritam; Dharma-samthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.” said Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita 4:8. (For the protection of those who are in harmony, and the rectification of everything disharmonious, I incarnate Myself at every juncture of time.) And so they come, the masters, era after era, striving to set right the balance of good and evil, striving to draw each of us to their own exalted heights. Of course, it is another thing that most of us say no to the honor, and shield ourselves from the weighty burden of potential divinity by worshipping the teacher, instead of practicing the teaching. We raise them to impossible heights, embroider superhuman tales about them, and delude ourselves with the reasoning that as mere mortals we cannot hope to rise to the level of these gods. Most belief systems even consider the very thought blasphemy. But this land alone thought otherwise. In this land alone, prophet after prophet, teacher after teacher, from the time of the Vedas and beyond, proclaimed the provocative truth: Man was potentially God. And the purpose of human existence was to realise that possibility. Perhaps that is why spiritual teachers continue to proliferate in this land. Osho once said that India, poor and destitute in other areas, was resplendently rich in mystics. Today, mystics have spread all over the world – awakening is a global phenomenon – but India still has some of the most revered gurus of our times. And in this anniversary issue, we pay homage to the guru tatva, the enlightening principle, by offering interviews with most of the spiritual greats of this land, and two from outside it. Within the covers of this issue you will meet the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Jaggi Vasudev, Mata Amritanandamayi, Dada Vaswani, Anandmurti Gurumaa, Dadi Janki, Mohanji, Dadashreeji, Louise L Hay, Mooji, and many more. What stands out in this collection of interviews is the stunning individuality of each master. Each is gloriously themselves, and you could not mistake one for the other. Anandmurti Gurumaa is both fire and light, occasionally even emitting a spark of ire. Sri Sri has the gentleness of a dove. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev emanates a thunderous masculinity, the Dalai Lama embodies happy laughter, Mata Amritanandamayi is love incarnate, Dada Vaswani is goodness personified and so it goes. Each is different but their thought processes run along the same lines. Almost everyone acknowledges the importance of rising above the externals of religion and relating to its core message, which is similar. They laud the universal of love and karma, and deplore the paucity of true seekers. The list is by no means comprehensive. Many great masters were not accessible. We restricted ourselves to living masters, and by and large to the ones who live in India, with the exception of Louise L Hay, and Mooji. In addition to the veterans, we also interviewed a couple of newcomers: Om Swami and Rajini Menon. Each has started their ministry fairly recently but as their stories testify, they too have walked the path of enlightenment, and are now in the process of supporting the rest of us on our journey. For my colleagues and myself it was a rare privilege to be spending time with these mahatmas, partaking of their wisdom and above all, their Presence.

Each of us is richer for the experience. It is our hope that you too will benefit hugely from these conversations with the good and the great.­