A
teacher, a guru or a mentor is just like the GPS of your life who helps you
navigate successfully and broaden your vision and wisdom to distinguish between
good and bad, real and unreal, knowledge and ignorance and truth and myth.
Indubitably, a guru gifts you life changing inspiration and thus, is worshipped
with high reverence, equal to God. Right from the relationship of Sadashiv and
Adi Shankara to Sachin Tendulkar and Ajit Acharekar, teacher-disciple tradition
is not just a part of Indian Vedic culture but it’s all-pervading since the
beginning of human civilization on earth. It is the Guru who elevates the pupil
to his maximum potential and helps him rendezvous with his real Self, his core.
A Guru teaches how to brave the storms of life while maintaining equipoise and
a composed state of mind. A Guru’s Teachings not necessarily determine your
accomplishments or awards but will certainly guide you to wade through all ups
and downs, highs and lows, and the gaiety and glooms of your life.
Let the Guru Guide You How to Navigate Your Life
It’s
very surprising to realize that sometimes it takes just a moment to find the
Guru who takes you to the turning point of your life while sometimes it
requires whole life to identify one such inspiring figure. The person may or
not be with you in a long companionship or any elder, an experienced preacher
or highly revered and knowledgeable person; he/she may be just a person next
door or an acquaintance that can change the entire course of your life.
Today,
at Eduemeralds let’s discuss the story of Alexander and his Guru who helped him
develop an inclination to self-control, spiritual enlightenment and detachment
towards material might.
Alexander
the Great, one of the greatest rulers of the world, who conquered one-third of
the known world at the age of 32, expressed three unusual wishes on his
deathbed. These three wishes were:
·
My physicians should
carry my body for the burial.
·
The path leading to my
grave must be strewn with gold, silver and all precious stones from my treasury.
·
Both my hands should be
dangling out of the coffin and palms towards the sky.
The
generals were confused, they wondered what could be the reason behind their
emperor’s last wishes and here the story begins how Alexander the Great found a
real Guru in his life who transformed him completely.
Alexander,
in his pursuit to change and unite the world with his ideas, inspired by Greek
philosophers, established many cities called Alexandrias along the way of conquest. When he reached the North
Western borders of India, he happened to meet a group of naked ascetic, called
gymnosophist in Greek. They were Jain saints and didn’t flee at the sight of
Alexander’s fierce army. They remained firm and fearless and replied when
asked, “Every man possesses as much of the land as we are standing here right
now, but you are only an over-ambitious and arrogant man who’s travelling for
the sake of troubling both thyself and others.”
Alexander
was stunned and spellbound to hear this, he had never met such a person who
could talk to him like that, and that very moment, he decided to bow down and
make the saint his new Guru. He requested them to accompany him to Macedonia
but all refused as it was against their code of conduct. Finally, despite the
vehement disagreement of the senior mendicants, Kalyan Muni, later known as
Calanus, agreed to go with them. Alexander took Calanus as his mentor, his new
Guru in replacement of his boyhood tutor Aristotle in 325 BC, as estimated, two
years before Alexander’s death. While
marching back, the Macedonian army lost an Indian battle and was compelled to
march through Makran- a deadly desert. This retreat cost three quarters of
Alexander’s forces and Calanus grew severely ill. He didn’t want to burden his
fellow travelers so he decided to embrace death by self-immolation as per the
traditional manner of his sect. Calanus taught all the rare skills and LIFE lessons to Alexander. The bond and
affection between the naked Guru and the hunter warrior was inexplicable for
the people around as described by Lysimachus, the penultimate survivor of
Alexander’s marshals. Despite his debilitating condition he kept giving lessons
and illustrations of life rules, even on his funeral pyre he did not leave the
opportunity to teach his avid pupil, the great admirer of wisdom and
philosophy.
While
bidding adieu to the rest of his entourage and moving towards the pile of wood he
kissed everyone’s hands except Alexander and said, “I will meet you soon in
Babylon”. This was his last prophecy which came true in a matter of days when
Alexander died due to some unknown and incurable disease in Babylon. His sudden
demise has remained an unraveled mystery till today. But his death became even
larger than his life after his realization of the true essence of life, after
he had learnt the most important lesson of his life under the precious guidance
of his Guru, Calanus. He learnt that running after power and wealth is a
complete waste of life as none can carry even an iota of that treasure to their
journey to heaven. What’s more important is –living your life to its fullest
and attaining happiness and contentment in whatever you do. He wanted both his
hands dangling out of his coffin because he wanted his people to know that
everyone comes empty-handed and goes the same, so accumulation of anything is
sheer waste of one’s precious life.
Alexander
the Great, who conquered the whole world, found his Guru just a couple of years
before his death, but the teachings of his Guru helped him turning a new leaf of
his life with a complete transformation from an ambitious conqueror to a
spiritual seeker. Finding and appreciating the presence of a mentor is always
intellectually stimulating and plays a predominant role in our life. But most
often, it is we who waste a lot of time to identify one. It might be due to the
wide ambit of influences we have in this fast-paced era, leading us to the
Conundrum of what’s right and what’s the best for us. Let’s identify the Guru,
the GPS of our life to navigate successfully.
Hope you find your Guru, who can take you to the turning point of your life.
