Responsibility

Responsibility is a Huge word. I realise some of its importance as I see it encompasses a whole gamut of other characters we all should possess.
Responsibility implies duty, discipline, care, focus, among many other qualities. To act responsibly  implies that we act with reason, intelligence, love, dedication, loyalty, selflessness, nobleness, accountability, reliability, and many moral 'abilities'.
I can only imagine the depth of the word and even a thesaurus is at loss for finding equivalents.
Responsibility can probably be categorised towards 1. Oneself 2. One's Family 3. To His Occupation 4. To his Community and 5. To God. Meaning anything and everything we do, we have to do responsibly.
Responsibility is in the mind and acceptance of the extent of the responsibility one takes up lies within one's comprehension or one's capabilities, strengths & the size of his circle of love. A person who loves himself becomes knowledgeable, he who loves his family becomes respected, he who loves his Occupation becomes talented,  who loves his community becomes a leader, He who loves God becomes an enlightened soul.
Responsibility sometimes is taken willingly and sometimes thrust on someone. While some responsibility towards all of the above is always implicit, others are taken by choice. The more a person acts with selfless responsibility, more respect he/she earns. This is the self-centric view about Responsibility.
Everyone of us has a tendency to 'FIX' Responsibility on others. It is the fulfillment of these said and unsaid responsibilities that elevates respect and love towards that person.
Also that we tend to 'fix' responsibility on others of every aspect, event and incident that happens around us. The 'fixing' may be rational or emotional, and many times we tend to fix it wrongly. When answering the question,"Who is responsible for all (or each of) the problems in my life?" We generally 'fix' responsibilities irrationally. Or we 'fix' it on 'God'. Yes, God is responsible. But Where is God? God is within me. Then it necessarily follows that I am responsible for the problems in my life.
The more we learn to say 'I am responsible' the more we are likely to change and become a better person. While I have to caution that this might lead to a 'Guilt' Feeling, we have to overcome that with ways and means that should suit oneself.
To me, the goal to is to be 'Responsible' every moment of my life. God Help Me!

Guru

Shri Gurubhyo Namaha
Innumerable Books - both prose & poetry have been written about the greatness of a Guru, by describing their nature, character, greatness, intellect, abilities, spirituality, practices and such attributes.


THE NEED
Saint Thyagaraja, the great music composer, says, " Guru Lekha Etuvanti Kuniki Theliyaka Podhu." Meaning that, "Without a Guru not even an iota of knowledge can be gained."  So, if we are to improve in any way, we should seek knowledge, we should seek a Guru who will teach us, we should submit ourselves to him, surrender to him, observe him, learn from him (both explicit and implicit teachings), submit ourselves to his tests, exhibit our understanding of his teachings (to which he may explain or correct us - as the case may be) and surrender to him totally. Moreover, throughout our life, we have to constantly seek his audience to guide us. As the proverb 'Learning never ends' says, it is a lifelong association we should seek. 


OSHO in answering to who is a Spiritual Master? Says, Just by being near a Guru, you become more and more aware of yourself. If you submit yourself as a real disciple - and by being a disciple, I mean being open to the presence of the master. You may be sitting before a mirror with closed eyes - then the mirror cannot show you anything. The mirror is a mirror because it does not do anything on its own. But if you are in front of the mirror with open eyes, then the mirror can show you what you want to see about yourself. Such is the presence of a Guru.


In the presence of the our Guru; Knowledge flourishes (Gyana raksha); Sorrow diminishes (Dukha kshaya); Joy wells up without any reason (Sukha aavirbhava); Abundance dawns (Samriddhi); All talents manifest (Sarva samvardhan). What more do we want...


Once my uncle said, "I have not found a Guru who is worthy enough to teach me." I am of the exact opposite view. Who are we to test the qualities of a Guru. Most of us have little or no idea on what makes a Guru. The little we know actually misguides us. Saying, 'There is no guru worthy of me' is like saying there is not a single school to teach me. Schools are abound everywhere. But we do not seek admission, nor apply for scholarship. It is the student (the disciple in this case) that makes the difference. If you are a good disciple, you will find 'teachings' everywhere.

Coming to think of it, all a Guru does is to teach you to be a disciple (or student) and in that state of humility and submission to the fact that, "I want to Learn", itself helps you learn from all around.
   
Here is what Kulanarva Tantra says..."The disciple's only essential practice is to surrender himself to his guru." 


CHARACTER of a GURU

I wish to state only that, we should not see who is saying what. Rather see the thought or advice or philosophy separate from the person who said it and accept it on its merits. It is said, ரிஷி மூலம் நதி மூலம் பார்க்க கூடாது. Meaning, a river may run through many countries / districts and many a sewage / dirty stream may mix with it. If you seek to see if the river is pure by going through its entire course, you are bound to see the dirt and pollution that is part of the river. So will you find some character flow in a Teacher if you dig deep enough into his life. But what should matter is at the point of drinking the water, taste it, if it is sweet and does no harm - drink it - do not worry about the origins of the river. Similarly look at the advice a Teacher tells you, and take it as it is. 

But I also have to say that a Guru is one who practices before he preaches, so look at his present practices (if at all you have to look to judge) rather than past actions before discarding an advice because it has been said by someone with a dubious past. Take the instance of Valmiki, a robber and hunter by nature. Are we to discard the entire Valmiki Ramayana because it was written by Valmiki? 

PHILOSOPHIES & PRACTICES of GURUS
Each Guru advocates, a particular philosophy that they hold and teach to their disciples. Sometimes there is a conflict of ideas when we see the teachings of two Gurus and we somehow start saying one philosophy is more sound than the other. What do we know, that we think we are able to stand in judgement of these Gurus. 


On the other hand, even in Pedagogy (Teaching Methods for children) it is well known fact that childrens' learning can be classified into, Visual, Auditory & Kinesthetic (tactile) learning. While some children need to see the teachings, some just need to listen, while others need to touch and feel and do to learn. Similarly, as each Disciple is different and hence, a Guru takes an individual approach to each disciple. 
I could go on, but would like to stop with a quote from Kabir...


Sab Dharti Kagaz Karoon
Lekhan Ban Raye...
Sath Samundra Ki Mas Karuoon
Guru Gun Likha Na jaye...


"Even if the whole earth is transformed into paper with all the bigtrees made into pens and if the entire water in the seven oceans aretransformed into writing ink, even then the glories of the Guru cannot be written. So much is the greatness of the Guru."


Jai Guru