Here is the precious pearl. The teeming millions mass-produced on a gigantic scale each having his own idiosyncrasies apparently with a view to produce a few masterpieces: more valuable, more exquisite, more fascinating than the rarest Stradivarius violin or the Mona Lisa or the Chartres Cathedral.
That such men as Jesus should have walked the earth is the greatest miracle on earth.
It is more important than any other thing sought after in the world, and this is why sensitive people nurture an idyllic picture of an ideal state of being. The whole forward march of evolution tends toward this ideal.
Man, that wonder, molded and burnished through ages of deep searching and all the seeming trials and errors to produce that mixture of physis and psychis converging from all our ancestry and predecessors on the planet (mixed with a draught of the heavens) inspired by the heroism of archaic legends. Yet in the course of repeated disappointment through life, many begin to wonder whether such ponderous musings are not pure fiction of the imagination.
What is it then that is so desperately, so consistently sought after by such large numbers of people, some highly discriminating? It is the most valuable treasure in the world and possibly hence the rarest: a perfect human being.
Man in search of his ideal of perfection. Nothing less. But the hope surges up again and again. Every time one meets a person whose qualities one admires. Naturally one nurtures the wish to contemplate such a being with one's own eyes. And when told that they are to be found at some outpost of civilization, some will cross the widest stretches; suffer the most ignoble ills; take the most foolhardy risks; for that moment of encounter that can change a lifetime.
Has the course of your life ever been completely turned-about by the encounter with a being? A being who incorporates those values that you have always worshipped in your soul? If this happens, it is because that being was already in you.
Confrontation with the qualities of his soul triggers off the like in you - the most wonderful thing that can happen until one realized, as Buddha said, There is a place one cannot reach by going anywhere. - Or the Rishi high up in the Himalayas who said to me "Why have you come so far to see what you should be?" To see what you should be.
We wish to see in another what we should be ourselves and we would wish for another to inspire us to be so. Yes, the time comes when one realizes that: the guru cannot do it for you but can only catalyze like properties.
The time comes when one has to make the effort oneself to be what one wishes to see. You may have been perplexed by some of his actions or words - whatever. If he is your guru he will live in you by day and be present in your dreams, in your life, in every moment the heart and core of your being.
But beware of the obsessive quality of the being who exercises coercion upon your will; robs you of your freedom; places you in a position where your conscience is in a quandary; he who is the master of men while being the slave of his ego is the most pernicious leader astray.
Many innocent or candid souls have fallen victim to these either by becoming hybrid examples of a strange spirituality blended with sanctimonious contempt for others, or an insufferable sense of righteousness, or blind materialism concealed under the guise of holiness.
Many do not seem to have the measuring rod to distinguish the genuine from the false sometimes to a disconcerting degree!
What criteria can one offer to the pilgrim on the search for the teacher? Quite apart from the considerations given earlier about the real purpose pursued in his actual living; if he or she has no axe to grind he will be bubbling over with the joy of an inner freedom, even though greatly sensitive to pain connected with the problems surrounding him. This you can ascertain if you feel inspired after seeing him.
Like Walking on Air. If he feels that you are an earnest wayfarer relentlessly pointing to the azimuth he will guide you from perplexity to perplexity.
A crucial criterion is to see how he reacts to personal insults. If he handles the matter soberly, without taking personal offense he is most likely to be the master you are seeking. The slightest mark of a lack of charity tells a long story because the characteristics of a person spring to light when he is off guard.
You will also watch for any show of importance other than the natural sovereignty and dignity of his being - AT ALL TIMES.
He would rather underplay his power than preen his feathers; screen you from his power that burn you by it; walk gently by your side rather than crush you from an upraised throne; enlist your approval by his wisdom rather than impose his opinion by force of will.
The divine power passing through him will give you a sense of optimism regarding your problems rather than coercing you into subservience. If he is endowed with superior wisdom he may not counter your arguments by arguments which might give vent to further debate or pass his mind behind the quandary.
"He has passed before you had time to see him". Ramana Maharshi, when asked "How do I attain liberation?", answered "Who is it in you that wants liberation?"
"The answer that uproots the question" (Hazrat Inayat Khan).
Rather than allow you to juggle with theories he will test you in your life - in your life, in the reality of what you are trying to work out theoretically revealing you to yourself.
You have come with a question on your mind. You are now saddled with a challenge in your life, for that is where it all works out in practice.
Dare you wage war upon your shadow? Dare you cast the torchlight of truth in your soul? This is the issue. You did not think that was the reason you came with a question and there it is staring you in the eyes. He may inspire you to give up that whose giving up will make you free.
And if he asks you to do it, it is because he knows how glad you will be to have had the courage to give it up; and you will realize that you have given a pebble for a pearl.
He is strong. He is showing you the way he followed himself. If he is a real guru he will never ask you to do anything against your conscience, but just give you that extra push to do what you should do anyway.
Once you have become conversant with his handling of paradoxes and gained confidence in his guidance knowing that no perplexity will befuddle you any more he will double his zeal in your guidance and point out to you hidden ways that you, however, have to discover as he turns your attention towards them.
For the ways of the lord are mysterious. "He will caress you with the hand of your worst enemy and he will admonish you with the hand of your dearest friend." (Hazrat Inayat Khan).
You think you have discovered a reason but there is a further reason hidden behind it. And no sooner this has flashed upon you than you intuit a further one each more incomprehensible than the former.
The one in command never reveals his plans even to his forces. They are ever concealed misleading those who would foil it. Each officer is entitled to know as much as he needs to know to fulfill his part in the strategy. As he rises in rank, more of the plan is revealed to him. In fact, spiritual vision is awareness of the divine plan.
This only happens if one identifies with it beyond any personal consideration. Of course if you understood what the teacher grasps you would not need a teacher. And even if he told you what he grasps you would not be able to grasp it. Unless you had developed his caliber.
Therefore he does not try to teach but to promote your growth and expand your being that you may see what he sees, and understand what he understands, and have the wisdom to react to what he sees the way he does. His purpose is to conduct you to the point where you do not need him any more.
"With a sweep of his arm he will lift your consciousness way above his own." (Hazrat Inayat Khan).
You will recognize him by his sense of truth. He will keep faith with you and you will strive to keep faith with him. If you love him, you can say what you have on your mind and he will never take offense. You can in any case never conceal a thought from him because he reads you as an open book - not from curiosity, but how can a sensitive being fail to respond to that which is placed before him?
"The greater the teacher the better he can play with children." (Hazrat Inayat Khan).
Murshid would even scandalize people to prevent them from taking themselves too seriously. People were serving cakes and he would take three. He really did it spiritually. People think to be holy you have to be so very serious. It had a wonderful freeing effect upon them.
There was a madzub who was looking at people as though he was laughing. "Why are you laughing like that?" he was asked. "I am not laughing, I am smiling. Because each manifests God in a different way: as an elephant, a giraffe, a dove ..... if only they could see themselves, they would smile too!"
