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 When you follow the Guru who is the Light of Truth, make sure that you have kindled the Light of Truth in yourself, that you are also the Light. Otherwise you will walk in the darkness of the shadow that the human personality of the Guru casts behind Him.
The Guru is everywhere at all times, for He is the Light of God, and His Grace is freely available to all at all times. It is up to the disciple to study his own mind and see for himself how it throws up doubts and distractions. The light for such self-study is viveka or vigilance. Such vigilance keeps the distractions away and the doubting intellect at bay, so that the heart may be open to the Guru.
Gurudev's genius was synthesis, harmony and oneness. In His vision there was no division. Hence there was no division in His heart and in His mind. He was the living illustration of the famous expression that occurs frequently in the Bhagavad Gita: "He sees God or the Self in all and all in God or the Self." '
It was this vision of the Infinite that lived as Gurudev Swami Sivananda. He is our guarantee and assurance that such a vision is possible, and that in such a vision lies our salvation; not in running away from anything, whatever be our justification for such action.
Even evil is not shunned, renounced or abandoned! When the vision of the Infinite is attained and God dwells in our hearts in all His radiance, evil does not exist and does not arise. In the light of truth there is no darkness. When the light shines in darkness, there is no darkness. This was Gurudev's secret. Hence there was not even a struggle to overcome evil in His life.
Only he who is endowed with such a vision can love all. He is love, and nothing but love can flow from him. He is divine. His life is divine life. In it there is no self, no selfishness. In it there is no division - not even between the one and the many, the divine and the undivine, light and darkness. Hence, Gurudev was able to live an intensely dynamic life, presiding over the world-wide Divine Life Society, apparently dealing with diversity without ever losing the vision of the infinite. He was infinite love. May His blessings be upon you all!
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