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Who is the Worthy Student and the Good Disciple?
19 Apr 2003
HINT: They don’t expect their sadhana, (Path to God), to be fast, free and convenient.
Typical Monologue of an ‘Unworthy Seeker’ approaching a Guru for Enlightenment…
"Hey, I want it now & I want it for free!" " "Quick, where do I sign and how much is it?" "Just do it now!" "Please, please, please! Give me happiness and healing, and don’t ask me to do anything - can’t you see, I have suffered enough!" "I’ll do anything, anything! What? you want me to meditate and still my mind? Impossible!" "Ok, but I am very busy, how long will it take for you to awaken and purify me?" "Oh, there are tuition fees, yoga disciplines and serious self-inquiry? I thought this was a free Psychic Reading Chatroom!" "Satsang? You want me to attend regularly, do seva, (selfless service) and offer dakshina, (tithes)? Forget it!" "But… um… I am so busy and can spare you nothing…really!" "Well, why can’t you just be convenient for me?" "Hey, I can do this myself. Bye."
Ok, this is all very humorous, but does any of this sound just a bit familiar? We can always look across to our friend over there, and shake our heads at their amazing disrespect, arrogance and egoic conceit, right?,(wink). Once in a while the discussion comes around again, the necessary topic of what is the fruitful attitude and behavior of a sincere spiritual aspirant and seeker of God. Such a one is considered by the Great Teachers as ‘worthy’ of receiving the Grace-bestowing power of the Guru in awakening Shakti Kundalini, (otherwise called the Holy Spirit), within the seeker. This descent of Grace, the Revealing Power of God, marks the true beginning of a sadhakas’ (seeker, in sanskrit), ascension pathwork towards full recognition of True Self.
Let’s examine the scriptural descriptions for qualities of the ’False Disciple’. Keep in mind that essentially, the only difference between ’Student’ and ’Disciple’ is that the former has yet to prove ‘worthy’ of receiving a ’diksha’, (initiation by the Guru/Master Spiritual Teacher), and the latter has received at least one already. In the Kularnava Tantra, Shiva, (God), describes a ‘false’ student or disciple as:
" He is wicked, lacks virtues, and comes from a corrupt family,(‘corrupt’ means prideful, prejudiced, manipulative, or abusive, given to lying, stealing, greed, competition, jealousy, etc… and is generationally engrained ). He is a heretic and takes pride only in dry and scholarly knowledge, ( we know from the Shiva Sutras, (verse 1.2), a core sacred text of Kashmir Shaivism, that intellectualism is false knowledge). He becomes the disciple of any teacher he encounters", (this speaks to the egoic vice of 'consumer convenience shopping' for a guru, and lack of true commitment to the path).
Just as we have seen in previous writings, not only are there tell-tale signs of False Gurus and fraudulent Spiritual Master Teachers, so it is also with Spiritual Seekers. The world is abound with Fraudulent Spiritual Seekers and False Disciples; those who claim to be sincere, but are instead sinful, prideful, conceited and lacking embodiment of any of the Virtues found in true pathwork, such as trust, compassion, true courage, gratitude, humility and patience.
Swami Muktananada, a great Siddha Saint of Kashmir Shaivism has said of the false and unworthy seeker, "He performs bad actions, is given to self-praise and lacks perfection. His speech creates restlessness and fear". Keep in mind that the pure light of God within the Guru or even advanced yogi can paradoxically also create restlessness and fear within those who are struck by their own returning reflection of spiritual blindness and egoic darkness.
It should be fairly clear by now to my regular readers that the Path to God, sadhana, (literally means ’that which leads to completion or wholeness’, in Sanskrit), is not for the great ‘modern western/American consumer’ let alone the ‘new-age psychic do-it-yourselfer’. The take-home-message of Kashmir Shaivism here: true spiritual pathwork and its divine, nectarean fruits are not fast, free and convenient items on the shelves of a ‘Spiritual Convenience Store‘. You have to work for it. You can not do it all alone. I would venture to say that, in fact, no true, whole religion or ancient wisdom tradition in the history of mankind ever promised Nirvana was fast, free and convenient, let alone possible for the ‘common man’. However, all is not lost. Kashmir Shaiva tradition says that having a living Satguru, (Saint in Sanskrit) as one’s Master Spiritual Teacher is still the most effective way to reach Self-Realization, so, ironically, the time-honored Master-Disciple method is relatively and generally the most direct, easeful and natural Path to God.
Swami Muktanananda says of this, "For a genuine sadhaka, a seeker of the highest Truth, Shishya Yoga - that is, accepting discipleship under a Satguru and proceeding on the spiritual path according to his teachings, instructions and guidance - is the best. Shishya Yoga, the path of discipleship, is great in every respect."
Let’s take a look at the scriptural descriptions of the ‘Worthy Student’ and the ‘Good Disciple’. In the Kularnava Tanta, Lord Shiva describes the qualities of a good, pure, fortunate and virtuous disciple, (and worthy student):
"…He is engaged in the sadhana leading to samadhi (divine union with God): (yama, niyama, asana, the techniques of hatha yoga, natural pranayama and so on). He is endowed with noble qualities. He is good-natured and behaves correctly." Swami Muktananda says, "He is worthy of receiving shakti and the knowledge of Truth.". This speaks to the seekers accrual of worthiness through the merits of mastering the Anavopaya level yogas (beginner level - mastery of emotions and baser human nature, and the engendering of the Virtues, such as compassion, love, kindness, generosity, humility, honesty, patience, non-injury to others, etc).
"He has a pure mind and is gifted with faith and devotion. He knows the scriptures. He is endowed with a beautiful body and wears clean clothes. He observes good conduct." Swami Muktananda says, "Such a disciple is deserving of initiation.". Remember that the scriptural words of God are best contemplated as symbolic poetry, as they are ever-new and fresh due to simultaneous, multidimensional meanings. Each reader will comprehend the scriptures differently then, based on their own unique world-view and level of God-Awareness at that time, and in future, if there has been spiritual growth in the interim. In this instance, for example, ‘beautiful body’, is not literal, but speaks to the perfection and purity of the seekers energetic/auric body, and is reflected in their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors about themselves and others. Similarly, the ‘wearing of clean clothes’, speaks to the embodying of the Virtues; the outer ‘garments’ of divinity and Grace which shine through into this seekers relationships and world about them.
" He performs actions with understandings and with unselfish motives. He has a generous mind and is a profound thinker. He eats sparingly. He is careful and competent in his actions. He is courageous and free of pride." This speaks to the whole thrust of the disciples sadhana as being one of mental discipline aimed at accepting responsibility for ones’ own thoughts, emotions and actions in overcoming wrong assumptions, beliefs and ideas; addictions, inner conflict, past dysfunctional conditionings, fears, self-doubts and the illusion of separation, individuality and superiority over others. It also speaks to approaching each moment in ‘Witness Consciousness’; this is this seekers source of true courage and spiritual fortitude.
"He carries out all his actions with great skill. He finds joy in helping others. He is pure because of his virtuous actions and is afraid to perform sinful deeds. He is grateful and assimilates the qualities of noble people." Swami Muktananda says of such a one, " Such a person is regarded as a superior disciple and is closely related to the Guru." This speaks to the ability of the advanced yogini disciple in performing all actions through Grace and Divine Will. The egoless state of such close alignment to the Inner-Guru brings joy in serving Self by service others. The importance of personal spiritual integrity and honor is emphasized in that sinning, for example, lying, becomes virtually impossible, as this adept disciple is the living embodiment of the Virtues. Ever-present gratitude and humility allows the continued extinguishing of the ego and the engendering of Divine Self, of ‘noble people’.
"He is a staunch believer. He is charitable and engaged in service to others. He never deceives people or steals their money. He is worthy of the Guru’s trust. He is humble. Egoless, free of pride and always happy. He is a wise person who, through sadhana and the power of his enthusiasm, makes possible that which is impossible. He never neglects to engage himself in austerities (yogic disciplines), and suitable work, (nurturing, positive environments). He is courageous." Swami Muktananda says of this person, "Such a person is worthy of receiving the knowledge of the Absolute". The great damage of self-doubt and enormous merit of firm belief is emphasized here, as is the over-flowing state of abundance of love and generosity of heart and action. In the egoless state of divine union with God, there is great rejuvenation, enthusiasm, creative power, freedom, perfect contentment, liberty and happiness. He is seemingly capable of creating miracles as a co-creator of God. Ongoing humility and inner courage guides his thoughts and actions.
"His speech is beneficial to others; it is true, pure. It always brings joy. He speaks little. He is very intelligent and sharp-witted. When he is told something once, he understands it." Swami Muktananda says, "Such an intelligent disciple is the child of the Guru and is qualified to receive the knowledge of the Absolute." The continued advancement of the good disciple bears the fruit of bringing joy and healing to those simply in the presence of the disciple or hearing his words. This passage of scripture also speaks to access to inner wisdom and knowledge; the tapping into Universal Intelligence of Self, and inner siddhi powers, (inner psychic ‘sense-organs’ ) that allow for little need of verbal speech. The phenomenon of spontaneous ‘knowingness’ of the nature of Self (therefore others), and the nature of the universe is emphasized. This inner, spontaneous ‘knowingness’ without effort or action is considered the third and forth (deepest), level of speech and source of words; the seed sounds and primordial ‘Word of God’.
"He dislikes hearing himself praised and others criticized. He is always pleased and eager to do for others, the work that is important to them. He has mastered his senses and is disciplined in his actions. He always remains close to the Guru (God), and does that work which pleases the Guru. Through meditation he worships the great Shakti Kundalini, (Holy Spirit within), the Goddess and mother of the world, (the female, manifested, creative aspect of God)." This speaks to the great caveat of highly advanced yogini disciples; solipsism and false prophet/false guru behaviors. Misidentification of Self for the limited, egoic being is still the greatest and final challenge even here. In the completion of the spiritual seeker, the worthy student had become the good disciple, who has become the very embodiment of Guru, (God). The Guru of the seeker is the Self and the Disciple of the seeker is the body. Even here, the disciple is ever present, even in the state of Self-Realization, when the being is nothing but bliss, existence and consciousness Itself.
Let’s conclude our exploration of what is a ‘worthy student and good disciple’ topic with an example; a divinely inspired poem of my own guru, Swami Chidvilasananda, a great Satguru and ever devoted disciple to her own Guru, Swami Muktananda.
No Wonder That I Love You
Baba, I give my thanks to God
for having your form
incarnate on this earth.
Through your form,
I have come to love
the most elusive nature of God.
As I began my search,
your form was my inspiration.
Whenever I lost trust,
your form was still ablaze
with the light of God.
And so I would begin again,
and would continue my search
with greater faith.
As your sweet, enchanting form
became my goal,
an incredible thing happened-
I disappeared.
As I went still deeper into you,
form itself dissolved;
nothing remained but light-
boundless, radiant light!
No color, no sound, no touch,
no smell, no taste survived.
Beyond the grasp of the senses,
nothing was left to describe;
the sole reality
was the experience of God.
Once again, an incredible thing happened-
as I came to, the light of God
condensed into your form.
O my Baba, you are God incarnate
in a human form-
no wonder, no wonder
that I love you!
Article Copyright IBASI 2003. All rights reserved.
International Bioenergetic Arts & Sciences Institute (IBASI)
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