Appendix #11 Catharsis and Meditation: Steps on The Path The New Alchemy To Turn You On #28
Questions in this Discourse
HOW CAN I FIND A GURU, A MASTER? HOW AM I TO BE CERTAIN THAT SOMEONE IS THE RIGHT MASTER FOR ME? WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA TO JUDGE? HOW AM I TO KNOW WHETHER THIS IS THE MAN TO LEAD ME? HOW CAN I BE CERTAIN? AND IF ONE IS NOT CERTAIN, THEN HOW CAN ONE SURRENDER?
THIS QUESTION MAY BE THE QUESTION OF MANY. Everyone is searching. You can seek, but you cannot find.
But, still, seeking is necessary, because if you don't seek, nothing will happen. Go on seeking, but know that just by seeking you cannot find. It is impossible for the disciple to know who is the right guru for him. It is impossible for the lower to judge the higher. How can one judge that this is the right master? If you can judge, and decide, then you yourself have gone above the master.
The disciple can never find the master. Only the master can find the disciple. The disciple has to go on seeking and seeking and seeking just in order to be available for the master, so that when the right master comes, he can choose you.
Only the master can choose you; you cannot choose him. In old Egyptian scriptures it is said: When the disciple is ready the master appears. It is so. If you are ready, the master will appear. And your readiness is your availability; it is to be available.
Go on seeking. You will meet many teachers. Be humble. Learn, with reverence and gratitude. But remember that every teacher is not your master. You will have to wait for the right master to appear. Go on -- with deep humility, humbleness, receptivity. Move from teacher to teacher. You don't know who the master is, but when you have become ready, through this search, the master will choose you.
And the moment someone chooses you, be courageous enough to be chosen. When someone chooses you, don't try to escape. That's what happens. You may be in search of a master, but when the master chooses you and says, "Okay, I accept you," you may try to escape, because the master is like death.
I say, the master is like death. There is an old Indian saying: Acharya mrakue; the master is death. He is, because he will destroy you as you are so that someone new can be created. He will kill you in order to give you a rebirth. He will restructure you. He's going to give you rebirth, so death is necessary. That's why when the master chooses you, it appears as if death is coming. You may try to escape, remember. You cannot find the master, but when the master finds you, be ready to die; be ready to surrender.
But the fear is there: How am I to know that this man is the right master for me? How am I to know that he is the right one for me and now I should surrender? You cannot know even that. To know the right man you first have to be the right man. Otherwise, how can you know? You have no experience of being right, so how can you feel whether this man is right for you? If you are already capable of knowing who is the right master for you, there is no need for a master.
You cannot decide who is the right master for you. Even that is not possible. So what to do? But it is not a question of the right man; it is a question of surrender. Even if you surrender to the wrong man, surrender is helpful.
You may not be able to understand what I mean. Even to a false master, surrender is helpful; you are not losing anything. The real thing happens not because of the master; the real thing happens because of the surrender. If you have surrendered to a false master, no harm is going to happen to you. because a surrendered mind is protected by existence itself. No harm can be done to you. If you have surrendered to a false master, by your very surrender that false master may be helped and may become an authentic master. A real disciple changes a false master into an authentic master. The very surrendering is such a deep phenomenon that when it happens you are transformed and the other person is also transformed. But, that is not something to worry about.
Remember, no harm is going to happen to you if you surrender. Surrendering, in itself, is a miracle. Even if you have surrendered to a false master, you may learn many things from him. In this existence, nothing is a wastage. Even living with a false master is a learning. You are growing, you are becoming aware of certain things that you would never become aware of with an authentic master. You are maturing, you are becoming adult.
And now, after learning from a false master, no false master will ever appeal to you again. At least you will now be able to judge who is false. You may not be able to judge who is true, but the other half has already been learned: you can now judge who is false. And this is something worth learning! Now you can eliminate the false teachers, and the true teacher will be left. Now you know what is false. You will never again be magnetized by it.
So be humble even with a false master. Be respectful, be grateful, because you have learned many things from him. And when you leave him, leave with deep gratitude. Under him, you have become more mature.
This is the right attitude of the disciple. The question is never of the right master or the wrong master. The question is always of right discipleship. Don't think of the master at all. Just try to become a true disciple: the learning attitude, the receptivity to learn.
And be grateful. The world is a great school and the divine force uses every way and every means to create understanding in you. This understanding is helped by both the true and the false. Remember this. It will be helpful to you.
But, still, seeking is necessary, because if you don't seek, nothing will happen. Go on seeking, but know that just by seeking you cannot find. It is impossible for the disciple to know who is the right guru for him. It is impossible for the lower to judge the higher. How can one judge that this is the right master? If you can judge, and decide, then you yourself have gone above the master.
The disciple can never find the master. Only the master can find the disciple. The disciple has to go on seeking and seeking and seeking just in order to be available for the master, so that when the right master comes, he can choose you.
Only the master can choose you; you cannot choose him. In old Egyptian scriptures it is said: When the disciple is ready the master appears. It is so. If you are ready, the master will appear. And your readiness is your availability; it is to be available.
Go on seeking. You will meet many teachers. Be humble. Learn, with reverence and gratitude. But remember that every teacher is not your master. You will have to wait for the right master to appear. Go on -- with deep humility, humbleness, receptivity. Move from teacher to teacher. You don't know who the master is, but when you have become ready, through this search, the master will choose you.
And the moment someone chooses you, be courageous enough to be chosen. When someone chooses you, don't try to escape. That's what happens. You may be in search of a master, but when the master chooses you and says, "Okay, I accept you," you may try to escape, because the master is like death.
I say, the master is like death. There is an old Indian saying: Acharya mrakue; the master is death. He is, because he will destroy you as you are so that someone new can be created. He will kill you in order to give you a rebirth. He will restructure you. He's going to give you rebirth, so death is necessary. That's why when the master chooses you, it appears as if death is coming. You may try to escape, remember. You cannot find the master, but when the master finds you, be ready to die; be ready to surrender.
But the fear is there: How am I to know that this man is the right master for me? How am I to know that he is the right one for me and now I should surrender? You cannot know even that. To know the right man you first have to be the right man. Otherwise, how can you know? You have no experience of being right, so how can you feel whether this man is right for you? If you are already capable of knowing who is the right master for you, there is no need for a master.
You cannot decide who is the right master for you. Even that is not possible. So what to do? But it is not a question of the right man; it is a question of surrender. Even if you surrender to the wrong man, surrender is helpful.
You may not be able to understand what I mean. Even to a false master, surrender is helpful; you are not losing anything. The real thing happens not because of the master; the real thing happens because of the surrender. If you have surrendered to a false master, no harm is going to happen to you. because a surrendered mind is protected by existence itself. No harm can be done to you. If you have surrendered to a false master, by your very surrender that false master may be helped and may become an authentic master. A real disciple changes a false master into an authentic master. The very surrendering is such a deep phenomenon that when it happens you are transformed and the other person is also transformed. But, that is not something to worry about.
Remember, no harm is going to happen to you if you surrender. Surrendering, in itself, is a miracle. Even if you have surrendered to a false master, you may learn many things from him. In this existence, nothing is a wastage. Even living with a false master is a learning. You are growing, you are becoming aware of certain things that you would never become aware of with an authentic master. You are maturing, you are becoming adult.
And now, after learning from a false master, no false master will ever appeal to you again. At least you will now be able to judge who is false. You may not be able to judge who is true, but the other half has already been learned: you can now judge who is false. And this is something worth learning! Now you can eliminate the false teachers, and the true teacher will be left. Now you know what is false. You will never again be magnetized by it.
So be humble even with a false master. Be respectful, be grateful, because you have learned many things from him. And when you leave him, leave with deep gratitude. Under him, you have become more mature.
This is the right attitude of the disciple. The question is never of the right master or the wrong master. The question is always of right discipleship. Don't think of the master at all. Just try to become a true disciple: the learning attitude, the receptivity to learn.
And be grateful. The world is a great school and the divine force uses every way and every means to create understanding in you. This understanding is helped by both the true and the false. Remember this. It will be helpful to you.