Today is a day for honoring one's gurus (teachers...I think everyone knows that one these days. This is interesting, though. According to my mom, the word guru comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "heavy." Presumably heavy with knowledge and wisdom).
I am having a very long and exhausting weekend and I don't have the energy to tell you about it, I'm afraid. So, I'm sending you over to The White Indian Housewife's About.com page about it:
http://goindia.about.com/b/2010/07/25/celebrate-2010-guru-purnima-today.htm
And some more details:
http://hinduism.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/a/gurupurnima.htm
http://festivals.tajonline.com/guru-purnima.php
There is a puja tonight at Chinmaya, but I don't feel ready to participate. I've gone a while now without a guru or much guidance. It's something I want to have, but I'm easing into it. I haven't officially started study with Chinmaya yet and I don't know the Swami-ji and his teachings well yet. Probably next year I will attend the event. This year, reading spiritual texts from the great teachers of the past will have to suffice.
amba, interesting write up.Surprised your mom knows about Guru more than you do. When I was a kid I was taught 'Mathru Pitgru Guru Devo Bhava'. Meaning Mother, father, Guru and then God come in that order of importance. So these living people are always more important than the god. Thats why mom and dad sacrifice so much in hindu and other families. Divorce rate among hndus by and large is low because both mom and dad know that kids get hurt with separation.Have a nice day.surya, chicago
ReplyDeleteशास्त्रों में गु का अर्थ बताया गया है- अंधकार या मूल अज्ञान और रु का का अर्थ किया गया है- उसका निरोधक। गुरु को गुरु इसलिए कहा जाता है कि वह अज्ञान तिमिर का ज्ञानांजन-शलाका से निवारण कर देता है। अर्थात अंधकार को हटाकर प्रकाश की ओर ले जाने वाले को 'गुरु' कहा जाता है।
ReplyDeleteI written in Hindi to give you some practice :) Above paragraph translate as "Accroding to Sanskrit roots - Gu means darkness and Ru mean one who dispel it, GuRu as a word can be read as 'one who dispel darkness'".
Oh, that's interesting Pravin. I like that translation. I'll ask my mom what she thinks, as she is my Sanskrit expert! :)
ReplyDelete