From Tradition to Transformation: Reimagining the Significance of Guru Purnima

“Guru and God both appear before me. To whom should I prostrate? I bow before the guru who introduced God to me.” – Kabir
These lines show the dilemma faced by a disciple who spent years just to get a glimpse of God but, when God eventually appears before him along with his spiritual master, he contemplates whom he should bow to first. Unable to find the answer, he asks his guru and eventually realizes that since it was his guru who introduced God to him, he should greet his guru first. Without guru he would never have known regarding the existence of God.
Guru Purnima is a spiritual tradition dedicated to honoring and expressing gratitude to one’s guru or spiritual teacher. It is celebrated on the full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Ashadha (June–July). This day holds great significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and it is a special occasion for disciples and followers to show their admiration and reverence for their gurus and express their gratitude for the guidance and wisdom they have received.

History of Guru Purnima

Guru Purnima is a sacred religious celebration observed to honor the academic and spiritual gurus. The festival of Guru Purnima is originally believed to be related to the birth of a well-known sage of ancient times, the son of Sage Parashar. It is believed that the divine child had extensive knowledge of the past, present, and future. Recognising the significance of preserving and disseminating spiritual and religious knowledge, he diligently edited the Vedas into four parts.
The ancient Guru is known as Vyas ( Ved Vyas), in whose honour the day is also known as Vyas Purnima. Guru Purnima serves as a reminder of the eternal value of education and study, as the esteemed Gurus freely share their expertise with the world.

Significance of Guru Purnima

Guru Purnima is an excellent occasion of honouring your instructors. Teachers in our lives could be anyone, ranging from our parents to our academic mentors or even older siblings.
Having an all-rounder, knowledgeable, and benevolent guru is a blessing indeed.
Even though, the entire year would not suffice to show the gratitude and respect that we have for them nevertheless, how could anyone miss such an opportunity?

Importance of Guru in our lives

Guru = Gu + Ru. Gu means Darkness, and Ru means Light. A Guru takes his disciples from the darkness of ignorance towards the light of knowledge, he plays a crucial role in the life of his disciples. Guru-disciple relationship is not just supreme in this world, but it extends beyond to the other world. The tremendous significance and relevance of a true ‘Guru’ is indescribable.

Throughout the past hundreds of years, humans have compiled books in abundant quantities that contain knowledge galore in vast domains. In this modern era, everything that you wish to know is available on the internet. Just one click and you will receive the answer to your questions instantly. Yet, we still send our kids to school, to be taught by teachers using the same book.
What is the reason for sending kids to schools and colleges instead of just providing them with books and having them learn everything by themselves?
That’s because we know that we can read the book but to understand it thoroughly, a mentor is needed. That means we do acknowledge the paramount need for a mentor.
Now comes the question, what’s the need of a spiritual mentor?

• Cultivating discipline
• Gaining self-control over the mind
• Directing the senses in the right direction
• Preventing troubles by controlling life with wisdom
• Finding ever-lasting happiness
• Finding a panacea
• Understanding the human death birth cycle
• Understanding the soul
• Experiencing divinity

When we go on long journeys either we are aware of the road to our destination or we bring a guide along with us to reach the destination safely and timely. However, there isn’t much that we know of the path that the souls take after death. So, we need a spiritual guru to show us the righteous path following which we can make it safely to the divine home of the soul.

Celebration of Guru Purnima in Dera Sacha Sauda

Dera Sacha Sauda has a long tradition of celebrating festivals and auspicious days through welfare work as taught by their spiritual mentor Saint Dr. MSG Insan.
The magnificent celebrations in dera sacha sauda are unprecedented and unparalleled to any celebrations you have heard of.

Following this thread of tradition, the volunteers of SHAH SATNAM JI GREEN S WELFARE FORCE WING conducted various humantarian activities with great zeal and enthusiasm.
Trust me, these figures are going to blow your mind.
Keeping it short, in the state of Haryana alone, volunteers organized 152 chhabil that is water facilities in distant areas, distributed clothes to 645 destitute children, provided free rations to deprived people, gave fodder to animals in shelters, distributed stationery to 2976 needy kids, and planted trees as well.
Similarly, in Punjab, 823 people benefitted from cloth banks, and stationery items were provided to 2699 kids, and 125 water facilities were set up.
If we add the other states as well as union territories, such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, etc., a total 4345 children received clothes under the cloth bank initiative, 9361 kids benefited from stationery distribution, 613 water facilities were set up and school fees of 58 kids were paid by these volunteers.

Knowledge has a greater and imbues deep learning in people while spirituality has infinite knowledge and solutions for every problem. A true spiritual guide teaches you everything, from the simplest ways of living to learning greater perspectives on spirituality.
Heartfelt gratitude to Saint Dr. MSG Insan for instilling such values amongst his disciples.
Our society requires our support, so let’s all come together to build a prosperous world, as guided by the true spiritual master Saint Dr MSG.