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The Guru and the Disciple
get along with one disciple, then how will you deal with the world?
You go around advising everyone, ‘Son, do not quarrel or fight,’
while you have left behind your family, there is no one around you
that is dear to you, but even then why do you quarrel with your
disciples? You have not given birth to him so why are there
kashayas between the two of you? Blood relatives have kashayas
with each other. This poor boy is an outsider who has become
your disciple and even here, you continue to do kashaya?
What would a guru say if the disciple misplaced his book?
He would criticize his disciple by saying, ‘You do not have any
sense, you are not careful.’ Then how does the disciple respond?
‘Do you think I ate the book? It must be here somewhere. If it is
not in your sack then it must be under your bed.’ But the disciple
makes a statement like, ‘Do you think I ate your book?’ That is
what he says. It is better to quarrel at home than to quarrel with a
disciple. He would be better off being a disciple to his wife because,
even though she tells him off, she will at least feed him some
delicious snacks! A little independence is necessary, is it not?
What can you do when you find such a guru, when, despite taking
so much care of him, he speaks so foolishly?
Questioner: Is there not a difference between a rebuke
from the wife and that of the guru? The wife chastises for selfish
reasons and the guru chastises out of unselfish motives.
Dadashri: There is never a selfless (niswarth) guru. There
are no selfless people in this world. They may appear without
selfish interests, but subtly they are selfishly preparing for
themselves. They are all selfish and everything is deceitful and
without substance. If one understands this just a little bit, he would
recognize it.
Besides, disciples and guru are always quarreling with one
another. They are both immersed in quarrels all day long. If we go
to visit the guru and ask him what is wrong, he will say, ‘That man
is no good, I have found a terrible disciple!’ We should not let the