The word Guru has very special connotations. It symbolises something utterly divine. A great one, who is established in super consciousness and acquires a capacity to represent the Guru Tatwa, becomes the Guru. Therefore, a Guru is not really a person at all – it is a Great principle, and yet an exalted one who embodies those Principles can be a Guru. India, being a land known for spirituality has given birth to numerous rishis, saints and gurus. One amongst the most paramount gurus is Sadguru Poornananda Swamiji.
“The Guru is immeasurable by any scale”, Swamiji once said. It takes multitudinous efforts and innumerable births to know the true essence of Guru Tatwa. The flamboyant Swamiji has taken human form to bestow the true meaning of a Guru and enrich the lives of many devotees. It was a challenging task for the devotees to understand the subliminal contexts of what Swamiji has revealed. A diminutive part of it is being portrayed here.
The early devotees had a miraculous darshan of Swamiji. A young sadhu with a radiant golden-yellowish complexion was found in the forests of Hatakeshwaram in the late 1960s. It was the most memorable sight for the devotees who had seen Swamiji in the early years. Swamiji always appeared serene and poised with a divine charm on his face. Devotees would feel the vibrant aura around him which urged them to revisit him endless times. Swamiji has got the most powerful pair of penetrating, jet-black eyes that are completely mesmerizing. The thick matted jatas were spilled loosely over his shoulders and back. His hair and beard were glistering black in contrast to his golden-yellowish complexion which shone splendrously. People would flock in number to have his darshan.
Swamiji’s life in itself was a great teaching for those who could perceive. Every word he spoke had a message in it. He would address small groups occasionally and talk sententiously about spiritual subjects and patiently answer their queries. He mostly packed his answers and messages into pithy statements and adages filled with pun and trenchant wit. But his apothegmatic utterances were always pregnant with wisdom and seemed to carry wider truths than words could embrace. Swamiji’s every word and action had a hidden meaning and purport. Every moment he lived seemed to have a secret significance. Whatever he said bore fruit either instantly or later.
Swamiji’s approach towards spirituality is widely distinct from other gurus and has its own practice. Swamiji never gave discourses, speeches or long-drawn spiritual lectures. In fact, he taught through silence and mostly by practice rather than preaching. Swamiji once revealed himself as Prabodha Guru i.e. one who elevates the inner spirit of the disciple by silent grace.
Swamiji explained the concept of spirituality to the devotees at the modest level. All the devotees who were enthusiastic in doing spiritual sadhana were deeply encouraged by Swamiji in all means. There was no hierarchy shown while practising spirituality. He would tell them that Bhakti Bhava is more important to practise sadhana rather than the ritualistic formalities.
Swamiji is the epitome of ascetics. It was insoluble even for the spiritually evolved people to understand and define Swamiji as he was encompassed by the Supreme Maya. Swamiji played the role of a mother, father, teacher, brother, friend, guide etc., as he was indisputably accepted as a member of the family. In a brief period of thirty odd years, thousands of families have conceived Swamiji as their head of the family. Every family was blessed to experience the love, compassion and attention to the level of completeness.
The treasure of knowledge and secrets of the universe are hidden behind the plain and innocent smile of Swamiji. Yet Swamiji remained detached from all the activities that were being performed in the ashram in the name of his Guru and Supreme mother. He transcended himself as Rakhadi Baba’s (his Guru) expression, Poornananda and for the devotees his sannidhi is POORNA ANANDA.