Guru Pūrṇimā this year (2017) falls on July 08/09. Full moon tithi begins at 07.31 hours Indian Standard Time on July 08 and ends at 09.20 hours IST on July 09. Therefore, Guru pūrṇimā can be celebrated either on July 08^th evening or July 09^th morning before 09.20 hours IST.

A series of articles titled GURUJI SPEAKS have been published in the year 2013. Some snippets from the series is give here.

SNIPPETS:

Disciple: What is the difference between ritualism and spiritualism and which is better?

Guru: There are three stages in one’s life to attain liberation. First, you have to believe in God. When your belief becomes unshakable, you commence your journey to God. Faith and belief are the starting points of one’s ritualistic life. Again ritualistic life consists of different stages. First you worship different gods such as nine planets, you believe in astrology, you visit temples, you take bath in holy rivers, you perform pūjā at home, you perform sacrificial rites in fire rituals, you celebrate festivals for different gods and goddesses, etc. ……………..

Disciple: ……….. But I find many gurus are initiating their disciples with multiple mantras. What is your opinion about it?

Disciple: How do you explain the difference between Lalitā Sahasranāma, Brahma Sūtra and Vivekachūḍāmaṇī?

Guru: Without studying and understanding Lalitā Sahasranāma, there is no point in studying the other two. Though Lalitā Sahasranāma is explained from the point of Self-realization, there are still traces of dualism in it…………………

Disciple: I went to an astrologer. He said that I have curse from my ancestors (pitṛ doṣa) and unless these curses are removed, I cannot prosper in my life. He asked me to go to certain places and perform certain rituals to ward off this curse. Can I go?

Guru: …………………… I personally do not accept that performing remedial measures can solve your problems. All of us are bound by our karmas and you have no choice except to experience your karma. There is no escape from this. When you perform certain remedial measures, your mind thinks that your problems have been resolved and even if your problem persists, they do not bother you as your mind no longer considers them as problems……………

Disciple: You speak so much on karma. But how great catastrophes such as tsunami, earthquake, floods, etc happen?

Guru: Theory of karma is a complicated process to understand. God rules the universe based on the theory of karma and hence it is called “Law of the Lord”. It is the fundamental principle for all our actions. There are two types of karmas. One is individual karma and another is group karma………….

Mental vision is also known as mentation, from which the word meditation was derived. This god or goddess is known as your Iṣṭadevatā or Abhīṣṭadevatā, which means your favourite deity. At the time of death of an aspirant, hymns in praise of Abhīṣṭadevatā should be recited during cremation or burial as the case may be.  In the initial stages of your spiritual pursuit, you should be able to get the vision of your favourite deity, when you sit for mediation………….

There is difference between ahambhāva and ahaṁkāra and you should know the difference between the two. Ahambhāva is related to your intellect and not the mind. Your intellect affirms that you are that “I”, where I refers to Brahman. In other words, ahambhāva means “I am Brahman”. Ahaṁkāra is your ego. Without the presence of essential ahaṁkāra, you cannot feel the state of ahambhāva. Former is the cause and the latter is the experience of this cause or the effect of this cause. If you want me to explain this in a language that you can understand ahambhāva is the state of Shiva and ahaṁkāra is the union of Shiva and Shakti. When your ahaṁkāra turns into ahambhāva, you become a realized person.

The entire conversation can be read here – GURUJI SPEAKS

Further Readings:

Competent Guru

Qualities of a Guru

Self-Proclaimed Gurus