Legacy planning.
That’s the solution that most lawyers and financial planners peddle to their rich customers.
Often with gray-haired square jawed smiling white men in green meadows with a beautiful wife and a dog in tow. And yes, two kids as well. The complete family to ‘preserve your legacy’.
Is that all you choose to leave behind? Actually, can you choose to leave this behind? Was it yours in the first place?
Philosophical questions aside, money comes, and money goes. Those who leave money, may mostly be disappointed knowing that statistics don’t give this wealth a chance – mostly gone in one, or two generations at most. Well, by then, not many in your immediate family will know much beyond your name.
But knowledge is something else.
What you pass on as learnings, lives on through the way your children live and approach life. Not just children. Those who learn from you may forget you, but not the lesson, if it is taught well and becomes a part of them. The unconscious competence that comes from deep leaning carries on, and the more you teach, the more you learn.
This cycle is what needs a Guru to kickstart it. A person who lives to teach, and under whose guidance, you discover yourself.
गुरुरेव परा काष्ठा गुरुरेव परं धनं ।
यस्मात्तदुपदेष्टाऽसौ तस्माद्गुरुतरो गुरुरिति ॥ १८॥
gurureva parā kāṣṭhā gurureva paraṁ dhanaṁ |
yasmāttadupadeṣṭā’sau tasmādgurutaro gururiti || 18||
Advaya Taraka Upanishad, Śukla-Yajuveda, Ślok 18
A Guru is the culmination, the zenith, a Guru is the greatest wealth you can possess. A Guru teaches you the ultimate truth, and that is why a Guru is the greatest of all teachers.
There are different types of teachers. A teacher who imparts information, is an Adhyapaka. One who imparts knowledge, along with information, is an Upadhyaya. A teacher who teaches skills is an Ācharya. One who gives deep insights into a subject is a Pundit.
And a teacher who dispels your ignorance and leads you to the light of wisdom, is a Guru.
Guru Purnima is of a special significance, both astronomically and culturally. It falls on the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, and hence the brightest moon in the year. The lunar energies are at their peak on Guru Purnima – hence enhancing the benefits of meditation and intake of knowledge on this particular night.
In Sanatana Dharma, Guru Purnima is also celebrated as the day when Veda Vyasa was born, and hence this day is also celebrated as Vyasa Purnima. In yogic tradition, Guru Purnima is considered to be the day when Shiva became the Adi-Guru, or the first Guru, and imparted the knowledge of Yoga to the Saptarishis, or seven senses of the body (two eyes, two ears, who nostrils and one mouth). In Buddhism, this day is marked as the first day when Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath.
How do you find a Guru?
Contrary to popular perception, you do not find a Guru – A Guru finds you, and then helps you discover yourself. But then, you do not need to wait for a wise man, with a long beard and long flowing hair, in order to learn. Nature is also a teacher, provided you are able to observe and learn…
Wish you a very happy Guru Purnima. May you find your guru, and may you learn all that you can:)
Keep on learning!