As well as a teacher, I am also a devotee and disciple. Each time that I transmit some of what I have received I am doing service to all of my teachers and receiving their blessing transmission through this sacred exchange. Many teachers along the way have enriched me but no one has set the context of my spiritual life in quite the way that HWL Poonja, also known as Papaji has, Papaji is My Master, many others have been teachers. HWL Poonja, “Papaji”.
Papaji was a disciple of the great Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi. His life pointed to Pure and Free Consciousness. Papaji always taught and transmitted his awakening to any and all that would hear him.
Although Papaji passed in 1997, His being lives in me and many others, through his grace. His message is simple: No matter who you take yourself to be, your eternal nature is Freedom itself. Look and see this for yourself, recognize yourself as the center and source of all you perceive, forever untouched. As that which is silent awareness, there are no differences: we are one Ocean.
Through our living connection I awoke to my nature as infinite consciousness and there developed a trust and confidence as that. I am forever indebted to Papaji and my love for him is my love for my own Self.
In a real way there have been many teachers since then. Many self realized colleagues have been teachers to me, as well as many of my students.
In this way I bow to all who I’ve worked with.
I find myself inspired in this regard by the Ancient Master Dattatreya who is purported to have 24 gurus and teachers everywhere. He saw the universe as his guru.
“Dattatreya is the universal Guru, isn’t he? And he has said that the whole world was his Guru. If you look at evil you feel you should not do it. So he said evil also was his Guru. If you see good, you would wish to do it; so he said that good also was his Guru; both good and evil, he said, were his Gurus. It seems that he asked a hunter which way he should go, but the latter ignored his question, as he was intent upon his aim to shoot a bird above. Dattatreya saluted him, saying, ‘You are my Guru! Though killing the bird is bad, keeping your aim so steadfast in shooting the arrow as to ignore my query is good, thereby teaching me that I should keep my mind steadfast and fixed on Ishwara. You are therefore my Guru.’ In the same way he looked upon everything as his Guru, till in the end he said that his physical body itself was a Guru, as its consciousness does not exist during sleep and the body that does not exist should therefore not be confused with the soul — dehatmabhavana (the feeling that the body is the soul). Therefore that too was a Guru for him. While he looked upon the whole world as his Guru, the whole world worshipped him as its Guru.”
– Ramana Maharshi