Leading Light | A Guru’s Job Is to Confuse You
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A good teacher does not convince you; a good teacher confuses you. Every time you become confused, an old concept collapses, making way for a new one.
Confusion is when you have left one step but have not moved on to the next. If you get confused again and again, that means you are climbing your steps!
Even five to ten minutes of meditation daily can help quiet mental chatter. Ayurveda considers meditation a powerful tool for cultivating inner peace and emotional stability. (Image: Pexels)
There was once a couple who went to a Guru with two questions weighing on their hearts. Usually, in those days, questions were not answered immediately. The Guru told them that each answer would cost a year of seva. They agreed without hesitation and got to work. For two years, they carried water up the hill, cared for the plants, cooked meals, and looked after the cows and buffaloes.
At the end of the second year, they returned to the Guru. “We have completed two years of service,” they said. “Now we have two questions.” The Guru asked, “What are your questions?” The couple said, “What is God? What is life?” The Guru replied, “God is confused, life is a problem.” The couple was stunned. “This is exactly where we were two years ago!” they said.
Now here is the secret. A good teacher does not convince you; a good teacher confuses you. Every time you become confused, an old concept collapses, making way for a new one. That remains for a while, and then you are confused again. “Not this, but something else”. Every time that happens, you open yourself to growth.
When someone is utterly miserable, the most appealing advice is, “Just let go of everything.” When you are very frustrated, what do you say? “I give up! I can’t handle this anymore. I am not going to deal with it. I am leaving!” Isn’t this very common among spouses and parents? “I am leaving. I quit!” The very idea of quitting becomes appealing, and that itself shows the depth of your misery.
Who really gets confused? The intelligent one gets confused. If you are confused, that means you are very intelligent. Only intelligence has a choice; totally ignorant people have no choice. The Master’s job is to confuse you, not to convince you!
The need to make a decision comes only when there is confusion. When there is no confusion, there is no decision. For example, if there is a piece of wood and a biscuit on your desk, you don’t decide which one to eat. A decision is always about choice, and choice is always confusing.
Action is spontaneous when there is no actor. In you, there is an actor and there is a witness. An actor is either confused or decisive, but the witness realises that the action is spontaneous and smiles.
The more decisions you make, the more confused you are, and as a result, you swing between pain and pleasure. The more the witness grows in you, the more playful and untouched you are. Trust, faith, love, and joy all manifest in and around you.
Your concept that things should be a certain way causes pain. Set concepts in the mind are the causes of distress. And nature loves to give you surprises. Life has its own sense of fun! It always brings you surprises, sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant. You grow through both of them in life. In fact, you grow much more because of unpleasant surprises than pleasant ones. Hence, behind each surprise, there is a big message for you. When you know that all types of joy and sorrow are the result of concepts, you can see reality as it is, without making concepts out of it again.
When there is too much confusion, you need to find solace in letting go. Let go of the need to control everything and know that you do not have to carry every burden alone. In utterly confusing moments, if you let go of the need for control, your mind relaxes, and a relaxed mind is the harbinger of intuition. In relaxation, your intuition works, and you can rely on it. Your intuitive abilities remain hidden when your mind is too busy. Relaxation helps rekindle your intuition, and intuition never goes wrong.
Confusion is when you have left one step but have not moved on to the next. If you get confused again and again, that means you are climbing your steps! If you are confused, feel happy. Fools don’t get confused. They don’t learn. When you get confused, you learn more.
The author is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
