A traditional Hindu holiday called Guru Purnima honours enlightened spiritual leaders also referred to as gurus. This fortunate day occurs in the Hindu month of Ashad (July to August), on the first full moon following the summer solstice. Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists all participate in its celebration throughout India, Nepal, and Bhutan. On this day, seekers pay their guru their thanks and devotion in exchange for his or her blessings.
Guru Purnima is regarded as a sacred day in which gurus are worshipped like Gods because gurus are frequently seen as a conduit between seekers and the divine. The custom got its start as a way to honour the great sage Maharshi Veda Vyasa, who is thought to have been born on this day and who is also credited with starting to write the Brahma Sutras on Guru Purnima. In addition to authoring the 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata, and the Srimad Bhagavatam, Vyasa edited the four Vedas.
Buddhists commemorate Guru Purnima as the day the Buddha delivered his first sermon, while Hindus celebrate Vyasa on this day. In the yogic tradition, Guru Purnima commemorates the day Shiva started teaching yoga to the Saptarishis as the first guru.
It is believed to be a particularly special day for sadhana, and the festival is characterised with spiritual practises and ceremonies like puja or satsang. On this day, roaming spiritual gurus and their followers customarily halt to study the Brahma Sutras and hold Vedantic debates in a single location.
Quotes :
- Guru Purnima celebrates the human ability to rise beyond physical nature, and the greatness of Adiyogi, who made this possible – Sadhguru
- May you realize the true purpose and potential of life. On this Guru Purnima, my grace is upon you – Sadhguru
- The job of a Guru is not to interpret the scriptures but to take you to another dimension of life – Sadhguru
- A Guru is a doorway to the beyond. The Guru is only important because what is beyond him is important – Sadhguru
- A Guru is not someone who holds the torch for you, he is the torch – Sadhguru
- The guru is not a teacher, the guru is an awakener – Osho
- The more you become surrendered to the guru, the more you feel that you have the freedom you never had before – Osho
- Find the teacher, serve him as a child, open your heart to his influence, see in him God manifested – Swami Vivekanand
- Guru-Bhakti is the foundation of all spiritual development – Swami Vivekananda
- Know it for certain that without steady devotion for the Guru and unflinching patience and perseverance, nothing is to be achieved – Swami Vivekananda
- The disciple must worship the Guru as God Himself – Swami Vivekananda
- The Guru is the means of realization. “There is no knowledge without a teacher.”- Swami Vivekananda
- A real Guru is one who is born from time to time as a repository of spiritual force which he transmits to future generations through successive links of Guru and Shishya (disciple) – Swami Vivekananda
- Only a true guru is empowered by God to establish with disciples a divine relationship by which he leads those in his care out of the common sheepfold of delusion to freedom in the Elysian pastures of God-consciousness – Paramhansa Yogananda
- When a devotee prays intensely to God to know the truth, God sends him a true guru to guide him. This divine grace comes to the devotee when he demonstrates his desire for liberation by sincere constancy in supplication to God – Paramhansa Yogananda
- The guru serves as this mirror. He holds up to the devotee a reflection of his perfect soul-image over which is superimposed the flaws of the ego that yet mar perfection – Paramhansa Yogananda
- Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru, none can cross over to the other shore – Guru Nanak
- The Guru is one who dwells in the Light and the Light dwells in him – Dada J.P.Vaswani
- GURU is a word that epitomizes knowledge. There is a tattva (element) of Guru in each of us. Knowingly or unknowingly, whenever we do something to benefit another, without expecting anything in return, we bring alive the Guru element within ourselves – Hingori
- Let each man take the path according to his capacity, understanding, and temperament. His true guru will meet him along that path – Swami Sivananda
- I have never said that there is no need for a guru. It all depends on what you call a guru. He need not be in a human form – Ramana Maharishi
- At certain stages in the spiritual journey, there is a quickening of the spirit which is brought about through the grace of the Guru – Ram Das
- The Guru is the ladder, the dinghy, the raft by means of which one reaches God; The Guru is the lake, the ocean, the boat, the sacred place of pilgrimage, the river. Without the Guru, there can be no bhakti, no love – Guru Nanak
- Consider the teacher your god – Taittiriya Upanishad
- One’s body may be handsome, wife beautiful, fame, excellent and varied, and wealth like unto Mount Meru; but if one’s mind not be attached to the lotus feet of the Guru, what thence, what thence, what thence, what thence? – Adi Shankaracharya
- The human Guru whispers the sacred formula (mantra) in the ear; the Divine guru breathes the spirit into the soul – Ramakrishna Paramahansa
- Learn the Truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him with reverence and render service unto him. Such an enlightened Saint can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the Truth – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 34