The Guru
I made friends with my first full-on Buddhist at Christmas dinner last year. She's an opera singer who moved to Germany a few years ago from overseas. At the time, we had a good chat about the Buddhist life philosophy and how this view can be very comforting for those with turmoil in their lives. I didn’t really think much of it at the time.
We didn't keep in touch, but she happened to be singing at an event I attended in Germany last weekend and I thought I’d say “Hello”. Knowing I hadn't kept in touch and that she wouldn't have expected me to be there, I tried on subtle means to get her attention. You know what I mean, small waves to get their attention, mouthing "hey, how are you", etc. Of course, it turned out that initially she thought I was some freak fan (she has quite a few of those) and indeed didn’t recognise me. Luckily, I was able to recognise a friend of hers who had heard about the nice family she’d spent Christmas with and ended up explaining who I was better than I did. To her credit, at the time she had only seen me in a suit and 10kgs heavier, whereas now I was in t-shirt and jean minus those 10kgs.
Apologies for the digression, but a bit of background is necessary to demonstrate that Guru are not self-proclaimed nor do the fall into your lap. It was only after sitting for couple of hours with the opera singer and a friend of hers that I came to the realisation that my latest Guru happens to be a 26-year old Buddhist who's sum of life experiences makes for very sensible advice giving. For whatever reason and irrespective of circumstance, she spouts forth something that makes you stop, reflect and re-evaluate. She doesn't actually give you any answers, just food for thought that enables you to reach a level of clarity that you didn't have before.
I have been lucky enough to have several Gurus in my life over the years. They have helped me see thing in ways that helped me to get more out of life's experiences. If you don't have at least on Guru in your life, I highly recommend you open your mind to finding one. It’ll allow you to look at yourself from the outside and believe me the view is enlightening, if not at times scary.
However, this entry is dedicated to my latest Guru.
“May you have as much clarity in you own life (and your relationships) as you help people others try to find in their own.”
On the road to my own enlightenment, bring on India!