Dattatreya: Gratitude to MOTHER earth…part 2
2012 © COPYRIGHT KAJAL DHABALIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
photo taken on a 2010 pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash in Tibet with Shri Anandi Ma.
Here’s part 2 of the story on Dattatreya, from ” The Himalayan Masters: A Living Tradition” by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD. Click here to read part 1.
King: Who is your fourth guru?
Dattatreya: The wind is my fourth guy. The wind moves unceasingly, touching flowers and thorns alike, but it never attaches itself to the objects it touches. Like the wind, I learned not to prefer flowers over throne, or friends over foes. Like the wind, my goal is to provide freshness to all without becoming attached.
King: The fifth guru, sir?
Dattatreya: All-pervading and all-embracing space is my fifth guru. Space has room for the sun, moon and stars, and yet it remains untouched and unconfined. I, too must have room for all the diversities of existence and still remain unaffected by what I contain. All visible and invisible objects have their rightful place within me, but they have no power to confine my consciousness.
King: Who is your sixth guru?
Dattatreya: The moon. The moon waxes and wanes, and yet it never loses its essence, totality or shape. From watching the moon I learned that waxing and waning, rising and falling, pleasure and pain, loss and gain are simply phases in life. While passing through these phases I never lose awareness of my true Self.
King: Who is your seventh guru?
Dattatreya: The sun is my seventh guru. With its bright rays, the sun draws water from everything, transforms it into clouds, and then distributes it with out favor as rain. Rain falls on forests, mountains, valleys, deserts, oceans and cities. Like the sun, I learned how to gather knowledge from all sources, transform that knowledge into practical wisdom, and share it with all without preferring some recipients and excluding others.
King: Your eighth guru?
Dattatreya: My eighth guru is a flock of pigeons. When one fell into a hunter’s net and cried in despair, the other pigeons tried to rescue it and got caught, too. From these pigeons I learned that even a positive reaction, if it springs from attachment and emotion, can entangle and ensnare.
King: Your ninth guru?
Dattatreya: My ninth guru is the python who catches and eats its prey, and then doesn’t hunt again for a long time. It taught me that once my need has been met, I must be satisfied and not make myself miserable running after the objects of my desire.
King: Who is your tenth guru?
Dattatreya: The ocean, which is the abode of the waters. It receives and assimilates water from all the rivers in the world, yet it never overflows its boundaries. The ocean taught me that no matter what experiences I go through in life, no matter how many kicks and blows I receive, I must maintain my discipline.
Stay tuned…next week we’ll learn about his next seven gurus…..
