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| Sree Budha |
The world have been for ever enriched by spiritual preceptors of superhuman genius. There have been many philosophers who are capable of dialectical arguments of split-hair precision to explain the nature of the universe. But it has not been observed that they ever came down to the centre of human society and attempted social reformations by finding solutions to the burning problems of the people through understanding human feelings and emotions. For example, Socrates, Aristotle, Adi Shankaracharya etc were wise and erudite philosophic genius, but reformation of the society was never a part of their lives.
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| The birth place of Guru , the holy hut Vayalvaram |
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| Gandhi & Guru at Sivagiri |
Quite different from them, there are a set of humanistic philosophers whose hearts overflow with love and compassion for humanity. They wipe the tears of the poor, sooth the suffering and feel complacent to spend their own lives to serve other lives. But they are not known as great philosophers, or men of wisdom. For example, look at the lives of great men like Mahavir Jain and Sri Buddha. In their thoughts, social reformation and philosophic ideals were mixed. But philosophical thoughts and social reformation programmes were not in equal proportions in their activities.
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| Harijan Movement |
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| Guru with Chattampi swamikal |
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| John Dharama Theerthar |
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| Romain Rolland ( French Scholar ) |
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| India's Rs. 5 - Coin |
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| Srilanka's Honour |
 An exception to this, is Sree Narayana Guru. He is a great boon to humanity, kindly granted by God Almighty; Let us enjoy the nectar of his biography. This Universal Guru shines as an extremely brilliant philosopher, and an exceptionally kind hearted social reformer at the same time, with equal intensity.
In the history of the world, Sree Narayana Guru glows with an incomparable individuality which has integrated dialectics and social reformation programmes in equal proportions. That is why the famous French philosophic writer Romain Rolland defines Sree Narayana Guru as “A Gnani of Action” in his book, The Life of Ramakrishna. The Guru has thoroughly studied all philosophic trends and the nature of the Universe in the light of his own experience. With his sharp intellect and insight, he had an intuitive vision of how this world is going to be in future. This intellectual exercise has evolved into a Unitive Philosophy and presented it to the world, which remains like a great tower of light emanating beams of radiance all around. Because he could integrate all abstract theories of philosophy with kindness and compassion for living beings. The Theosophical Society of India had written about him in the editorial of their magazine Sanatana Dharma. “No one in India in the recent centuries, has earned such long standing, wide spread and glowing universal respect as Sree Narayana Guru. He has not given platform speeches or discourses. But, by his mere presence, he could radiate love and vitality. He is equal to Patanjali in Yoga, Adi Shankara in wisdom, Buddha in sacrifice, Nabi is perseverance, and Jesus Christ in humility. This Holy Saint Narayana played the human role for 73 years, and then returned to his original abode. In future he will be worshipped as a deity, along with incarnations and Holy Saints". From this opinion of the Theosophical Society, the nature of Gurudev is clearly understood.
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| Guru Nithya, Guru Nataraja, & John Spiers |
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| Guru's Sisters |
In the course of history, a man of superhuman virtue may emerge on the stage of the world only once in a thousand years. The emergence of these superhumans, who change the course of history and usher in new dispensations, can be compared to the appearance of the spring season. During spring, nature wakes up in glory with a new sprit and beauty, filling the earth with greenery, sweet smell of flowers and succulent life giving fruits. Similarly these universal Gurus emanate the beams of love, brotherhood and non-violence through their messages, establish ‘Dharma’ and disappear behind the curtains of time. Sree Krishna, Sree Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ etc, are all such universal Gurus. Sree Narayana also belongs to this series, to their tradition.
Once Gurudev had stated “During the time of Buddha, violence was the rule, therefore he gave prominence to non-violence. During the time of Nabi, the bondage of brotherhood was lacking. So he gave supreme importance to fraternity. But what is the need of our times? The Guru himself gave the answer, “Liberation from the clutches of caste and religion”. From these words one point is clear, Great Universal Gurus prescribe ‘Dharma’ (righteous duty) specially suitable for the period in which they live. Those Gurus who prescribed non-violence, love and brotherhood, had visions which can go beyond the constraints of time and place. In course of time, these prescriptions of philosophical thought metamorphosed into religions.
The objective of Sree Narayana Guru’s life was to liberate the people from the clutches of caste and religious feelings. The greatness of his personality is revealed to the world through his own words. He is a Universal Guru, born in the tradition of these Universal Gurus mentioned above. Buddhism emerged in the name of Buddha, Christianity in the name of Christ and Islam in the name of Prophet Mohammad. But no religion has emerged in the name of Sree Narayana Guru. He had declared, “I am not going to establish another religion”. Instead he advised, “ The world needs a unitive culture which integrates the non-violence of Buddha, the love of Christ, the brotherhood of Nabi, the wisdom of Adi Shankara, and the spirituality of ancient Indian Gurus”. The purpose behind the incarnation of Sree Narayana Guru was to generate this unified culture in this world. The Guru’s philosophy is a doctrine of integration. He could integrate all divisions of philosophical thoughts through compassion and goodwill. In his composition “Anukampadasakam” (Ten Stanzas on Compassion) this integration of all the themes of philosophical thought can be clearly observed.
The Hindus believe that Adi Shankaracharya, the exponent of Advaitha theory was the incarnation of Lord Shiva. There is a story how he was made to understand the invalidity of caste discrimination by an untouchable (Chandala). One day Acharya was on his way to worship Lord Shiva, after a bath in the holy River Ganga. On his path stood an untouchable, Chandala, blocking the passage. Acharya believed that the purity of his high caste would be polluted by the untouchable. So he ordered the untouchable to clear away from his path. The untouchable at once retorted by a question. : Is it the body or the spirit which should move away from your path?” This question was an open sesame to the Acharya’s mind. He understood the meaninglessness of his convictions. The body is transient and of the same composition for all. The spirit is the manifestation of the Universal Consciousness. It is the same in all. Hence there is absolutely no difference between two human beings. Therefore discriminations in the name of caste is meaningless. It can be said that in Kerala, where, Adi Shankara had made a grave mistake in the name of caste. The Primordial Cosmic Power has incarnated Sree Narayana to compensate for and rectify the damage caused by Adi Shankara. In the Indian culture the concept of divine incarnation is largely accepted. Sree Buddha and Adi Shankara are supposed to be incarnations. So, Sree Narayana Guru once stated, “If you consider me an incarnation, tell all the people that the purpose of this is to annihilate caste distinctions”. Indeed, the incarnation of Sree Narayana Guru was to generate the unitive feeling in the people that ALL ARE ONE because all beings are the manifestations of Universal Consciousness, and thereby dispel all discriminatory thoughts in the name of caste. He has expressed “Humanity belongs to one caste. That is my religion”.
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Gari Davis (Nagazaki Bomber ) became one of the diciple of Shri Guru
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| Samadhi Stan " Sivagiri" |
SreeNarayana Guru was born in Chempazhamthy near Thiruvanathapuram, in Kerala, India in 1856. No one ever knew that the seed of a revolutionary process of social reconstruction in Kerala was sworn. His Parents were Madan ashan and Kutty Amma and they lovingly called him ‘Nanu’
Nanu was remarkably different from te children of his age.He loved all beings around him.he had great sympathy for poor and respect for elders.Nanu had his gurukura education from the guru ‘Raman pillai asan’ at Puthupally. there he,and vedanda. He gained absolute mastery in sanskrit, grammer, logic and vedanda.After the formal education he could not remain at home for long he became obsessed with the quest for ultimate truth, and soon he left home and wandered about like an ‘avaduthan’.
Sri Narayana learned many a valuable lesson during this ‘sojourn’. He came to know personally the pain of cast prejudice. Kerala, now reputed as the God’s own land, was, then, an accursed land of caste tyranny. It was really a ‘lunatic asylum’ as Swami Vivekananda branded it. It was to find out the answers to the troubling questions about life, that Sri Narayana, like Goutham Budha, spent years meditating in ‘Marathua Mala’.
Then, one day, a sanyasin with profound spiritual knowledge and vision came down to ‘Aruvippuram’. Devotees began to gather around him and participate in his prayers. Unlike other sanyasins Sri Narayana didn’t preach and practice spirituality for spirituality’s sake. Instead, he used spirituality as a powerful weapon to fight against class inequality and other social evils. And it proved to be very effective indeed.
It was a time the consecration of temples was the exclusive monopoly of Brahmins. Sri Narayana began his revolt against castism by challenging this monopoly. He himself consecrated a temple dedicated to ‘Lord Shiva’ at Aruvippuram. The first temple consecrated by non-Brahmin in Kerala still remains as the ‘ideal place where all live in full harmony without distinction of cast, prejudice or creed’. Years before the low caste Hindus were granted admission to the Caste Hindu temples, Sri Narayana made it possible for them to worship in their own temples without causing any social rebellion or mutiny.
Within a few years Sri Narayana founded a number of temples allover Kerala. The temples at Kovalam,Kulathur, Vakkam, Moothakunnam, Cherai, Koorkanchery, Peringottukara, Calicut, Cannanore, Tellicherry are some of the most celebrated among these temples.
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| Guru at younger age |
By founding a number of temples Sri Narayana was not just establishing some centers of worship where the low caste Hindu’s could gather, worship and work together for progress. He was, in fact, initialing a perspective transformation of the society. He began by consecrating temples dedicated to Lord Siva and Lord Narayana in Caste-Hindu pattern. Then, in 1912, he founded a temple at Varkala dedicated to “Sarada Devi”, the goddess of knowledge. It was a point of departure from the cult of worship of Gods to the worship of knowledge. The temple founded Murikkumpuzha in 1922 was yet another milestone. Here in the place of the idol the ideals,’ Truth, duty, kindness and love’ were installed. The temple founded at Kalavankode in Sherthali was the culmination of this revolutionary progress. The mirror on the place of the idol in this temple represents the essence of the Guru’s teachings that 'Man should seek his salvation not in duties but in the realization of his inner self'.
( Courtesy: Sree Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam & Sree Narayana Dharma Sanghom )
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An exception to this, is Sree Narayana Guru. He is a great boon to humanity, kindly granted by God Almighty; Let us enjoy the nectar of his biography. This Universal Guru shines as an extremely brilliant philosopher, and an exceptionally kind hearted social reformer at the same time, with equal intensity.
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