Douwe Tiemersma Advaita Teacher

Douwe Tiemersma

 

The Guru

Breakthroughs frequently come unexpectedly; they cannot be planned. Transcending boundaries is not a goal that can be accomplished through will power and labour. It is realised through something beyond you, usually another person. Just observe.

Fresh insight, increased awareness, is unthinkable without other people from whom one can learn, people who mean what they say. It is their zeal that gets transferred. Things are perceived in a new light, because the other sees it that way and is able to transfer it. In this manner new spaces are continually opened up, followed by ever-changing attitudes. That which somebody projects is himself. An enthusiastic math teacher lives in his world of numbers and mathematical relationships, which he wants his students to enter, too. This is the reason for his objection to learning formulae by rote, for wanting his students to feel at home in the subject and be open to the beauty of the mathematical experience.

When somebody reveals himself to a greater depth of his personality, the results can be even more radical. One word, one look may mean a sudden rupture of your boundaries. A smile can melt your mask. Your heart is touched, there is an inner glow. Your feelings erupt.

Openness arises through the catalyst of another's openness. With the other completely open, with the other showing that he really is, the one Openness unfolds. That Other is then your Guru.

The only thing that one can do in this connection is to be sensitive to the other in his deepest aspects, as the Other. This requires complete relaxation, letting go of everything that stands in the way of such a " total encounter". To this end yoga exercises may be helpful. In the state of relaxation one may learn to see and hear more clearly at an ever subtler level, and eventually come to the realisation that even without a teacher to guide one's every step, an inner sense develops guiding you to the right path. With the unfolding of the right attitude, a correct vision develops as to what needs to be done and what is better avoided. The discovery of the inner guru takes place.

At this point, an understanding dawns that the only thing that has to take place is complete alignment with the inner guru. Upon stabilising oneself in this understanding, it becomes more and more clear that you yourself are the inner guru. Then the realisation of the Atman, of the Openness, takes place, and any help needed from the outside will come to you automatically.

from "Toward the Openness"

Dutch Publisher Advaita Centrum (ISBN 90 805739 1 4)

 

pinklotus advaita freedom Yoga by Douwe Pranayama by Douwe YIS meditations kundalini yoga deeksha poems drawings