He said, "I had thousands of Guru. If I just relate their names it will take months, years and it is too late. But I will certainly tell you about my three Guru."

(1) "My one Guru was a thief. Once I got lost in the desert, and when I reached a village it was very late, everything was closed. But at last I found one man who was trying to make a hole in the wall of a house. I asked him where I could stay and he said, "At this time of night it will be difficult, but you can stay with me - if you can stay with a thief." And the man was so beautiful. I stayed with him for one month! And each night he would say to me, "Now I am going to my work. You rest, you pray."

When he came back I would ask, "Could you get anything?" He would say, "Not tonight. But tomorrow I will try again, God willing." He was never in a state of hopelessness, he was always happy. When I was meditating and meditating for years on end and nothing was happening, many times the moment came when I was so desperate, so hopeless, that I thought to stop all this nonsense. And suddenly I would remember the thief who would say every night, "God willing, tomorrow it is going to happen."

(2) "And my second master was a dog. I was going to the river, thirsty and a dog came. He was also thirsty. He looked into the river, he saw another dog there -- his own image -- and became afraid. He would bark and run away, but his thirst was so much that he would come back again. Finally, despite his fear, he just jumped into the water, and the image disappeared. And I knew that a message had come to me from God: one has to jump in spite of all fears."

(3) "And the third master was a small child. I entered a town and a child was carrying a lit candle. He was going to the temple to put the candle there."
Just joking, I asked the boy, "Have you lit the candle yourself?"
He said, "Yes Sir."
And I asked, "There was a moment when the candle was unlit, then there was a moment when the candle was lit. Can you show me the source from which the light came?'
And the boy laughed, blew out the candle, and said, "Now you have seen the light going. Where has it gone? If you will tell me this, then I will tell you from where it had come?"

My ego was shattered, my whole knowledge was shattered. And that moment I felt my own stupidity. Since then I dropped all my knowledge-ability."

"It is true that I had no Guru. That does not mean that I was not a disciple -- I accepted the whole existence as my master. My disciplehood was a greater involvement than yours is. I trusted the clouds, the trees. I trusted existence as such. I had no Guru because I had millions of Guru I learned from every possible source. To be a disciple is a must on the path. What does it mean to be a disciple? It means to be able to learn. to be available to learn to be vulnerable to existence. With a Guru you start learning to learn." The Guru is a swimming pool where you can learn how to swim. Once you have learned it, all the oceans are yours.

REFLECTION
If we can bring even a little happiness on other's faces, if we can fill only a corner of their life with joy, there only we receive our heaven.....

There is a beautiful story about faith in one's Guru, told of a man who wanted to walk on water. He begged his Guru to give him a secret Mantra or a special boon so he could complete this remarkable feat. The man was extremely pious and devoted, and he had been in his Guru's service for many years. So after a while, the Guru gave him a leaf, folded many times until is was very small. He told his disciple, "Within this leaf is a secret formula which will enable you to walk on water. However, you must not open it because the formula inside is a secret."

So the man agreed, he took the folded leaf carefully in his hands and began his journey across the river. He was walking fine when suddenly he was overcome by curiosity. What could be this secret formula? Is there really a secret inside? Is it a powder or a stone or some holy Mantra printed? Where did his Guru get it? His doubts got the best of him and he began slowly to open the leaf as he walked, lest any of the secret formula should spill out into the water. As soon as he unfolded the last piece to unveil the secret, he suddenly sank into the water and drowned. Inside the leaf was written the simple word, "faith."

REFLECTION
It was not the leaf, nor any secret powder or Mantra that enabled the devotee to accomplish this miracle. It was the strength of his faith in his Guru and in the "boon" his Guru had given him. As soon as that faith wavered and doubt crept in, his life was lost. This is the power of faith. Faith can work true miracles and without it, much of life is futile. The Guru might be of infinite power, knowledge and compassion. Yet, without the faith of the disciple, the Guru can do very little for him. If we can surrender to the Guru with complete faith, he will transform our lives. However, if we "hang around" and doubt and think that we know better than he does, then we gain nothing.