The Voice of the Guru and the Voice of the Ego — The Journey Towards Pure Awareness
The difference between the voice of the Guru and the voice of the ego is this:
The ego’s voice is based on the body’s identity and name. The voice of the Guru, however, is independent of everything; it is established in itself.
Both these voices manifest in human experience. One leads to the darkness of ignorance, while the other guides one towards the light of spiritual wisdom.
One who has an earnest desire for self-realisation seeks that light; in other words, he longs to listen to the Guru’s voice. When the awareness of listening to the Guru’s voice blossoms within him, he no longer remains caught in the identification with the ego’s voice that had enveloped him. His attachment to the identity sustained by the ego gradually weakens. Eventually, the sense of identity associated with the body and the name given to it begins to dissolve completely.
On the contrary, ignorance naturally envelops those who have no inclination towards self-realisation. Such a person can hear only the voice of the ego. The ego’s voice continues to manifest incessantly in the form of thoughts, desires and identities, leaving no room for the very thought of seeking the Guru’s voice to arise.
Consequently, he lives by considering his body and the name given to it as his true identity. Although the Guru’s voice continues to resonate within him, he is unable to perceive it because of the incessant noise of the ego.
### The Ocean and Its Waves — A Spiritual Analogy
The ocean and the waves that appear on its surface can serve as an analogy to explain the relationship between the ego and the Guru.
The waves resemble the voice of the ego. They continuously arise, change, disappear and arise again.
The ocean resembles the voice of the Guru. No matter how many waves appear on its surface, its depth is not defined merely by their movements. Similarly, the Pure Awareness that enables the perception of thoughts and expressions of the ego remains unaffected by their changing appearances.
As long as the mind remains continuously occupied with the waves bearing names and forms—in other words, as long as one defines oneself through the identity associated with the body and its name—one may be unable to perceive the Guru’s voice, just as one may fail to experience the depths of the ocean.
### The Subtle Interval Between Thoughts
The stillness of the ocean can be felt between two waves, and the Guru’s voice can be heard in the subtle gap between two thoughts.
The voice of the ego manifests through various thoughts. But in the subtle interval between the disappearance of one thought and the arising of the next, one begins to perceive the Pure Awareness that has remained obscured by the noise of thoughts.
In that awareness, the Guru’s voice is not experienced as a sound that newly arrives from outside. Rather, it is experienced as the silent truth that has always remained present in the background of thoughts.
### The Waves Merging into the Ocean—The Ego Subsiding into Pure Awareness
Although waves appear to possess an existence of their own, they are not separate from the ocean. Even when their names and forms disappear, the ocean that is their source does not disappear.
Similarly, in one who begins to perceive the Guru’s voice, attachment to the identity associated with the body and its name gradually fades away. The voice of the ego, too, loses its apparent individuality and subsides into the Pure Awareness that is the very basis for its arising and disappearance.
Ultimately, just as one realises that a wave is fundamentally part of the ocean, one comes to experience that the individual identity created by the ego is not enduringly separate from the Pure Awareness that is its source.
When the voice of the ego subsides, the Pure Awareness that has always been present reveals itself instead of the voice of the Guru newly arising.
There, the seeker, the seeking, and that which is sought gradually merge into one. What remains is the Pure Being—the Pure Awareness that cannot be defined by name or form.
Sri Gurubhyo Namaha 🙏
