What the Heck Is a Guru? (Rick Lewis)

Rick Lewis talks about the mystery of the Guru through telling stories of his experience with his Guru, Lee Lozowick. He discusses circumstances that brought him to his first Guru, Bhagwan Rajneesh (Osho), to meet Lee after Osho’s death, and to search to escape from the anxiety of human separation through spiritual attainment. Altered states that feel incredibly profound can be used to maintain a separate sense of self, as if we are getting closer to enlightenment. Stories are told about how Lee fanned the flames of this spiritual pursuit, which began to unravel after Lee’s death. The inexplicable energetic field around a Guru, who functions outside the usual reference point of a separate individual, is considered. Relationship with a Guru is both unnerving and inviting given the uncanny awareness and connection a Guru has with the moving parts of reality. The content of one’s interactions become irrelevant when introduced to the ground of pure being through receptivity to a master. Rick remembers an experience of driving for hours in silence with Lee, with self-conscious feelings disappearing into the heart. He describes the Guru’s fierceness when asking a question he had previously asked, hoping for a different answer, without feeling any aggression. There is also the fallible human aspect of the Guru which adds to the confusion of the linear mind. To be a human being without putting on an act or mask is a natural thing. The Guru works with each person in a unique way and is completely available after death. If we have not had the experience of a Guru, all of us have the access point of feeling connected beyond our usual frame of reference with who the Guru actually is. Spiritual literature can be an access point. Rick Lewis is a national speaker and author of 7 Rules You Were Born to Break, The Perfection of Nothing, You Have the Right to Remain Silent, and other books.