om ajnana-timirandasya
jnananjnana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri gurave namah
“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my guru, my spiritual master, opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him."
"The word ajnana means 'ignorance' or 'darkness.' If all the lights in this room immediately went out, we would not be able to tell where we or others are sitting. Everything would become confused. Similarly, we are all in darkness in this material world, which is a world of tamas. Tamas or timira means 'darkness.' This material world is dark, and therefore it needs sunlight or moonlight for illumination. However, there is another world, a spiritual world, that is beyond this darkness. That world is described by Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita (15.6):
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
“That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world."
"The guru’s business is to bring his disciples from darkness to light."
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(The Science of Self Realization, Chapter 2)
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