Dependence and Independence within the Master-Disciple Relationship
Every spiritual guide (or GURU) personally leads his disciple to the divine SUPREME Self on the most suitable path for him. The disciple must find his own master and once this acknowledged, must then devote himself to the end. This is not fanaticism nor a form of proselytism, as some may think. Rather, it is a genuine and ancient tradition, proven with time to be effective. The Western mind finds it difficult to accept this concept. However the situation changes when we met a genuine master who is liberated from the conditionings of this ephemeral world and knows the mysteries of the universe.
Doubtlessly you have asked yourself lots of questions during this life. You would have found answers to only a few of them. Imagine now that you have met a person who has all the answers. Do you think you would ignore his advice and directions? Not in the least, you would appeal for his help and advice, and so ensure that what you do is right and that you are on the correct path.
This could be equivalent to the first phase in the evolution of the master-disciple relationship. It can be considered by some as a type of dependence, but we would rather call it simply LISTENING. During this phase, we are like a child who is learning how to walk and is always asking for his parents” support.
However with time the situation changes. The disciple gains further experience and is able, and then it even becomes necessary, that he ”walk on his own two feet”.
A real master does not make his disciples depend on him, though they seem to completely respect his wishes.
As we evolve spiritually, we become more and more independent. This is because we begin to correctly understand how divine law acts, and we are able to to make the best decisions regarding development. The initial dependence of a disciple on his spiritual master is and must be strictly temporary. As real spiritual evolution occurs, the disciple must gradually become autonomous.
