(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Leicester, UK, May 2011) Initiation Lecture
What the spiritual master really wants is that his disciples mature and not just wait for the spiritual master to bring the water, but that they learn to go to the well themselves! That's what he wants. Naturally, it is the same for the parent – okay when the child is very small, then you bring them everything, but at one point you want the child to grow up and get to the point of starting to bring it in by themselves. So spiritual life is exactly the same. It is exactly like that!
In the beginning, yes the spiritual master will nourish the disciple, like a bird who is taking care of its young, and you can see these birds flying up and down……and bringing more……..and the little birds just sits there with their mouths open…and that's it.
It is said that, one type of spiritual master is taking care of his disciples, like the bird taking care of its young. Another type of spiritual master is taking care of his disciples like a fish is taking care of its young. The fish is swimming in the water and is not really feeding its young in the same way as the bird. But the fish is keeping an eye (the fish has big eyes)…..so the fish is keeping an eye on the young and if there is any danger then suddenly that big fish will be there. So that is another level, not that we spoon feed the disciple, but there is supervision.
Finally, there is the third model, which is the model of the tortoise. The tortoise is laying its eggs in the sand. When the season is warm, the heat of the sun, heats up that sand and the eggs will come to the point where they break and the young little turtles come out in that way. So the turtle is just taking care of its young by meditation. So sometimes the spiritual master will take care of his disciples by meditation. Sometimes the disciples will say:
"Oh, I haven't seen my spiritual master for such a long time. He didn't send me any emails, and he didn't even reply to my last three emails. Oh, I don't think I have much of a relationship!”
No…no, the meditation is always there…his prayer is always there. He is always our well wisher, but how many emails can any human being answer? Even with a thousand arms, one could still not answer all the emails that one receives! These days it is impossible! So in this way, we understand that the spiritual master is our ever well wisher! He is always with us, because his prayer is with us!