‘The full moon day in the month of Ashadha (June-July) is known as Guru Purnima. It falls on 31st July in 2015, and honours the ancient lineage of enlightened beings who have graced the world with their presence, imparting the knowledge of the ‘Self’. The word ‘Guru’ in Sanskrit is translated as ‘dispeller of darkness’. Guru Purnima marks one of the greatest moments in the life of humanity. This is a day that is reminiscent of Adiyogi opening up and offering the possibility that a human being can evolve beyond all limitations set by his physical nature, if willing to strive. This first full moon day after the solstice is a time when this planet and all life upon it are most receptive to the cosmic energy and possibilities. The next six months till the winter solstice is the best time to strive for evolving and experiencing the divine possibility that is innate in a human being.’
Guru Purnima is the day the first guru was born. In the yogic culture, Shiva is not seen as a god, he is seen as the Adiyogi, or the first yogi. Guru Purnima is that full moon day when the first yogi transformed himself into the Adi Guru – the first guru. This is the time of the year when his attention fell upon the now celebrated Saptarishis – his first seven disciples. Over 15,000 years ago, when the solstice had shifted from the summer solstice to the winter – that is, when the Sun’s run with relation to this planet shifted from the northern run to the southern run, which in this tradition is known as Uttarayana and Dakshinayana – on that day, Adiyogi looked at the Saptarishis and saw that they had become shining receptacles of knowing. They had done some simple preparation for 84 years and he could not ignore them anymore. He observed them closely and when the next full moon rose, he decided to become a guru. That full moon day is known as Guru Purnima. He turned south and the transmission of yogic science to the seven disciples began.
The yogic science is not about how to bend your body or hold your breath. This is the science of understanding the mechanics of the human mechanism and to be able to dismantle or put it together. Adiyogi made a dimensional change in the way people perceive and understand the existence and the source of creation. And he made himself a bridge between a simple piece of creation and the source of creation. He said, “If you walk this, there will be no distinction between you and that which you refer to as the creator.” The journey is from creation to the creator.
Breaking boundaries
When Adiyogi spoke, he was not speaking religion, philosophy or dogma. He was talking about a science, a scientific method through which you could undo the boundaries that nature has set upon human life. These boundaries are not in any one form. They have taken on so many complex forms.
But human nature is such, you cannot experience true wellbeing unless you transcend the limitations of boundaries set upon you. This is a human predicament.
Shiva’s work was to bring the tools of awareness that will allow you to transcend these boundaries – tools that will allow you to keep the fortresses to the extent they serve their purpose and make them vanish when you don’t want them. This was Adiyogi’s work. Using the basic illusory nature of nature itself, he came up with many incredible methods to build that magical fortress that you can walk through but no enemy can penetrate. This day is in celebration of this, that something so sophisticated and phenomenal began for the human race for the first time.
The most significant day
It is on this day, for the very first time in the history of humanity, that human beings were reminded that they are not a fixed life. If they are willing to strive, every door in the existence is open. So this day is the most significant day for the human race, because before the idea of religion entered anyone’s mind, Adiyogi put the idea that a human being can evolve beyond his present dimensions of existence; and he gave the tools to make that into a reality. This is the most precious idea that has entered the human mind: that he can evolve beyond his present limitations and go into a completely different dimension of experience, existence and access into the existence.
~ Sadhguru