Bow Down?

Dear Friends,
    I have visited so many spiritual teachers and been exposed to so many gurus. Each one's expression is different. Each one has a different energy. I cannot say which one is the best. But it is very clear to me when a particular teacher resonates. And my mind may be open to one teaching more than another at different times. The more the mind is open, the more I fall in love with the teacher, the more my resistance falls away, the more powerfully the teachings flow through me. Indeed, the feelings of love and openness become the teacher and the teaching, and that is what I surrender to. The teacher represents the inner power within my own self. The guide comes in physical form to open the guide living within my self. Surrender to the master means surrendering to my higher self. Until my full potential is realized, it is a very valuable practice to attune to the Teacher. What I meditate on, I become. So why not meditate on the Teacher that has realized its divine potential?
    In 2008, I went to a retreat with Svami Purna in New York. The moment He walked into that bookstore, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I knew that this Being would be my teacher for this lifetime and all future lifetimes. It was my desire to attune to this Being every second of the day for as long as the body breathed. When I say Being, I mean Presence, not the physical body. The body is a wonderful reminder of the Presence but not the actual Presence. So when I bow down to the physical body, I am actually bowing to the Presence which is beyond form, which is my own True Self. This may be difficult to understand because the True Self is beyond conception of mind. Bowing to the Teacher is a sign of love and reverence to the One True Self. This is why we say "namaste" when we greet one another. I bow to the Divine in you. That which is pure love, peace, and joy. Let us worship these qualities and as we do, we become their very essence.

With Love,
Brian