The 24 Gurus

Of
Dattatreya
Dattatreya was one of the most famous sages in the spiritual lore of India. A king happened to visit
the ashram where the young boy lived and was amazed by his radiant countenance that bespoke an
inner joy. He asked who his teacher was. Dattatreya replied:
Mother Earth is my first guru. She taught me to hold lovingly in my heart those who trample me,
just as she does, and to give them the best I have, while remembering that from their viewpoint,
their acts are natural.
Dattatreya - My second guru is water. Water cleans whatever it touches and gives life to anyone
who drinks it. Unless it flows unceasingly, it becomes stagnant. Thus, water teaches me to keep
moving.
Dattatreya: Fire is my third guru. Whatever it burns is transformed into warmth and light. By
observing fire, I remember to absorb everything that life presents to me and turn it into flame. This
flame enlightens my life and in that light, others can walk safely
Dattatreya: My fourth guru is the wind, which caresses flowers and thorns alike, without becoming
attached to either. Like the wind I learned not to discriminate between flowers and thorns, friends
and foes but to bring freshness to all.
Dattatreya: This all-pervading and all-embracing space is my fifth guru. Space accommodates the
sun, moon, and stars and yet remains boundless. Like space, I too embrace all and yet remain
unaffected. All visible and invisible objects may have their rightful places within me, but they have
no power to confine my consciousness.
Dattatreya: The moon is my sixth guru. It waxes and wanes, yet its essence remains untouched.
While watching the moon, I learned that waxing and waning, rising and falling, pleasure and pain,
loss and gain, are simply phases of life. While passing through these phases. I remain aware of my
true Self.
Dattatreya: My seventh guru is the brilliant sun. The sun draws water from everywhere, transforms
it into clouds, and returns it to all as rain. From the sun I learned to gather knowledge everywhere,
transform it into practical wisdom, and share it with everyone.
Dattatreya: My eighth guru is a pigeon that was caught in a hunter's net. Hearing her cries of
despair, her fellow pigeons tried to rescue her but got caught too. From this I learned that any
reaction born of attachment and emotion is a trap. I always think twice before acting on an emotion,
especially if the action springs from a strong identification with my own 'group'.
Dattatreya: My ninth guru is the python who catches and eats her prey and then doesn't run after
food again for a long time. The python taught me to be satisfied once my needs are met rather than
making myself miserable running after the objects of my desire.
Dattatreya : The ocean, the final abode of all waters, is my tenth guru. Rivers and streams flow into
it and rain falls upon it, yet it remains within its margins. The ocean taught me that no matter what I
go through in life, no matter how many kicks and blows I receive, I must remain unaffected and self-
contained.
Dattatreya : The moth is my eleventh guru. Drawn by light, he flies from his abode to sacrifice
himself in the flame. From the moth I learned that once I see the dawn, even if it is only a hint of
light at a distance, I must overcome my fear, soar at full speed, and plunge myself into the
consuming and transforming fire of knowledge.
Dattatreya : My twelfth guru is a bumblebee, who before taking even the tiniest drop of nectar from
a flower, hums and hovers and dances, creating an atmosphere of joy. She gives more than she
receives because, as the agent of pollination, she ensures that there will be flowers for the seasons
to come. I learned from the bumblebee to take only a little from nature, to be cheerful, and to
enrich rather than destroy what sustains me.
Dattatreya : My thirteenth guru is the honeybee, who gathers nectar from different blossoms,
transforms it into honey, and stores it in the hive for others to share. Like the honeybee, I gather
teachings from every discipline and process the knowledge I gain. I must apply the knowledge that
helps me grow and be ready to share everything I know with others.
Dattatreya : My fourteenth guru is a wild bull elephant. A trapper had taken a tame female elephant
in season to the forest. Sensing her presence, the wild bull emerged from its domain and fell into a
pit that had been cleverly covered with branches and heaps of leaves. Thus trapped, the elephant
was tamed for the use of others. This taught me to control my passions and desires. Worldly charms
and temptations arouse the senses, and while chasing after sensory pleasure, this powerful mind is
trapped and becomes enslaved.
Dattatreya : My fifteenth guru is the deer, who has a keen sense of hearing and responds to sound
instantly and with discrimination.
Although she is wary of all noises, she becomes mesmerized upon hearing the melody of the
hunter's flute. So too, we keep our ears pricked and are often skeptical about what we hear.
But we become spellbound by certain words, which due to our desires, attachments, and cravings,
we delight in hearing. This trait creates misery in our lives and the lives of others.
Dattatreya : My sixteenth guru is the fish who swallowed a baited hook and was caught and killed.
This world is like a baited hook. As long as I remember the episode of the fish, I remain free of the
hook of the world.
Dattatreya : My seventeenth guru is the courtesan who neither loves her customers nor expects
them to love her, yet she waits for them and enacts the drama of love. Neither the artificial love nor
the payment she receives truly satisfies her.
I realized that all human beings are like courtesans, in that the world is enjoying us. But the payment
is invariably inadequate, and we're always dissatisfied.
Thus I learned to live with dignity and self-respect, without fulfillment from this world. The only
place I will find it is within.
Dattatreya : My eighteenth guru is a little bird who caught a worm and took to the air with it. Larger
birds pursued and pecked him, stopping only when the little bird dropped the worm.
From this episode, I learned that the secret of survival lies in renunciation, not in possession.
Dattatreya: My nineteenth guru is a hungry baby that cries until he suckles at his mother's breast.
But when he us full, the baby stops sucking and will not take any more.

From the baby I learned to remain joyful and to demand only what i really need.
Dattatreya: When I was begging for alms, I met my twentieth guru, a young woman. She told me to
wait outside her door while she prepared a meal. As she began cooking, her bracelets jangled. She
took one off, but the noise continued. She took off all her bracelets, one by one, until only one
remained. Then there was silence.
From this I learned that wherever there is a crowd there is noise, disagreement, and dissension.
Peace comes only in solitude.
Dattatreya: My twenty-first guru is the snake who makes no home for himself but stays in holes
other creatures have abandoned or curls up in the hollow of a tree for a while and then moves on.
This snake taught me to adjust to my environment and enjoy the resources provided by nature
without building a permanent home. While floating on the current of nature, I find plenty of places
to rest, and once rested, I move on.
Dattatreya: My twenty-second guru is an arrow maker who was so absorbed in sharpening his
arrowheads that the king and his entire army passed by without diverting his attention.
I ,too, learned to absorb myself in the task at hand, no matter how big or small. The more one-
pointed my focus, the greater my absorption, and the greater my absorption, the more subtle my
awareness becomes. The more subtle my awareness the more deeply I understand the goal of life.
Dattatreya: My twenty-third guru is a little spider who wove herself a cozy web. When a bigger
spider chased her, she rushed to take refuse in her web. But she ran so fast that she got entangled in
it, and the bigger spider caught and swallowed her.
Watching this I realized that we design secure futures for ourselves, but as we race along, we get
entangled in the threads of our best laid plans. True safety lies, not in the complicated web of action,
but in one-pointed absorption in the present.
Dattatreya: My twenty-fourth guru is a small worm that a songbird caught and placed in its nest to
eat later on. When the bird began to sing, the worm became so absorbed in the melody that it
forgot its peril.
It was then that I realized that if, in the face of death, this little creature can be transported by a
song, I too can develop the art of listening and becoming absorbed in the eternal sound, nada that is
always within me.
And that was the last of the 24 gurus. The wise Dattatreya knew that the world itself is an ashram
and that the teachings are everywhere.
We can learn something from anything we see or from anyone who crosses our path, provided we
have developed the qualities of a true student - a keen interest in knowledge, an attitude of
openness, and a strong determination to learn what is useful and ignore the rest.