The Whispering of Guru


Reflections from Swami Ma Tripura’s Guru Purnima talk, July 2026

by Jenny May


There is a particular joy in listening to Swami Ma Tripurashakti Bharati speak — the rhythm of her voice, the laughter that comes easily, and underneath it all, a devotion so steady it draws you back to your own trust and inner guidance almost without trying. Her presence itself seems to be the teaching: a loving instrument for the very force she describes.


That force, she reminded us in her talk before this year's Guru Purnima full moon meditation, is not a person. Guru is whatever dispels darkness and draws us toward the light of our own consciousness. It moves within and without, always present, always calling, whispering, welcoming everyone inward — toward the one place where true joy and fulfillment actually live: pure consciousness. Ma Tripura reminds us; God, Guru and Self are one and the same. The force we call Guru is within us as Self. We are that.


Picture it, she said, like a golden lasso cast out from the Self, forever swinging back to reel us in. Or think of gravity — wherever we are, whatever we're doing, something is quietly pulling us back toward our own center. That pull is Guru.


We also honor, on this Guru Purnima Day, the vessels through which that Guru force flows — those who surrender their egos fully enough to become its instrument. Swami Rama was such a vessel, and so was Swami Veda, among others. They come into our lives to guide us, and today we offer gratitude for their presence, their selflessness, the steady energy they pour into guiding us.


Ma Tripura spoke of never having met Swami Rama in the body in this incarnation — no dramatic dreams, no visible signs. Only a trust that wrapped around her like a blanket from the very first moment she arrived in Rishikesh. And that trust has simply kept growing ever since. That trust, she said, is itself a form of Grace.


And Grace, she said, simply asks us to know our worth, do the effort, believe we can — and then simply open. We are, quite literally, swimming in an unconditional love available every moment, whether it arrives as intuition, a friend's word, a dream, or quiet certainty.


She returned to an old image: the bundle of dry sticks offered to the fire. We come before a guru with nothing to give but our attachments, fears, and habitual patterns, gathered over lifetimes —bound up like kindling. And that, she said, is exactly what's wanted. Hand it over, and the fire will burn it. Here, Love is doing the work we couldn't do ourselves. Take one step toward Guru, she reminds us, and Guru takes ten steps toward you.



She left us with the oldest definition of all: Gu is darkness (ignorance), Ru is light (the dispeller of that ignorance). Guru is the force that carries us from one to the other. This is what we celebrate on Guru Purnima.


Om Gurave Namah. May we all open and receive that blessed whispering of Guru, welcoming us inward.