image credit: Annamalai Swami
In the thirty-first verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda teaches about the deeper aspects of receiving blessings from their guru as follows:
स्वप्रकाशवपुषा गुरुः शिवो यः प्रसीदति पदार्थमस्तके ।
तत्प्रसादमिह तत्त्वशोधनं प्राप्य मोदमुपयाति भावुकः ॥ ३१ ॥
svaprakāśavapuṣā guruḥ śivo yaḥ prasīdati padārthamastake |
tatprasādam iha tattvaśodhanaṃ prāpya modam upayāti bhāvukaḥ || 31 ||
“The Guru is Śiva who offers blessings in the form of the innate light of Consciousness upon the head of all beings. The initiate who receives that blessing of such a [Guru], which purifies all levels of reality, is filled with delight.” (translation by Ben Williams)
