The one who unveils or draws back the curtain of illusion is the Guru. At the Indian temples the priests takes on the role of a Guru, drawing back the curtain that veils the idol or murthy of Erai, to show us the splendor and beauty of the Divine with a form.
Similarly the intelligence in each of us comes as a Guru, as an intuition or a thought, guiding us each moment of our lives. As we might not be receptive to these signals, hence customs, traditions, guidelines, and do's and don'ts were laid for us to follow by our elders.
Just as these are general rules, when one comes to a Guru for direction it would seem that what was said for another would equally be good for us. But that is far from the truth as each upadesha is specific to the recipient. Ram Das explains this through numerous episodes.
Maharajji's (Neem Karoli Baba) sadhana prescriptions were tailor-made for the individual devotee to whom they were directed.
At one point I asked Brahmachari Baba if Maharajji taught him tapasya, and I gave examples of the tapasya Maharajji is said to have done himself, such as sitting up to his neck in a lake and sitting in the summer noonday sun surrounded by four fires. Brahmachari Baba immediately said, “No. Only ordinary things such as various yoga-asanas (postures) and meditations and pranayams.”
With a little more questioning, he said, “Maharajji told me to be maun (silent). I was silent for three years . . . after that Maharajji told me to do the standing tapasya - that is to say, I must never sit or lie down, but remain always on my feet. This I did also for another three years. I performed this tapasya at Bhumiadhar before the temple complex was built. I had a special contraption to support my body for sleep. Sleep would come and my legs would swell up very big. Maharajji also told me to be phalahari (to eat no grains, only fruits and vegetables). This I did for some eight years.”
Brahmachari Baba speaks further about Maharajji,
For many years before I met Maharajji I was searching, going here and there, studying this and that. I began following strict yogic codes - brahmacharya, 3:00 am risings, cold baths, asanas, and dhyan.
It was during a period when I had given up coffee and tea that I met Maharajji. Tea was being offered to all of us, and I didn’t know what to do. I said nothing but did not accept a cup of tea, and Maharajji leaned over to me, saying, “Won’t you take tea? Take tea! You should drink the tea. It’s good for you in this weather! Take tea!” So I drank the tea. With that one cup of tea, all those strict disciplines and schedules were washed away! They seemed meaningless and unnecessary; the true work seemed beyond these things. Now I do whatever comes of itself.
Maharajji cautioned his devotees over performing yogic asanas. When some devotees questioned him about hatha yoga (physical method of attaining union with God), Maharajji told them: “Hatha yoga is okay if you are strictly brahmacharya. Otherwise it is dangerous. It is the difficult way to raise kundalini. You can raise kundalini by devotion and by feeding people. Kundalini does not necessarily manifest as outer symptoms; it can be awakened quietly.”
To another one he said, “If you are going to stand on your head, take butter. If you eat impure food, don’t do the headstand. Impure food goes to the mind and affects it.”Ram Dass narrates further.
Some Westerners who came to Kainchi from Rishikesh practiced the whole hatha yoga regimen, swallowing dhotis, putting string up the nose, and so forth. Maharajji urged them to stop being so fanatic about that, saying, “I did all those things myself. It’s not the way.”
While I was touring with a swami in southern India, he had given me mantra diksha (initiation) for a very powerful Shiva mantra that he said would give me vast wealth and vast power. I was fascinated and did the mantra day and night for many weeks. Then at a certain time, after coming to Maharajji, . . the mantra was gone - not in the sense that I couldn’t remember it but, rather, because it had lost its compelling quality. It no longer possessed me; I no longer had any desire to repeat it. Maharajji had taken it away.Agathiyar says "Manam athu semmaiyaanal manthiram thevai ellai."