The day of the Guru Puja
In ancient times, the holy contemplatives who dwelt in the Himalayan region pursued the truth of the identity of the individual soul with the cosmic soul, discarding as futile all the pomp and power of the world. They used to set apart one day in the year to be devoted to the worship of the holy Teachers (Guru Puja) by their own serving and loving disciples. This day of the Guru Puja falls in the middle of the rainy season. Preparations to observe it are made weeks before the actual occasion.

Each disciple collects the best gifts that he can procure for his Guru and offers them on the day dedicated for this purpose. Those disciples who have finished their studies and have gone to distant places, also return to their Gurus on this day. They cross rivers in flood, they scale high mountains, they pass through dense forests—yet they come! It is their faith and their sense of gratitude for the holy knowledge received from the selfless Guru which prompts them to return to him, the living source of their enlightenment.