The Greatest Guru Dakshina by Swami Chidananda
The best guru bhakti is to love all, to be kind and compassionate towards all and never hurt any living creature—to try as much as possible to benefit life around us, to be good, do good, and to serve, so that out of us only good comes, only help comes, only service comes, only usefulness. All that is positive, creative, constructive, auspicious, good, beautiful—that only should come to all life around us, all God’s creation, through our thoughts, words and actions. Anything that is negative, anything that is destructive, harmful or injurious should never come.
Thus, there is no greater guru bhakti, there is no greater guru seva, there is no greater worship and adoration of the Guru than to become an embodiment of kindness, compassion and doing good to others. This is the greatest guru dakshina (gift to the Guru) also. This is the hallmark of discipleship.
What is the greatest worship of the Guru, the greatest reverence we can offer, the greatest bhakti and seva? Truthfulness is the greatest guru dakshina, the greatest guru bhakti, the greatest guru seva. This is the second great way of worshipping and adoring the Guru. There is no greater way.
All that contradicts truth contradicts guru bhakti, contradicts your reverence to the Guru. Reverence becomes a parody, an anomaly; it turns into an empty nothingness if we do not live to uphold that which the great Gurus of all time stood for, that which they proclaimed. Truthfulness, therefore, in all things, integrity, therefore, in all things is the highest guru bhakti, the highest guru dakshina, the highest guru seva.
What is the greatest guru seva, guru bhakti and dakshina? Control the self, conquer the mind and its desires and be established in concentration and inner meditation. There is no guru seva, no guru bhakti, no guru dakshina higher than this. This is the highest way of paying reverence to the Guru. Be a person of self-control. To be a person of self-control, who has mastered his mind, its desires, vagaries and fantasies, to he established in self-control, overcoming the mind and successfully centering it upon God—that is the greatest guru bhakti and dakshina. That is the greatest guru seva and it is true reverence to the Guru who is Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara. 
Lord Siva has a trident. It is a weapon of destruction. He holds it and he wields it. Lord Vishnu has a discus. It is also a weapon of destruction. He holds it and wields it. Brahma has no weapon of destruction or harm. He is an embodiment of ahimsa, non-injury. He gives life, he creates life. He holds a kamandalu in one hand, a japa maala in another, the Veda in another, and he gives fearlessness with the other hand.
Therefore, Brahma is the creator of life and the embodiment of ahimsa. Lord Vishnu is Satyanarayana, truthfulness, and Lord Siva is ever self-absorbed, perfectly self-controlled, with mind and senses withdrawn and his entire interior plunged into a state of deep, deep meditation. These three—ahimsa, satya, brahmacharya—constitute the essential part of guru tattva, and to reflect that in our own personality, in our own life, character and conduct, is to shine like the full moon, absorbing the light that shines in the Guru, in the guru tattva and embodying it in ourselves, reflecting it in all its fullness, glory and immaculate grandness and greatness. 
That is discipleship. That is the greatest guru seva; that is the greatest guru bhakti; that is the greatest guru aradhana (worship); that is the greatest way we can pay our guru dakshina. To become an embodiment of compassion, kindness, truthfulness, perfect self-control and contemplation is the essence of discipleship. It is the essence of guru bhakti and seva.
May we contemplate these facts, these truths of our own individual personal spiritual life, and may we realise their truth and become blessed!
The above article has been taken from Swamiji's "Sure Ways to Guru Kripa"
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