catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  guru meditation
       
           The Amiga equivalent of
          Unix's panic (sometimes just called a "guru" or "guru
          event").  When the system crashes, a cryptic message of the
          form "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear,
          indicating what the problem was.  An Amiga guru can figure
          things out from the numbers.
       
          In the earliest days of the Amiga, there was a device called a
          "Joyboard" which was basically a plastic board built onto a
          joystick-like device; it was sold with a skiing game cartridge
          for the Atari game machine.  It is said that whenever the
          prototype OS crashed, the system programmer responsible would
          concentrate on a solution while sitting cross-legged, balanced
          on a Joyboard, resembling a meditating guru.  Sadly, the joke
          was removed in AmigaOS 2.04.
       
          The Jargon File claimed that a guru event had to be
          followed by a Vulcan nerve pinch but, according to a
          correspondent, a mouse click was enough to start a reboot.
       
          (2002-06-25)
       
       

  guru meditation n. Amiga equivalent of `panic' in Unix (sometimes just
     called a `guru' or `guru event'). When the system crashes, a cryptic
     message of the form "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear,
     indicating what the problem was. An Amiga guru can figure things out
     from the numbers. Sometimes a guru event must be followed by a Vulcan
     nerve pinch.
  
     This term is (no surprise) an in-joke from the earliest days of the
     Amiga. An earlier product of the Amiga corporation was a device called a
     `Joyboard' which was basically a plastic board built onto a
     joystick-like device; it was sold with a skiing game cartridge for the
     Atari game machine. It is said that whenever the prototype OS crashed,
     the system programmer responsible would calm down by concentrating on a
     solution while sitting cross-legged on a Joyboard trying to keep the
     board in balance. This position resembled that of a meditating guru.
     Sadly, the joke was removed fairly early on (but there's a well-known
     patch to restore it in more recent versions).