Introduction

    Whether one follows the path of action, knowledge, deliberate rigour, meditation, or devotion, ultimately all spiritual paths preach the same principle, that salvation is attainable only by the Guru’s grace. Seekers who have practised Spirituality on any spiritual path for several years realize that they can progress beyond a particular spiritual level only by the Guru’s grace. Hence, they yearn to attain the Guru’s grace. On the other hand, seekers who have made spiritual progress by the grace of the Guru get spiritual experiences to prove the absolute supremacy of this path.

    One cannot perceive the special features of a Guru by looking at His gross body, with ordinary vision. In order to truly perceive the special significance of the Guru, it is of utmost importance that one be educated about the different aspects of the Guru, such as His qualities, His method of teaching verbally as well as non-verbally, the Guru - disciple relationship, etc.

Origin

• ‘Gu’ refers to darkness assuming the form of ignorance.

• ‘Ru’ refers to radiance in the form of spiritual knowledge, which dispels this darkness.

    Thus, the Guru is the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Definition and meaning:

• The Guru is the one who dispels a disciple’s ignorance, advises him to undertake spiritual practice in order to make spiritual progress, gets the spiritual practice done from him, and bestows spiritual experiences upon him. The Guru’s attention is fixed on the disciple’s spiritual progress alone, and not on his worldly happiness (as that depends on destiny).

• The one who knows the subtle body (pinda), the all-pervading nature, as well as the form and that which is beyond the form, equally well, is a real Guru. Here, the subtle body refers to the embodied soul, and the all-pervading nature to the Supreme Soul (Shiva or Brahman). Form refers to the manifest and that beyond the form to the unmanifest.

• The Guru is the one Who is not small, yet transforms the small one (seeker/disciple) into a large one (a Guru). In other words, the Guru transforms the embodied soul into the Supreme Soul.

• “God and a devotee are not distinct from each other. God, being unmanifest, is unable to communicate to a devotee who has awareness of his body. So He introduces the devotee to one of His representatives, who is carrying out His mission. Such a representative performing His mission is called a Guru. In other words, He Himself speaks to His devotees using the Guru as a medium.”

  - His Holiness (H.H.) Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon, India.

History

• During the period of compiling of mantras, in order to arrange the Holy texts or verses systematically in the form of poetic verses (Samhitas), the institution of the Guru to study, teach, practice, and apply the mantras became the need of the hour. Gradually, the rituals of sacrificial fires (yadnyakarma) started becoming elaborate and complicated and it became necessary to undertake a specialized, in-depth study to acquire mastery over the subject. As a result, batches of disciples began to gather around teachers well versed in yadnyakarma. The names of many such teachers of the Samhita period are known even today. Angiras, Garga, Atri, Bruhaspati and Vasishtha were the main teachers of those times.

• Those who developed a dislike for and lost faith in the rituals performed according to the Vedas were the Aranyakas. The study of Spirituality began among them and the subject began to be preached, thus giving rise to the Guru hierarchy. The names of Janak and Yadnyavalkya figure prominently among these Gurus.

• In the Nath sect, the Guru is accorded a higher status than The Lord Himself. The yogis of this sect consider Lord Shiva as the foremost Guru and Matsyendra, a form of Lord Vishnu, as His first disciple. In this sect, there is a custom of describing the Guru lineage instead of the paternal lineage (Dnyaneshvari 18.1758). Saint Dnyaneshvar never describes Himself as “the son of Viththalpant (biological father)” but as “the disciple of Nivrutti (Guru/spiritual master)”, throughout His Holy work, the Dnyaneshvari.