Guru: A profound mystery
This article explores the different layers of the profound and mysterious word guru.
In most Indian languages it is common to use the word guru to mean teacher. In many villages of India, school children greet their teachers every morning as guruji. In traditional Indian arts a dance or music teacher is also called a guru. In this article we shall not be considering the word guru as used for school teachers or in the traditional Indian arts. We are referring to a guru as a teacher of yoga and spirituality.
Guru: Translation, Meaning and Interpretation
Sanskrit dictionaries translate the word guru in forty different ways including the planet Jupiter, gravity, heavy, teacher and even pregnant woman! While we are primarily interested in the word guru as a teacher, its relationship to other translations such as gravity, heavy and the planet Jupiter can also shed light on the profound impact a guru has on the life of his student.
First of all, we need to distinguish between the following three: translation, meaning and interpretation. The word water can be translated as pani, jal, wasser and acqua in Hindi, Sanskrit, German and Italian respectively. This is a translation from one language into another language. This is not the meaning of water.
The meaning of water would be “a clear, thin liquid that has no color or taste when it is pure. It falls from the clouds as rain and enters rivers and seas. All animals and people need water in order to live.” The source of this definition is Collins English Dictionary.
If I contemplate further on this meaning then I come to see that water is far more than just a liquid. Imagine you are in a desert. The hot sun is blazing down upon you on the burning sands. Your throat is dry and your bottle of water is empty. What you would do for a drop of water! As you put the empty bottle into your mouth out of desperation, a last drop of water falls on your parched lips. Then, you know: Water is Life. This is an interpretation.
We already know some of the translations of the word guru from a Sanskrit dictionary. We also want to understand its meaning and the interpretation of this word.
The word guru is deep and mysterious. Guru has many layers of meanings. We will explore the word guru as:
an external teacher
an embodied spiritual force
a stream of knowledge
Pure Consciousness
tA guru as an external teacher
There are two kinds of gurus: upagurus and satgurus. Upagurus are the many teachers who have taught you and made you the person you are. The prefix upa means “under” or “below.” This indicates that upagurus are below the satguru. Parents, school teachers, other persons from whom you may learn valuable lessons of life whether positive or painful are all upagurus. In the area of yoga and spirituality, the upaguru can teach you techniques, such as asanas and breathing techniques but is unable to impart comprehensive self-knowledge that will lead to a one-pointed mind and eventually to Self Realization. All these teachers are like fences around the sat guru . To meet a genuine and knowledgeable satguru, who is willing to guide you, a sincere seeker must first prepare himself, so that he can pass through the fence.
A guru as an embodied spiritual force
With a teacher who teaches, you learn. This is an upaguru. With an embodied master you do not learn; you unlearn. Such a guru is a satguru. Learning techniques and studying scriptures is easy, but the process of unlearning is very difficult. A satguru holds up a mirror and makes you aware of yourself and helps you unlearn.
Why do you need a satguru at all? And why is the stature “above” the upaguru? Because the mind is tricky and aspirants of self-knowledge need guidance in the unfamiliar and potentially danger territory of the mind. Only a competent teacher, who has trained in a lineage and validated the teachings through direct experience can guide a meditator. Any understanding from a book is limited by lack of direct experience. To grasp the deeper truth behind the words of the scriptures, you need someone who can clarify your misunderstandings and interpret the teachings correctly. The greatest problem facing the modern student is incorrect interpretation of the scriptures. To stake a claim on this knowledge, it must be integrated at deeper levels of consciousness and have a transformative effect on the reader. This is only possible through direct experience of higher states of consciousness.
Revelation is knowledge which can be received only by one who has achieved a high state of purity. This knowledge comes, neither through intellectual ability nor through the conscious mind, but by self-purification, deep meditation and a one-pointed mind. Revelations are possible only for one who has known and experienced truth directly. A satguru allows himself to be used as a channel for receiving and transmitting by the Divine.
A genuine spiritual teacher, one who is assigned to transmit the teachings according to the oral tradition, searches out good students. He looks for certain signs and symptoms; he wants to know who is prepared. A student cannot deceive a satguru. The satguru easily perceives how well the student is prepared. If he finds that the student is not yet ready, he will gradually prepare him for the higher teachings. The process of preparation can be arduous and painful. This selfless love will singe your ego. If a satguru comes to think that his power is his own, then he is a guide no more.
Kalyana Mitra: A revered friend
Parents educate their children in worldly matters, but a satguru trains the student to go beyond worldly concerns and understand the nature of the mind and eventually unravel the mysteries of death and rebirth. Thus, a satguru leads one to the eternal and immortal, to ultimate liberation.
Such an accomplished but humble one who attains the library of infinite wisdom knows that he can only be a friend to sincere aspirants and accompany them on this journey. Therefore, a genuine seeker also calls a true spiritual leader, his friend. Not just any friend, but a revered friend. Thus, kalyana mitra (revered friend) is another term for the satguru. The satguru, your revered friend works constantly and selflessly in your interest. The word guru is seldom used by itself. It is used with its suffix, deva. Deva means “bright being.” A satguru is also called gurudeva.
Photo: Private Collection Lyle Olsen Visual: Radhikaji
The Sanskrit word acharya is another word for guru. Going to the root of the word can be very insightful. The word acharya comes from achara which means “to walk along,” “to lead” or “to guide.” Thus, an acharya is one who walks along with you and guides you on your journey. He is a spiritual companion and revered friend. For instance, Sri Krishna accompanied Arjuna on the battlefield of the mind. He did not fight the battle for Arjuna but he was there when Arjuna needed counsel. It is very useful to have such an external companion, guide and revered friend. Such an authority commands respect; it does not demand respect. You do not respect him because of mere social conventions. A teacher having this power to destroy your ego, can lead you to the Guru within.
The role of the satguru is to make the student independent. Yet more often than not, it is the student, who becomes dependent and attached to the satguru. This dependency or attachment is reflected in guru worship. This attachment and dependency is not be mistaken with love, respect or reverence for the guru. Love frees, attachment binds.
The Guru as a stream of knowledge
The word guru also means gravity. Thus, Guru is a force that attracts and pulls you like a magnet, a heavy planet, a massive star or a black hole! The presence of a heavy body destabilizes its surroundings.
A satguru is a bit like a heavy planet. The mere presence of such an adept has the effect of destabilizing your preconceived notions. He destroys old habits when he helps you unlearn these. What is unlearning? You are aware that your bad habits are not good for you, yet you are not able to break these habits, especially those related to thinking patterns. You think you are stupid or good for nothing and make yourself miserable. That is a thinking pattern or habit. A guru will lead you out of this habit pattern and your ignorance. This is a difficult, even brutal process. Clearly a guru is nothing for the faint-hearted!
Tradition says that gu is darkness and ru is light. Thus Tradition says that Guru is that which leads from darkness to light. This is an interpretation and it comes from the direct experience of the sages. The Samaya approach understands Guru as the deepest and most profound spiritual force leading from darkness to light. The adepts use the word Guru to refer to the stream of knowledge that pours from the library of infinite wisdom.
The following verse is not just about honoring the teacher. It honors Guru, the spiritual force as a source of wisdom beyond all deities.
गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः
गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
गुरुःसाक्षात् परब्रह्म
तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नम: ॥
Gururbrahma gururvishnuh
gururdevo maheshwarah |
Guruhsakshat parabrahma
tasmai shrigurave namah ||
Guru is Brahma. Guru is Vishnu.
Guru is Lord Shiva.
Guru is Parabrahman.
We bow to that Guru.
Guru as Shiva
Pure Consciousness is the highest perfection. This is not a cold and unchanging ideal of perfection, rather it is vibrant and dynamic. The One Perfect witnesses all of infinity. Experience this infinity within yourself, become a Witness and know Guru. This is Shiva, the Individual Consciousness.
Guru vs. Gugu
Guru is that which leads from darkness to light. But what about the selfish teachers who keep you in darkness? If “gu” means darkness then those teachers who only seek to promote their own business or their egos may be called “gugus.” A self-centered person cannot be a guru.
On this journey you may come across many “gugus;” these are like grains of sand on a beach. But a satguru is rare as a pearl. To find a satguru, you must dive your own depths until you finally come home to the force of GURU within.