Who is a "Guru"?

Who is a "Guru"?

A Guru is a person who guides one towards their final goal; a person who has already attained the path which one wishes to walk upon; a person who makes one as accomplished, if not more, than themselves.

Who is deserving of the title "Guru"? Is it someone who wears spiritual robes and has a long white beard? Or maybe those who have many followers under their wing?

A Guru is an embodiment of the deity themselves; they have already crossed the enormous storm which today their Shishya face. The meaning of a Guru is not to give instant relief through physical assurance to their Shishya, as doing so will only make them more dependent, but rather pushing one off the cliff with the deity standing at the bottom.

A Guru's role is similar to that of the Sun. Though the Earth has its own magnetic field which stops harmful radiation from coming to the surface, the Sun's magnetic field deflects the majority of the radiation coming from outer space, leaving Earth to deal with only a few. This is exactly the relation between Guru and Shishya, with the Guru protecting their Shishya from those hurdles which one might not be aware of as they focus on their own problems.

In addition to this, the Sun also plays the most important role in maintaining life on Earth by projecting its rays, without which no life would be able to survive. Similarly, a Guru also keeps projecting their Tej onto their Shishya such that they too keep growing and progressing in their path, but without it, the path of the Shishya becomes absolutely uncertain.

A Guru does not waste their time in giving physical assurance, as that only provides short-term relief. Instead, they uproot the difficulty altogether while teaching their Shishya to handle challenges independently in the future. They do not make their Shishya dependent, but rather help them explore and learn from their own experiences while staying under the Guru's protection. Rather than limiting their Shishya, a Guru pushes them beyond their own means. This guide removes the cloud of Maya from their Shishya's mind, pushing them towards higher states of realization. By laying the foundation for making future Gurus, not just Shishyas, they guide one through the storm which they once faced themselves. Nurturing the soil which is the Shishya, the Guru ensures they can blossom the tallest and largest.

For a Shishya, their Guru may look like the most complicated and unreachable entity, but they are the simplest and most loving one can be while always keeping their Shishya protected.

By pushing their Shishya off the cliff, the Guru forces them to face the difficulty which they have been avoiding, head-on and conquer it. The teachings of the Guru do not consist of "What to do?", but rather "How to do?", as it resolves the doubts within the Shishya forever. A Guru does not jump onto the battleground and fight in the place of the Shishya, as they have already conquered theirs, but forces them to face it on their own as they get hit and learn from it while being under Guru's guidance. Though the Guru gives all the warnings to their Shishya, sometimes the best lesson comes from making the mistake and learning from it.

The nature of the Guru does not depend on the way they appear, but rather the nature of pushing their Shishya towards higher realization which will make them reign for centuries upon centuries.

Aum Shri Gurubhyo Namah

Jai Bhairav Baba

Jai Maa Adya

-Rohan Mathur