Guiding Light: Guru – a person or a relationship?

A couple of days ago, we celebrated Guru Purnima, all over the country - spiritual students and even students of traditional disciplines, like music and dance, paid their respects to their Guru. This brings us to the understanding – What is a guru? The word ‘guru’ is actually referring to a relationship, not merely a person. A guru exists only if there is a shishya, a student who wants knowledge from him. Otherwise, the guru is a wise person simply living his life in joy and fulfilment. And the shishya to be is a simple person muddling along in life trying to eke out some joy and fulfilment from his experiences. In Sanskrit, the word is self-explanatory. The syllable, ‘Gu’ stands for self-ignorance. The syllable ‘Ru’ stands for the one who removes that ignorance. Therefore, a Guru is someone who can remove a person's self-ignorance. The person sees oneself has a limited finite being generally unhappy, trying to find some happiness and fulfillment in life. And in the Guru's vision, the person is already nothing but Ananda, a fulfilled being. So, if the seeker approaches the Guru, the wise person wanting to gain knowledge of the self, and this wise person agrees to teach this knowledge, then one can say that there is a guru and shishya relationship. So, both guru and shishya are words denoting a relationship.

Nobody is a guru to everyone. One can only be a guru to the one who wants to learn from him/her. Similarly, a shishya is not a permanent shishya. A shishya is a shishya until he or she becomes wise. Then he/she is capable of being a teacher to someone who wants to learn. Therefore, traditional gurus do not push their wisdom on someone who doesn't want it. At the most they may make people aware that such a wisdom, is available. Then it's up to the people to choose whether they want to seek it or not. Therefore, these few words clarify one aspect of what it takes to be both, a guru and a shishya.

The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidya@gmail.com