6.2 The Guru

Ignorance is a very big limitation of the human intellect. With an ignorant intellect when I look or study something, I will never be able to understand it fully.

That is why we find that whenever new scientific discoveries are made, we do not understand its full impact initially. But as science advances and more knowledge is gathered, we being to understand more about the theory, and also its limitations.

When we look at our bodies, we understand very little. But when the doctor looks at our bodies, he or she understands much more. That is because the doctor has more knowledge of the human body.

How much you understand depends upon how much knowledge or information you have. As long as we have ignorance or limited knowledge, our way of looking at the world will be flawed, and therefore it can never be the perception of truth.

The 2nd limitation is doubt. However much you study something, you can never be sure whether what you know is totally right. As science advances, scientists keep coming up with new theories which disprove previous theories.

You can never say that a particular scientific theory is 100% accurate. All the scientist can say is that this is what my observation says. Many scientists today are even raising doubts about the speed of light and the theory or relativity.

We can never be sure about any knowledge we acquire, and therefore human discoveries will always be assailed by doubts.

When we look at something and fail to perceive it correctly, we come to a wrong conclusion about the object. The eyes perceive the stars as very small. So when an uneducated person looks at the stars he will think the stars to be actually very small.

So wrong perception will cause the human intellect to make mistakes.

The meteorologists try to study and predict rain and other weather conditions. To do that they take hundreds of factors into account, and more often that not, their prediction turns out to be wrong.

We may consider various factors, but however intelligent and diligent our work may be, there will be hidden factors and variables which the human intellect will fail to see.

The intellect is susceptible to being influenced by others views. Often times our ideas are prejudiced by other people’s ideas and opinions. They may unknowingly or deliberately try to influence or mislead us.

Even the human sense organs, on which the intellect depends to get knowledge of the external world, have their own limitations.

The human ears can hear only those sounds which fall within a certain frequency range. Dogs and cats have a much broader frequency range. So they can hear sounds which humans cannot.

So the limitations of the sense organs are transferred onto the intellect. In fact if our sense organs were replaced by an animal’s sense organs, then the world we experience would be totally different.

We think what we see or experience is the reality. In fact, what we see or experience is never the true reality. The world we see and experience is as presented by our sense organs.

So how do we know what is out there exactly? This is now a problem the scientists are coming to recognize. Some say we can never know what is really out there.

Because if we have another set of sense organs, the world will coloured by those sense organs. With sense organs we cannot know the truth of the world, and without sense organs we cannot perceive the world. That means we cannot know the truth of the world by ourselves.

So based on these six limitations we come to the conclusion that the intellect is a flawed instrument or means of knowledge.

Some say Atma (Self) is my guru, and therefore Atma will teach me. They don’t want to go to a human guru.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions. Atma does not have a mouth or an intellect. Therefore Atma cannot do anything, including teaching or revealing the truth.

If Atma is your guru, then you should have gained Self-Knowledge long ago. Atma has been with you not just since your physical body was created, but since you as a Jiva (the 3 Bodies – will be discussed later in the Self Knowledge module) was created. Therefore if Atma could have been your guru, then you would have gained wisdom long before.

Another person can say that the world is my guru. Someone once said, life is an university and every experience my guru.

But the problem with this idea is that what you learn from an experience depend upon your own individual perspective. Two people can come to two different conclusions from the same situation.

If what we learn of ordinary worldly things is influenced by our own perspectives, how can we learn of the ultimate truth through our experiences. Therefore the world cannot be a guru, Atma cannot be a guru.

It’s a dialogue because the student has to first ask the guru: “I want to know the reality. Please tell me.”.

Many people go to a guru for various other reasons, like for blessings or favours. The guru cannot – and will not – teach Vedanta to an uninterested person. So the student has to initiate the dialogue by asking the first question which tells the guru that the student is interested in learning.

Then the guru has to systematically teach with the help of scripture. The guru cannot teach his own ideas, because even the guru’s intellect is endowed with the six-fold limitation.

Therefore the guru cannot give his own philosophy, he has to teach from scripture which has come from the Lord (Isvara or God – will be discussed in Self Knowledge module), who is free from the six-fold limitation.

And so, the guru teaches and as the student listens, doubts will arise. If doubts don’t come, then it means the student is not paying attention. Doubts are definite to arise.

And if doubts come, the student is not supposed to blindly swallow the teaching. He or she has to raise the doubts, and then the guru will answer.

As we see in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches, Arjuna raises doubts, Krishna answers again, then Arjuna raises another doubt, and so on. This is the sort of dialogue which should take place between the guru and student. And as a result of this dialogue the student gains Self-Knowledge.

An Uttama guru is one who has studied the scriptures systematically from a guru and received the teaching. The one who has the scriptural knowledge and the teaching methodology is called a Shrotriya.

Shrotriya derives from the verbal root which means “to hear”. Shrotriya means one who is well versed in the scriptural source of the teaching, one who knows the content of the texts and also the methodology for imparting that knowledge.

To be learned in scripture includes knowledge of the methodology of teaching. A good teacher is one who has learned from his teacher how to teach. An established method of teaching is called Sampradaya, a traditional handing down of instruction.

It is like the difference between a singer and a music teacher. To teach music, it is not enough that one knows how to sing. A singer, untrained in the teaching methodology of music may help you follow his example for a few moments, or he may inspire you to seek the knowledge of music, but he cannot make a musician out of you.

So the guru should have the Sampradaya, the methodology of teaching Self-Knowledge.

Not only must the guru be a Shrotriya, he or she must also be a Brahmanishta, one established in the knowledge. A Brahmanishta is one who has assimilated the teachings and transformed his or her life.

One who is a Brahmanishta knows Brahman (Self) as himself, not as something other than himself. Brahman is derived from a word which means “to grow, to increase”, indicates “bigness” or “limitlessness”. “Nishta” means “steadfastness”. The one who is a Brahmanishta is one who is steadfast in the knowledge of himself as the full, complete, limitless being.

If this teaching is supposed to give happiness, then the guru must be an embodiment of happiness. If the guru looks miserable, and then says this teaching is going to give happiness, then no one is going to believe him.

The guru must be a role model. He should be a living example of the benefits of Self-Knowledge, and therefore he or she should have assimilated the teaching. In short his life and the teaching should be one and the same.

Such a guru is called Brahmanishta-Shrotriya-Guru, one who has studied scripture, knows the teaching methodology, and is established in Self-Knowledge. An Uttama Guru is the ideal guru to whom one should go to gain Self-Knowledge.

A Madhyama guru is a Shrotriya, one trained in scripture and knows the teaching methodology, but because of some obstacle hasn’t been able to assimilate the teaching. Therefore he or she has the knowledge, but does not enjoy the benefits of Self-Knowledge fully.

Such a guru can be compared to a professor of Upanishads in the philosophy department of an university. He has enough knowledge of the Upanishads to teach, but is not living the knowledge. Such a guru may require more time to assimilate the teachings, so he or she is not yet a Brahmanishta.

But a student can still go to a Madhyama guru because since he is trained in the methodology, he is only going to communicate what the scripture says. He won’t give out his own ideas, so what he teaches would still be proper.

An Adhama guru is an exceptional person who has gained Self-Knowledge without guru and scripture.

Previously we discussed how as a general rule one cannot gain Self-Knowledge without a guru. However, as we said, there are exceptions. There are rare spiritual geniuses who gain Self-Knowledge without guru and scripture. Such a person is a Brahmanishta, but not a Shrotriya because he or she has not studied scripture under a guru.

An Adhama guru does not have the methodology to teach, and they themselves never faced problems and doubts of an ordinary person. Because his mind was an extraordinary mind, he cannot understand the problems of the ordinary mind. He does not even have the help of scripture with which he could have taught.

So an Adhama guru neither has scripture, nor has he faced the problems of an ordinary person. And therefore he doesn’t have the tools of communication to teach. Such people are what we call mystics.

All mystics are Brahmanisthas; they have knowledge of the truth, but don’t have the means to communicate this knowledge.

To illustrate, it’s like a person, who because he was wealthy, was able to travel to another place by flight. So he never encountered the problems and pitfalls of travelling by road. So if I want to go to that place, and I don’t have the money to take a flight, this person cannot help me because I have to use the road. I should take the help of a person who has reached this place successfully by road.

Therefore the tradition says never to go to a mystic who gained Self-Knowledge without guru and scripture. If you want Self-Knowledge ideally go to a Brahmanishta-Shrotriya-Guru, or as a last option, go to a Shrotriya-Guru.

You need to be very clear about your true motivations, because the teacher you get depends on them. If the desire for love is a strong motivation, then caution is advised because a needy person does not enjoy good discrimination.

It is important to love the teacher for the right reasons. Otherwise you will end up enlightenment-disappointed and love-disappointed.

When someone sits in front of you on a throne with hundreds of people staring at him and the “energy” is wonderful, you are tempted to imagine that they are very enlightened. In reality you know nothing about who they really are.

A discriminating seeker inquires unobtrusively into the life of the guru to see if his behaviour is consistent outside the limelight as well.

Find out where the money goes. Listen to the gossip with discrimination; often where there is smoke there is fire. Public figures are always suspect. They often suffer low self-esteem and are clever at creating an image of themselves as caring souls, but a healthy dose of suspicion is advised. The more “spiritual” they are, the greater should be your doubt.

Before you place your faith in a teacher, do your due diligence. Check the web for blogs and sites by disaffected students. Look for scandals, if any. Observe the students. What kind of people are they? Are they guarded and cliquish? Are they open and self-reliant? Do they act superior? Do they cower and simper in front of the guru? Many guru are power hungry bullies and egomaniacs.

Do the students think for themselves? Do they have a special language to fit in? Or do they speak normally? Cults usually have their own special lingo.

The Zen master Dogzen is reputed to have said, “Next to dharma, enlightenment is the most important thing in the world.”

If an unscrupulous guru can keep you high on “the energy” or distract you with a heavy load of service work, you will not ask questions. If you are wrapped up in your service, the teacher can pursue his of her agenda away from prying eyes.

Trust is good, but knowledge is better. It is up to you to find out what goes on behind the scenes. You can only blame yourself when you discover that you are being exploited in some way. To avoid exploitation and disappointment, you must have a refined appreciation of Dharma.

A guru who consciously appreciates Dharma and follows it impeccably has an aura of purity and grace. He or she has a clean and straightforward feel. His of her life is remarkable for its absence of conflict. He or she has no agenda. In other words he or she lives the teaching.

A guru who immediately sets out to put you to work in his or her service has an agenda. Once it is known that you are compliant, demands for money, sexual favours etc. follow.

The most common agenda is the idea that you are helping others to enlightenment by helping the guru get more people to enlighten. Ask yourself why should the guru want more people to enlighten when he or she has you to enlighten.

If you feel that a guru needs you for any reason, then there’s a problem. Leave as soon as you can. A true teacher is dispassionate and self-fulfilled and has nothing to gain by teaching you.

A proper teacher will not promise to fix your life. If your life is a mess, it is because you are a mess. Vedanta will only make clear who you are, and who you are not. When the teaching is assimilated, life takes care of itself.

A guru who allows you to become dependent on him or her is not a real guru. He is power hungry. And a guru who tries to hang on to you when you want to leave, tries to convince you that you are compromising your enlightenment, is not a real guru either.

A real guru will be happy to see you leave, knowing fully well that life is the best teacher and that you will be back, not necessarily to him, but to the teaching. If the teacher is qualified and the teaching works, you should feel more and more free of the teacher as the teaching progresses.

The potential for abuse at the hands of fake gurus is greatest when the guru promotes the “no ego, no thought” notion of enlightenment. If thinking is a problem in general, then critical thinking is definitely a problem for a fake guru, because it may be directed at him or her.

When the teaching emphasizes surrender to the guru, a red flag should go up. When enlightenment is presented as something you need to experience, the alarms should ring loudly.

Another popular belief is that you will get enlightened only when your Karma is gone. The guru’s job is to eat your Karma, therefore you need a hungry guru.

The Karma does not stand in the way of the Self. Before you have Karma you are the Self. The Self only need to be revealed.

Even if some Karma has to be removed to prepare the mind for Self-Inquiry, only you can remove your Karma because it’s in your account. The Guru can only remove Karma standing in his or her account.

Just because a guru is famous does not mean he or she is genuine. Groups of people can be as deluded as individuals.

The way to recognize a cult is to see whether the teacher is superior or the teaching. In traditional Vedanta the teacher is always subservient to the teaching. Whereas in a cult the guru is praised more than the teaching. A guru who creates a cult has failed in his role as a guru.

You will notice that the teachers around whom cults of personality develop invariably make the mind the enemy. Whenever a doubt happens, you are told that it’s just the “mind” and asked to dismiss it.

If you find yourself with this kind of teacher and teaching, it means that he does not have a valid means of knowledge, and is power hungry or needy.

A guru who teaches silence does not have a teaching, because silence is not opposed to ignorance. Only knowledge is opposed to ignorance.

A teacher who teaches experiential enlightenment is not a teacher, because you are always experiencing the Self.

If guru claims that his enlightenment is experiential and that he can transmit it, the enlightenment will be temporary. Only energy can be transmitted, not enlightenment. Enlightenment is the knowledge “I am the Self.”

The most fundamental relationship imprint in the human mind in the parent-child relationship. The parent has all the power and authority and the child virtually none. Ideally, as the child gains experience and knowledge, the gap narrows. When parity is achieved, the child is an adult.

If you have not fully matured as an individual and you meet an authority figure like a spiritual master, you will unconsciously assume the role of a child. You will look up to the guru, submit to his or her authority and quickly become dependent.

If the guru is not mature then he or she will be more than happy to be your parent, because it will be easier to achieve his or her agenda in this role. Usually gurus are not corrupt, but they often still have unresolved conditioning, particularly the desire for fame, respect, power and love.

The ideal teaching style is friendship because there is equal relationship between friends. A friend may know more than you, but he or she does not make you feel as if he or she is doing you a favour by disclosing it. He or she happily shares, with no strings attached.