In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says:
“Whenever and wherever humanity suffers a religious decadence, God manifests Himself in the form of a Human Being to enable mortals to come closer to Him. He manifests in order to reestablish righteousness.” (Chapter 4, verse 7)
If He appears in any other form than human, it would never be possible for us to be close to Him, understand Him or recognize Him. Being born as a mortal, He does not break His own rule i.e. He has to abide by the mortal afflictions, sorrows, disease, pain, pleasures and other immutable rules to which every mortal is bound. This rigorous discipline on His part is intended for our enlightenment and wisdom if we are only willing to understand by submitting ourselves to Him.
In Indian theology significance of Guru is unquestioned. One who pursues the path spiritual enlightenment; initiation from his Guru is the first and mandatory step. Till date no one could quench his spiritual thirst without the grace and blessings (kripa) from his Guru. Even though Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, both were incarnations of the supreme preserver of the universe (Narayana or Vishnu), they had to take initiation from their respective Gurus in their mortal sojourn. Bashistha Muni was the Guru of Sri Rama and Sandeepa Maharshi was the Guru of Lord Krishna.
In Bhagabat Gita Sri Krishna says:
Person who discards the regulations of the scriptures and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness; and nor the ultimate attainment of human existence: the spiritual enlightenment. (Chapter 16, verse 23).
So in a nutshell, the positive result of human endeavors eludes him. If a person thinks that he will attain the Supreme Consciousness without the guidance of the Master, the Guru, possibly his dream may never get fulfilled in a life-time.
Adi Guru Sri Sri Sankaracharya had stated in the beginning of the Vivekachuramani:
There are three things which are rare indeed and can possibly be attained only by the grace of God. These are, taking birth as a human with a sense of humanity, the longing for Liberation from bondage, and the protecting care of a perfected and realized Guru. (Verse 3)
The Guru Gita authored by Vyasa Deva and which is a part of Skanda Puran, explains the true meaning of the word Guru: The syllable “Gu” means darkness, and “Ru” means light. Guru is that manifestation of Supreme Divinity which destroys darkness or ignorance and lights up our path to reach the ultimate destination, the enlightenment with supreme consciousness. (Verse 10)
Guru is Brahma, the supreme creator; the Guru is Vishnu, the preserver and again the Guru is Maheshwara or Shiva, the destroyer or the transformer. The Guru is actually the Supreme Divinity, and the supreme Spirit. I offer my salutations to the Guru (Adi Sankaracharya in “Guru-stot-ram”).
All other expressions and descriptions of Him are just to make it easier for us to understand His supremacy in our path to reach our destinations.
Guru is not merely a human being. He is the embodiment of that Supreme Consciousness, The God. Guru works like a magnifying glass. As a magnifying glass converge the beam of sun rays at a particular point, Guru focuses the flow of Supreme Consciousness into His disciples’ mind which tears the darkness of illusion or “maya”.
The Patanjali Yoga Sutra no. 26 in Samadhi Pada clarifies that:
The pure consciousness, being eternal in nature, is the direct teacher of the first teachers within humanity. In other words, some of the original teachers of humanity have learned directly from this pure consciousness, not from a human lineage of teacher-student, and afterwards there is just a passing of information and eternal energy. This direct learning from the source continues to be available at all times and places, though the help of human masters who are the human forms but fully realized of the ever flowing pure consciousness and has the ability to transmit it to the true seeker so that the God Consciousness remain existent even within this material chaos.
For all people at all ages, the Guru is only ONE. He is the God. His existence is beyond the corporal limits. He is free from any limitation, any discrimination. He is like the firmament – formless & beyond any attributes of the tri-gunah (sattwa, raja and tamas). His corporeal framework is just a resort for the devotees to ideate & attain the Absolute.
Tulsidas says :
Sadguru paoey bhed bataoey gyan karey upadesh
Tab kaila ki maila chhute jaoye aag kare parabesh
Sadguru infuses the power in the disciple to distinguish between the eternal & the perishable. He makes such arrangements that the disciple is able to feel the insignificance of all sensual experiences. Such as – when properly ignited, a piece of coal turns radiant & hot, similarly the human soul in the disciple can also unite with the Absolute when the powers of Sadguru destroys the indomitable ‘self’, the ‘I’ ness.
Guru is Absolute, He is the Supreme. There can never be your Guru & my Guru. He is the same. And so is the Gurupranam mantra (the hymns to worship the Guru) is same for all sects of Sadhana. No one can ignore the Guruparampara (lineage of advent of the Guru).
The Supreme consciousness is present within all of us – although not completely expressed. In the corporeal abode of Sri Guru, there rests the Absolute in full vigor, fully expressed. This repository of Supreme is the source available to us before we prostrate. The physical form of Guruji is the first resort of a young practitioner for concentrating his mind during meditation. Next, in deep meditation, this physical form dissolves into an astral & self-luminous form: the real form of Guru, the Great. At the end of the meditation as mind again descends to the material world, the object of worship is again the physical form of Sri Guru. He alights from the highest state of existence, to elevate the disciple to such a state. His only aspiration is to see his sons & daughters firmly positioned in the world of immortality.
Seekers of immortality should be aware about the matters to be disposed with Sri Guru with their initiation. Scriptures are eloquent about this – ” a disciple should surrender his mortal physique (tanu), mind (mana), property (dhana) & words (bani) to the feet of Guru. Sacrifice of one’s mortal physique means to obey the directions of one’s Gurudeva. Sacrifice of one’s mind means the ability to behold his Guru as the incarnation of Supreme. Praising the greatness & recalling the words of Sri Guruji at every moment of life as well as considering one’s wealth and intellectual excellence as a gift of his Guru is known as surrendering one’s property and words. Once we can empty ourselves, the true spirits of the supreme can start revealing itself in our awareness.
The individual mind being in tune with the enjoyable & perishable materialistic aspects remains extrovert & wayward, confusing his identity completely in the corporeality. So the disciple’s sole aim should be to get his mind totally entwined at the feet of Sri Guru. And then starts the relentless work of Sadguru to bring up the disciple to the level of his own accomplishment.
A disciple should not consider himself to have properly associated with Sri Guruji only by getting a formal initiation. Till the intimacy grows to cover the heart & thoughts with a sense of divinity, proper assimilation remains unachieved. With the sacred power of Sri Guru gradually engulfing the disciple, he fails to see any shortcomings in his Guru. Every act, every word of Sri Guruji manifests in the disciple’s heart as emanating from divinity, the ultimate repository of all knowledge, wisdom and consciousness.
Guru is one’s only friend in life & death. He is the ultimate reality from whom the world emerges, continues and then again gets dissolved. A disciple should have no doubt that He has appeared in physical form out of sheer love & grace.
Only self-surrender at His feet can culminate our lives to its highest possibility.