AshZero

  Is Guru a teacher, a mentor, or a state? गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः स्यात्‌ रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः। अन्धकारनिरोधित्वात्‌ गुरुरित्यभिधीयते॥ १६॥   Advayatāraka Upaniṣad [Śukla Yajurveda] The syllable ‘GU’ signifies darkness (गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः). The syllable ‘RU’ denotes the obstruction to that darkness (रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः). That (he/she/they/that) which by the virtue of which the light of realisation that obstructs darkness shows the path is termed as GURU. The term ‘Guru’ is cryptic. It is an expansive algorithm which we spontaneously arrive at as we progress in our lives from linearity to non-linearity. This expansion is facilitated in our moral, social, financial, physical, and mental lives through constant learning and unlearning from various sources that we understand as teachings and as teachers. There therefore is a difference between a teacher / mentor and a Guru. The former is a person, a flow of thoughts (gyāna ज्ञान) from whom we decide or prepare to absorb fro...