Mystic mantra: Let there be light

The word “guru” refers to a person who has the phenomenal potential of taking you beyond not just your pain and suffering but beyond what you know of yourself, thereby opening doors to higher worlds and experiences that have the power to transform you.

A guru-shishya relationship is beyond the maya or illusion of a commercial transaction. A true guru does not charge a material fee for what he gives you, for the material is maya and it binds you to the physical. And someone who is bound by the physical cannot take you beyond your current state.

Vedic philosophy gives highest place and regard to the guru. The guru is not a physical being; guru is energy, and in this form he is considered even higher than parabrahmn, the divine consciousness.

The first guru or Adi Guru is Lord Shiva. He is the energy responsible for dissolution and transformation of all forms of existence. The guru is not merely our guide or teacher. His every word, every indication is divine. For a sadhak (practitioner), the guru is divinity incarnate. We all are bound by our limited senses and cannot think beyond what the individual mind perceives. To go beyond the limitations of the body and the senses, one has to gradually evolve or transform; one cannot go beyond with knowledge alone. So the guru gradually gives you the experience to help you get transformed and eventually, liberated.

The guru’s shakti (force) is unlimited, as the energy is anant (endless), and akhand (expansive). A shishya should always consider the word spoken by his guru as a mantra. Rishis have emphasised the mahima of the true guru:

(The root where dhyana comes from is the guru’s form, pooja or any form of austerities a disciple practices comes from the lotus feet of the guru, root of mantra is guru’s word and root of liberation, moksha, only lies in guru’s blessings.)