Guru

Guru is a spiritual guide and teacher who leads a disciple or pupil (sisya or chela) onto the spiritual path, directing him into final realization. At the proper point the guru will bestow initiation on his disciple and give him the sacred saying (mantra) that will guide him for the rest of his life.

According to the tantrics, the human guru is but a manifestation on the phenomenal plane of the Supreme Guru. Traditionally the guru incarnates the highest value anyone may look for in a human being. Ideally the disciple lives for twelve years with his guru learning the Way of Life. A true guru never advertises nor does he look for disciples. The true guru exists, with his disciples in the depths of silence, relying on voluntary contributions for sustenance. One must seek out his guru who will test his would-be disciple severely, even to the point of rejecting him. One retains his guru for life. On acceptance, at the beginning of the relationship, the guru often, if not invariably, demolishes the disciples ego in order to rebuild.