The moment you utter the word ‘Guru,’ the image of a sober, realized master sitting and teaching his students comes to your mind, but Guru is a continuity, taking different forms at different times. The Guru can appear in front of you even as a competitor, or somebody with whom you have a conflict, or even as a tempting person of the opposite gender. Do not try to predict his ways; the ways of divinity are unfathomable. In fact, if you ever come across a Guru in a very planned way, then rest assured — that Guru is not a Guru.
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Acharya Prashant: When we say that somebody didn't have a Guru, it's the same as saying that the fellow did not exist. The Guru is what you are. You cannot be and not have a Guru. You may accept that you are a disciple or you may not accept that you are a disciple, you may think of yourself as this or that, you may come, you may go; your being, your presence may be under doubt but the Guru is never in any kind of doubt. You are the Guru!
The contradiction the mind faces is that, because we consider ourselves to be bodily beings, we conceptualize the Guru too as a body. Not only do we see ourselves as bodily beings, but we are also so short of memory that we remember only the last few years of this life. So, we know nothing of our evolutionary process, we know nothing of all the forces that we came in contact with over millions of years, in fact, we do not remember anything even about our own birth. Does anybody remember his or her birth? That is the kind of memory that we have.
So, these two things combined together: first, you expect that the Guru would come only in a physical form, and second, you expect that you will remember when the Guru comes to you. These two things combined, sometimes give you the impression that somebody did not have a Guru. The fact is, it is impossible to exist without being the Guru. Remember, I am not saying without ‘having’ a Guru, because you cannot ‘have’ a Guru. Having is a choice. Having is like containing: you have your wallet, you have your shoes and clothes. In that sense, you cannot have a Guru; it is not a choice.
