Acharya Prashant explains that human beings are like little heaps of earth, while the religious teachers, the Gurus, are like the mighty Everest. We often compare ourselves to them and feel disappointed when we don't find their greatness in ourselves. He challenges the listener to try being a Guru like Guru Nanak Dev or Swami Vivekanand for just one day, or even one hour, to realize how impossible a Guru is and where one would be without them. The real Guru is not interested in making you feel pleasant, nice, or comfortable. He is not aiming to make you smile; he wants to bring the Truth to you and nothing short of that. The Guru loves you so much that he won't settle for anything less than The Absolute. He believes you are worthy of the Total and keeps pushing you out of your comfort zone. When you are out of your comfort zone and want to slip back, the Guru will be there to both warn and support you, without offering false consolations. He knows you, loves you, and can see the hidden grief and sadness within you. He will help you despite your resistance and guide you in spite of your ingratitude; this is his role, and that is grace. The real Guru never shows you a way but instead shows you the futility of your own ways, which have only brought you ruin. He tells you that you are capable of finding a different way, as you have all the capability and potential. The Guru's role is to relieve you of your diseases and leave you free with your health. Once his task is done, he goes away and you won't find him anymore in your life. The Guru is the realization that all that is denoted by 'Gu' (movement, the periphery) need not take control of you, and that 'Ru' (standing still, the center) can coexist with 'Gu'. Guru means a great paradox where the periphery and the center dance with each other, like the formless sky and the transient stars. The Guru is the one that powers the seeing, the seer, and the seen. If you limit the Guru to the seen and try to grab a piece of the sky, you will fail. Therefore, one must forget all notions of searching for or learning from the Guru. The Guru is the Truth, the absolute reality (Brahm). The Guru is not an object in your universe but the very foundation of the universe. The Guru is the totality of the tree, the root and the shoot together. The Guru is everywhere and nowhere; the Guru is all that there is.
