Acharya Prashant explains the difference between Shiv and the Guru. He states that the Guru has interests and is not desireless, whereas Shiv is desireless. Shiv is beyond, while the Guru is not; the Guru is stuck, just like us. The Guru has desires and feels pain, just as we do. Shiv is beyond experience. If one were to tell Shiv about their pain, he would not even mock them because he does not understand that language. In Shiv's world, there is no such word as pain. Truth cannot have any experience, whether of pleasure or pain, because experience requires dualityтАФan experiencer and an object of experience. Since Shiv is complete, there is nothing separate from him to be experienced. Therefore, he has never had an experience. Mythological stories depicting Shiv's emotions apply to his incarnations, not to the formless Brahman, which is beyond all dualities and experiences. In a strange way, the saying, "One whose feet have never cracked cannot know the pain of others," applies to Brahman. Since it has never experienced pain, it cannot understand ours. From the ultimate perspective, only Truth exists. The Guru, on the other hand, understands our pain because he has gone through or is going through similar experiences. He is of our category. This is why if Shiv is displeased, the Guru can be a support. The Guru has compassion, whereas Truth has none. He understands pain and tears because he has experienced them, unlike the Supreme Brahman. The Guru is a double-edged sword: his greatness is that he is like us, and his limitation is also that he is like us. He is useful because he is like us, but he also has natural flaws. One such flaw is that he still has desire. This can be seen as a defect, but it is also his grace, for if he had no desire, he would not desire our liberation. If the Guru were to become perfect, he would become Shiv and would no longer be of any use to us. Therefore, one should not have blind faith in the Guru. Everyone must take responsibility for their own journey. The Guru is a human being like you, just a little ahead on the same path. The Guru's deeds are his, and the disciple's deeds are his; no one can save another. One must take responsibility for oneself.
