Once I was lecturing at the Oxford University, when a journalist asked me what is yog. I told him, ‘Yog is Guru’. He replied, "If you talk like this we will not be able to publish this article, because in this part of the world, we do not believe in gurus." I could not help but smile, I told him, "We are one billion Indians, we can export yoga in a billion ways to you, but if you ask me about yog, there is only one. Yog is Guru. You and I can do nothing to change that."
This is a problem that one faces not just in the West, this is a problem of the yug. Someone asked me recently, "Why the country which boasts of such great discoveries and inventions from the past, is today a ‘third-world’ country. Whatever happened to the richness of our culture and advancement of our sciences, where is the charm?" The answer lies here. The charm disappeared with the disrespect of the Guru. Start respecting the Guru, and it will be back.
Take a look at anyone from the age of eighteen to eighty, across nations, hardly anyone is willing to accept the Guru. And in the absence of Guru, neither the young nor the old know where they are headed, hence the present state of affairs. You switch on the television these days, you will find all kinds of yantras and mantras being sold on the television, actors and actresses endorse such products, and the gentlemen selling them make strange movements with their hands claiming to heal a person on the other side of the screen just by asking his name. This and other dramas that are going on these days in the name of yog and vedic sciences, create doubts in the minds of masses about the subject and about the Shakti of Guru.
Let me explain the Guru here. Guru is not someone in a fancy robe, with a beautiful beard, who dances around trees and promises to cure your illness by breathing like a monkey, of course after emptying your pocket. That is an entrepreneur, who has devised an innovative marketing strategy for him to grow physically. A Guru is the giver of gyan, the one who puts you on the path of experience and takes you beyond, beyond the realm of five senses. Someone who is himself tied to the pleasures of the senses cannot take you beyond, which is the ultimate purpose of yog.
Take a look at history. Vishvamitra created a parallel universe, his Guru was Agastya Muni. Ram defeated the mighty Ravan, his Guru was Rishi Vashishta. Hanuman single-handedly put Ravan’s Lanka to fire and carried the entire mountain of life-giving sanjeevani buti on his arms, his Guru was Surya Dev. Krishna gave the gyan of Gita, his Guru was Sandeepan Rishi. Bhishma was the greatest warrior of his times, blessed with death at will, his Guru was Lord Parshuram. Arjuna became the greatest archer under the sanidhya of his Guru, Dronacharya. The Guru of Devas is Brihaspati, the Guru of asurs, Shukracharya. Even Adi-shakti, from whose womb manifested everything, made a Guru - Param-Guru Shiva. Thus the greatest kings, the greatest sages and even Ram and Krishna, who were gods, made a Guru. Such is the importance of Guru.
A Guru literally carries the shishya on the journey of the spirit. One should be careful of calling someone a Guru, because what you follow, so you become. Look out for the traits of a yog guru – one who does not charge you a fee, who exudes what he talks, whatever he says happens, who is sthir in the five yamas. When you come in the company of your Guru you start exhibiting his traits - disease disappears, you feel healthy and glowing, your thoughts manifest, you start getting the experiences of the subtler worlds and the state of detachment and bliss sets in. A Guru is not the physical body, it is an energy through which gyan flows into the shishya, yet it is important for the Guru to be in body. You get a Guru as per your karmas and shreni, it is not necessary that who was the Guru of your forefathers will be your Guru as well. Whoever can transfer the experience of yog to you is your Guru. So my suggestion is look for a Guru, give the subject priority and you will be called on board on this beautiful journey called yog.
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