Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on July 17, 2011.

In this talk, Swami Bhaskarananda explains the traditional Hindu understanding of the guru. He begins with the Sanskrit roots of the word guru—gu (darkness) and ru (one who removes)—and notes another interpretation in which the guru is the divine reality that dispels cosmic illusion. Using the analogy of a hypnotist creating an illusory apple tree, he illustrates how the world is experienced as real only while we are under the spell of maya. The swami then outlines four kinds of teachers mentioned in the scriptures: the secular shiksha guru, the scriptural vidya guru, the initiating diksha guru, and the jagadguru or world-teacher, usually a divine incarnation such as Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Chaitanya, or Sri Ramakrishna. The jagadguru is compared to a distant reservoir, while qualified diksha gurus function as pure “faucets” through which divine grace flows.

Drawing on stories from the Ramakrishna tradition, Swami Bhaskarananda shows how a true guru is a transparent instrument of God, not conscious of spiritual status and free from ego. He quotes Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching that God alone is the real guru and that spiritual success comes from faith in and obedience to the guru’s instructions, like following a thread through a dark room. The lecture also briefly surveys guru–disciple traditions in other religions and describes the relationship as one of deep mutual trust. Swami Bhaskarananda concludes by noting the responsibility of both guru and disciple and introduces his next talk on spiritual initiation and its utility.