BIGpedia - Guru - Encyclopedia and Dictionary Online

A Guru (गुरू Sanskrit ) is based on a long line of Hindu philosophical understandings, related to the importance of knowledge and that the teacher, guru, is the sacred conduit to self-realization. In a Western contexts also used in general for people who make philosophical or religious statements and acquiring followers thereby.

Sourced

Historical

Upanishad

The syllable gu means shadows

The syllable ru, he who disperses them,

Because of the power to disperse darkness

the guru is thus named.

Advayataraka Upanishad 14--18, verse 5)

Criticism

"The trouble with many gurus or spiritual teachers is basically that they don't practice what they teach, and that it is often very difficult to discover, partly due to the cleverness and deception of the teacher, and partly due to the devotee's unwillingness to think ill of the teacher who he thinks so highly of."
- [1] by an anonymous former follower of Sathya Sai Baba approximately around 2002.

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08-19-2006 03:37:01