akiran

The importance of a Guru in one's quest for knowledge, be it spiritual or any other kind, is to provide guidance. The role of the Guru is to provide us with answers for our "unknowns" no doubt, but more importantly, it is to guide us through the right path towards that Goal. Most students have this misconception of expecting a teacher, the Guru, to give them all the answers to their questions at one time, and as a whole. And when they do not find what they wanted they get disappointed. What they don't realize is that they need some pre-requisites on their part to fully comprehend the teacher when the ultimate answer to their question is handed over to them. Some of the requisites are complete faith and devotion, paitence and the will to learn. The greatest teacher in my opinion, therefore, is one who understands his/her student, makes the student ask the right question at the right time, and knows when the student is ready to take what he/her has to give. Sri Krishna, being the greatest teacher, knew this when He gave the Gita Upadesam to Arjuna. He did not start off with explaining the complex meaning to life itself, because He knew that Arjuna was not prepared for it. So He made Arjuna ask the more simple questions, and by providing answers to these questions prepared Arjuna, and ultimately mankind, to fully comprehend the importance of what He had to say. In the same way, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did not pass on all the knowledge to Swami Vivekananda right in the early days of their meeting. He tested the Swami's paitence in a number of different ways to make him prepare to have pure and complete faith in what the Paramahamsa was going to pass on. No one can help someone realize the ultimate but oneself. The Guru can only show you the way to this realization. Jai Sriman Narayana.

The importance of a Guru in one's quest for knowledge, be it spiritual or any other kind, is to provide guidance. The role of the Guru is to provide us with answers for our "unknowns" no doubt, but more importantly, it is to guide us through the right path towards that Goal. Most students have this misconception of expecting a teacher, the Guru, to give them all the answers to their questions at one time, and as a whole. And when they do not find what they wanted they get disappointed. What they don't realize is that they need some pre-requisites on their part to fully comprehend the teacher when the ultimate answer to their question is handed over to them. Some of the requisites are complete faith and devotion, paitence and the will to learn. The greatest teacher in my opinion, therefore, is one who understands his/her student, makes the student ask the right question at the right time, and knows when the student is ready to take what he/her has to give. Sri Krishna, being the greatest teacher, knew this when He gave the Gita Upadesam to Arjuna. He did not start off with explaining the complex meaning to life itself, because He knew that Arjuna was not prepared for it. So He made Arjuna ask the more simple questions, and by providing answers to these questions prepared Arjuna, and ultimately mankind, to fully comprehend the importance of what He had to say. In the same way, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did not pass on all the knowledge to Swami Vivekananda right in the early days of their meeting. He tested the Swami's paitence in a number of different ways to make him prepare to have pure and complete faith in what the Paramahamsa was going to pass on. No one can help someone realize the ultimate but oneself. The Guru can only show you the way to this realization. Jai Sriman Narayana.