The Guru

In Zen Practice, it was stated: "There are no Zen teachers and nothing to teach.
But this truth must be realized by each one of us".
To help/guide us in this realisation, Hinduism advises us to seek a competent Guru.

In Kathopanishad, Yama describes the spiritual path as beset with great difficulties
and advises Nachiketas to seek a most competent person to guide him on this path.

This verse from the Guru Stotram explains the Guru's role lucidly:

ॐ अज्ञान-तिमिरान्धस्य / ज्ञानान्जन-शलाकया
चक्षुर-उन्मीलितम येन / तस्मै श्री-गुरवे नमः

OM ajnaana-timiraandhasya / jnanaanjana-shalaakaya
caksur-unmilitam yena / tasmai shri-gurave namaha

Salutation (namah) to that (tasmai) Guru (gurave) by whom (yena) the eyes (cakshur) blinded (andhasya) by the darkness (timira) of ignorance (agnyana) were opened (unmilitam) with the collyrium (anjana)-(applied with the) sharp pencil (shalakaya) of knowledge (gnyana).

Salutations to that Guru who applies the collyrium of knowledge with a sharp needle
to open the eyes blinded due to ignorance (lack of spiritual knowledge).

We act to achieve certain end-results; we are happy when we are successful and unhappy when we fail to achieve the intended result. Life consists of a series of transactions intended for our sukha praapti ; but many times, there is only dukha and we feel disappointed and dissatisfied. Ramana Maharishi in his Upadesa Saram has compared this sorry state of affairs to falling repeatedly into the ocean of samsara and has suggested self-inquiry as the way out to derive permanent satisfaction in our lives.
By middle age, when this dissatisfaction grows and we feel lost like one blinded due to absence of light (of relevant knowledge), we approach a Guru and seek his guidance to gain gnyana drishti for leading life in a manner conducive to yield a steady, happy state of the mind which will not be easily affected by set-backs and failures. In other words, we approach the Master and seek his help to identify for us the steps that we should take for removing the obstacles which prevent us from being happy, which stop us from being contented. We realize that due to lack of knowledge in this matter, due to our agnyana, we are presently mired in this condition of dissatisfaction with life, seeing no way out.

The Guru is the Master who can remove the disease of ajnana. But it is not as simple as removing a something that is covering what lies hidden underneath. It is a tricky process since there is nothing really to be taken out; what is required is a total transformation in us. The Guru-doctor applies the ointment (anjana) of knowledge to our affected eye (mind) and restores our insight – he grants us the gift of gnyana drishti.

The Master’s role is similar to that of the sculptor who uses chisel and hammer to unlock the hidden potential in the stone. If the stone could communicate with us in words, it would describe the great pain it suffers with every every blow of the chisel and hammer. Finally, it seems that the torture has come to an end. The sculptor leaves the stone alone for many days. Then one day he returns and starts rubbing the surface of the stone with sand-paper to get rid of even the smallest of imperfections. The stone starts feeling, “I thought everything was done. Why is he torturing me like this again?”

But after having undergone this tortuous process, a beautiful murti emerges from the stone; the real glory of the stone is finally expressed. It is then installed in a temple. It becomes elated because it starts receiving flower garlands, it starts receiving alankara. The sculptor’s vision has created from a piece of shapeless stone a beautiful art-piece that is worthy of being worshipped. But to reach that state the stone had to undergo the process of chiseling, and fine refinements. The stone acknowledges to the sculptor: “What a great opportunity you have given me to bring out the best in me!" And in all humility the sculptor replies: “I have done nothing. The potential always existed in you. All I have done is to remove that which was blocking the expression of your potential".

If we substitute the words Guru for the sculptor and disciple for the stone, we can fully understand the roles of the Master and his disciple. Their relationship is beyond human understanding or expression in words. When we talk of the highest in love, we talk of the natural love of a mother for the children she has given birth to. The love and care of the Master for the student is born out of a deep sense of duty and responsibility that he has voluntarily accepted so that the student may reach the spiritual state in which he himself revels. His efforts to remove the ajnana, which are so painful for the disciple in the beginning, are intended for the purpose that the student can reach and enjoy the same kind of bliss that the Master is enjoying - nothing less. For, in the field of spirituality, either there is perfection or there is nothing - nothing in the middle. The Master directs all his efforts to help his disciple reach that state of perfection.

The Master is not going to change our lives, the Master is not going to change our environment; he is not going to change the world that we live in. The Master is only changing our vision, our perception. It is not the srishti that has to be changed, it is our drishti that has to change, and the Guru is the person who takes pains in changing that drishti. He is the person who, with all love and concern, tunes our body, mind and intellect and dispel the darkness that we are living in so that we can understand the truth. He blesses us with that vision, drishti, so that, staying in the same srishti, we can enjoy the bliss and glory that is the expression of the Lord.

In order to do this, the Guru has to wipe the slate of our mind clean and create a disciple out of us. Guru is thus Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, and Guru Himself is Mahesvara. Guru is nothing but that absolute truth and happiness which we are searching for. He is therefore called Brahma, Vishnu Maheshvara. He is Brahma creating that disciple in us. He is Vishnu, who sustains us as a disciple to reach the state of perfection. He is Rudra, destroying, removing the ignorance that we are holding on to and which is an obstacle to our progress.

Source: the article "tasmai shri gurave namah" by Br Uddhav Chaitanya.