Who Is A Guru?

The concept of guru is a mysterious one for Westerners. Too often we envision a bearded man in a loin cloth possessed of higher knowledge, perhaps sitting in a swamp like Yoda in Star Wars. Wisely, his knowldege is meted out to the worthy, one secret at a time. 

Probably not. In fact, a guru or teacher is more akin to a good coach.

Like all good coaches, he or she has three distinct viewpoints that can help us advance our Yoga practice. 

Been There Done That 

A good teacher has walked a similar path as you are now walking and has a good idea where you are on it, by privilege of having walked further on that path. Your teacher's experience and training are great assets to you. 

Objectivity 

Most of us are so bound up with our own issues that we can't assess ourselves as well as a caring teacher. T.K.V. Desikachar, son of Krishnamacharya, said it best in his book, The Heart of Yoga: 

"The practice of yoga is essentially a practice of self-examination. Asana and pranayama can help us discover certain things about ourselves, but unfortunately we cannot always trust our own perceptions. Our habitual way of seeing things makes it difficult for us to look at them differently from experience to experience; our habitual way of seeing limits our self-understanding. Because a teacher's perception is not limited by our unique conditioning, he or she can often see what capacities lie hidden within us." 

Knowledge of the Student 

Finally, a good teacher's knowledge of us grows and with it a more refined presciption for a better way forward. We are all exquisitely different. Our teacher can direct our practice forward so that we captilize on that different-ness.

"A teacher is one who purifies a person to help the person gain the experience of his or her own purity, identity, infinity, reality, totality, strength and piety. A Teacher gives you experience and a Preacher gives you Philosophy."
Yogi Bhajan

Photo by Erin