The Guru

जिसकी आँखों में तुम्हें अपनी आँखें दिखाई पड़ गईं
जिसकी वाणी में तुम्हें अपने भीतर का दूर का संगीत सुनाई पड़ गया
जिसकी मौजूदगी में तुम्हें जैसा होना चाहिए उसकी याद आ गई

तुम्हें पहले पहल देखा, तो दिल कुछ इस तरह धड़क उठा
कोई भूली हुई सूरत मुझे याद आ गई जैसे।

In whose eyes you saw your own eyes reflected
In whose voice you heard the distant melody within yourself
In whose presence you were reminded of who you should truly be

When I saw you for the first time, my heart skipped a beat in such a way
As if a forgotten face came back to my memory.

-Osho

Trust

When a seeker or student embarks on his spiritual journey and makes a serious commitment to change his life and transform his way of being, he faces one great difficulty in the initial stages. Typically such a seeker starts to gather an enormous amount of knowledge, through reading books, listening to others, and studying different ideas. But why he does do so?

He is unsure about which book, which path, holds the wisdom that can transform his life. Now he sits on top of an overwhelming amount of ideas, and advice. However, in truth, a single book has the potential to change a person’s life, and one idea can be the spark of revolution within somebody. The real question for the seeker is which path to follow, and whom to listen very seriously.

What is required, to truly follow something, to listen to someone very seriously? Trust

A deep trust is required, to take someone else very very seriously, implement their ideas into your life, and work towards it relentlessly. 

But can trust really be defined in words? It is difficult for me. Trust is not a concept of a logical mind or something rooted in science. It is more like someone asks you to jump into the unknown and you say yes. Sounds terrifying, isn’t it? Trust is a quality of the heart, I believe, not of the mind. 

Children are always full of trust, their trust is absolute yet it has a naivety to it. A seeker, however, is an adult, often one who has experienced deep heartbreak. A heart that is broken, is almost always the result of a trust that was betrayed. To come to trust is very difficult for a seeker who is just beginning their journey.

Yet without trust, there is no spiritual progress. Without trust, self-help reading becomes like watching movies, and reading newspapers, simply for entertainment. Without trust, you go from one idea to another idea like window shopping. Without trust you always keep yourself safe, you do what makes sense to your logic,  and you avoid what does not make sense to your logic.  Trusting a particular path, advice, or guide is a non-negotiable aspect of the spiritual journey.

So the real question arises: whom should we trust, and which advice should we wholeheartedly follow? I have realized that logic alone cannot answer this. It takes a bit of heart, a touch of feeling, to make the right decision.

Guru: A Calling

Something or someone you stumble upon, you read, you met, you listened to. It felt like a remembrance. Something you remember about yourself, something you already knew, but somehow you had forgotten. 

You see someone, who is you, kind of not totally. Who is you, but a totally different version of you? It seems to you that the only difference between them and you is you are afraid, full of self-doubt, not trustful and they are fearless, in love. 

You read something and it was as if you were reading yourself. It is like you know this already, somebody just articulated it for you. 

You hear a song, and it feels like someone has sung the unsung poem of your heart.

I deeply believe that each of us is uniquely connected to God, Life, Universe or The Divine. This connection shapes the way we express ourselves, our dreams, hopes, desires, our inner wisdom and above all the very way we see life and the world. While there is a uniqueness to each individual, there is also a shared similarity – a thread that links many people in the way they perceive life and their connection to it. It’s like a group of individuals bound by a common connection to the essence of life itself. Just as two artists might play different musical instruments but are united by their longing for art—a finer, more subtle expression of themselves—there exists an unspoken connection among people. It is an energetic connection, a resemblance in the very way life is perceived and seen.  

A guru or a true teacher shares an energetic connection with the seeker or student. It is a bond rooted in a shared perspective on life, a mutual understanding that unites them. A guru sees a part of himself in the seeker, just as the seeker sees a part of himself in the guru. The only real difference between them is that the guru is more mature, fearless, and aligned with the truth about himself and life, while the student remains childish, living in fear and self-doubt. Despite this difference, they are, at their core, almost the same—two individuals connected to life in a deeply similar way.

A guru doesn’t have to be a person—it can be anything.  It might be an old book that resonates deeply with you, a quote that feels true to your very core, or an animal that intrigues you. It could be a place that repeatedly calls you to spend time there or a tree you feel very close to. And yes, it can certainly be a person. For me, the guru is a feeling, an energy, a connection to life, a guiding force that can manifest itself in countless ways. 

As you go on exploring self-help books, and spiritual scriptures, and listen to spiritual leaders, slowly you will notice that some resonate with you while others don’t. Trust that sense of resonance, and let go of anything that doesn’t align with you. Take time to read, analyze, and reflect on what truly resonates with your inner self. Once you identify something that feels right, immerse yourself in it completely—explore it deeply, dive into its essence, and actively implement it in your life.

Trust that keeps growing

When you start following what resonates with your heart—that inner feeling, that calling—you will initially face a lot of resistance within yourself. Trusting fully and surrendering completely will seem difficult at first. But slowly as you walk the path, you will start to get results, small ones. Each small result strengthens your trust in the path, and every little victory makes you trust more.  Gradually, your trust grows stronger and deeper. As your trust in your guru increases, the path ahead becomes clearer. You’ll begin to notice synchronicity in life – things falling into place as if you are being guided. Life itself will seem to help you and guide you. You will feel like you are being guided by an unknown force that you trust. 

There have been so many times in my life, especially in the last few years, when I found a video on YouTube that was close to a problem I was facing in life. Or I found a random quote that made so much sense because I needed it at that moment. Or  I randomly remembered something that I read a few years ago, and it made complete sense. This synchronicity is the very essence of the Guru—that energetic guide in life.

Not everyone feels this guru energy. Many live without a guide in life, relying solely on science and the logical mind to navigate. To feel this energy, one must become more aware, and more sensitive. Yet many feel this inner calling, I am certain of it. Unfortunately, they often waste time and energy trying to conform to societal expectations, attempting to be like others or follow what they’ve been taught. This creates a constant internal conflict between what society says they should do and the calling they feel within. As you begin to follow the inner calling, the inner conflict starts to melt away.

Walk the path, follow that calling, that feeling, that intuition, that energetic spiritual guide Guru.