What Is A Guru?

Who (or what) is a Guru? Today we talk about the role of a Guru in our spiritual life as the living embodiment of scripture, as an initiator or empowerer of mantras, as a "broadcaster of reality" and as a living example of the full possibilities of a human life. What qualifies the Guru to be a Guru? And when/how does one find one's Guru in this life? Must the Guru have a body?All this and more in today's class!This lecture is from our program "Journey Into Tantra"! It is an 18 part, college-level lecture series in audio and video featuring ~44 hours of content with Q&A + a guided meditation. The idea was to create an interactive learning environment in which these ancient and transformative teachings come to life! I'm very excited to share that with you! You can pick up a copy here!https://nishthefish.gumroad.com/l/journeyintotantraA Poem to my Guru:Better than a hundred ministers who preachAre the lessons that Silence can teach.A mountain’s instruction unceasingIs better than the pastor’s wheezing!And yet how many among us who yearnFor God’s vision can profitably learnFrom the Sphinx-like silence inscrutable?How many are truly ableTo draw from the rock it’s sacred teachingIn a way that is stable and far reaching?A precious few, I say, a precious few!And even among them there is need tooOf a living emissary between Spirit and matterOtherwise we remain enmeshed in the latter!But whence forth comes the one who can teach like the mountain?Who is truly fit to serve as God’s fountain?of unfaltering Grace and Wisdom unstintingTo be a holy jewel, glimmering and glinting?A previous few, I saw, a previous few!But this I can guarantee to you:If you are sincere in your searchAnd if you practice some,Then to you this true Teacher will come.A teacher who is strong and infallibly pure.Of this my friend, you can be sure!God is drawn to the devoteeWho is pure at HeartGod years for such a one –She cannot keep apart!To the one who has no thoughtFor pleasure or for moneyGod is drawn like a bee to honey.After all, the Guru is God in a mortal frame.The Guru is God’s first name.Like lightning flashing in the dark of the stormThe Guru is Silence clothed in form.The Guru is a tree with roots reaching deep.The Guru is the Witness in dreamless sleep.The key to meditationIs the Guru’s face.The key to liberationIs the Guru’s grace.Oh, my friend, haven’t you heard?The key to your freedomIs the Guru’s word.So he who hath ears, please listen wellTo what Nishanth has to tell:The Guru is God in a mortal frame.The Guru is God’s first name.Support the show

Om Podcasten

The world of Yoga is wide and varied. In this podcast, yogi Nish the Fish shares the deeper dimensions of Yoga, Vedanta and Tantra, asking the big questions: why do we practice? What is meditation? What is the purpose of a human life? What is Beauty? What is Death? Nishanth Selvalingam studied various South Asian philosophies with his Shaivite grandfather in an ashram in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Los Angeles to study philosophy, teach yoga and play guitar in a rock band. Join him and special guests as they explore Yoga, in all its splendours. For more episodes and instruction, and to support this humble offering of the heart, visit me on Patreon: patreon.com/yogawithnish