The Guru leads his shishya towards the ultimate goal without any attractions for fame or gain.He shows the path of God and watches the progress of his disciple, guiding him along that path. He inspires confidence, devotion, discipline, deep understanding and illumination through love.
“Gu” means dark and “Ru” means light. So, “Guru” can be roughly translated as darkness to light, or possibly one who leads from darkness to light. The Guru is a teacher who guides the Shishya’s (student’s) life or a spiritual mentor who leads the shishya from blindness or ignorance to bliss, wisdom, and enlightenment.
Process
In the Guru Shishya tradition, a student approaches a Guru in his chosen area of expertise, and requests to be granted admission, also known as “Shishyvruthi”.
Once Guru accepts the Shishya, he will go through a formal initiation ceremony, where the Guru accepts the Shishya and takes the responsibility of his spiritual well being and progress in life . Here the main aim is to impart the knowledge of Indian tradition which cannot otherwise be gained by merely reading books.After the Shishya completes his part of training, if the Guru feels he is ready to graduate to the real world; then he conducts a test and invites Gurus from other Gurukuls and experts in the field. This is formally known as “Ashtavadhanam”, i.e. “Arangetram” in Bharatanatyam(South Indian classical dance form), shyamrang in kathak(North Indian classical dance form). Upon passing this test, the Shishya is proclaimed as an expert and prmoted as “vidwan” in his field. In return the Shishya will show his respect by presenting a token of respect to the Guru for the knowledge he imparted in kind , which is also known as “Gurudakshina”.Guru Mantra
Meaning of Guru Mantra: Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, in fact guru is Parabrahma himself, the Brahman, and the Absolute. Salutations to such guru.
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