Guru yoga is an authoritative principle of spiritual teaching based on the establishment of a special sacred relationship between teacher and student. Usually, Guru Yoga is spoken of in the context of the Tantric teachings of Hinduism or Buddhism, but the phenomenon of Guru Yoga is much more widespread than is commonly thought, and is present within any serious spiritual tradition.

To begin with, the principle of accepting an authoritative mentor exists in any mundane field of activity that requires special skills, whether it is driving a car, medicine, martial arts, studying quantum physics, sculpting, painting, or playing a musical instrument.

In any art, science, craft, there are those who have succeeded in this, have achieved perfection and can share their experience, talk about the next steps on the path to perfection, warn against mistakes and point the right direction.

In Christianity, there is a centuries-old tradition of relationships between spiritual elders and disciples, novices, in Sufism – murids and murshids, in Hinduism – Gurus, siddha teachers and students (shishya), in Theravada Buddhism – spiritual friends, senior mentors (kalyana-mitta) and young novice monks. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a hierarchy of teachers-lamas, in Zen Buddhism – Masters who have achieved Enlightenment, in Hasidism – enlightened mentors (tzaddiks), in magic – sorcerers-masters, shamans-mentors, sorcerers-masters.

In those countries where a religion or a spiritual school (flow) has a long history, the official status and their authority is supported by the state authorities, for such Teachers-mentors there are even officially approved state titles, for example, “Mentor of the Celestial Empire” (China), “Imperial Mentor” (Japan), etc.

The Necessity of the Guru-Disciple Principle

"Only a Guru who has achieved Self-Realization can help the seeker to achieve it."

"Shiva Sutra"

“Nothing can be more valuable than the first, soul-accelerating and life-changing Shaktipatha from the Guru. There is nothing more important for spiritual awakening than the successive dikshas or initiations that he gives. The sadguru is needed because the mind is too cunning and the ego is a self-perpetuating mechanism. It is the Sadguru who inspires, helps, guides and leads the disciple towards his own Self. The Sadguru, perfected in his relationship with Shiva, directs sadhana and tapas, which slowly burn the seeds of sanchita karma. It is his task to preside over the destruction of the student's ego and the purification of the subconscious, all the while directing the awakened Kundalini force so as to make steady progress from one stage to the next."

Sadguru Shivaya Subramuniyaswami "Dance with Shiva"

Practicing Tantra Yoga without the blessing of a Guru is like trying to fill a vessel that has no bottom, or wandering in an endless labyrinth without a guide. The blessing of the Master loosens the weight of karmic imprints on the spiritual aspirant's mental continuum, giving him inspiration.

"Only the knowledge spoken by the lips of the Guru leads to Liberation, all other practices will not bear fruit, will be weak or will create obstacles."

"Shiva Samhita" (3.11)

“Only with the help of the Teacher can perfection be achieved, and not through rational thinking and endless discussion. The transmission of wisdom must be received orally, and not from many texts, only then is it possible to become Liberated. The highest abode is achieved by the transfer of power and the blessing of the Master, there is no other way.

"Siddha-siddhanta-paddhati Goraksha" (Ch. 5 "Guru's Grace")

The principle of spiritual training, spiritual guidance in the yogic, tantric traditions is much subtler, deeper and more complex than it is commonly thought among people who are not related to any spiritual tradition.

Understanding, evaluation of this phenomenon depends primarily on the spiritual level, self-awareness of the one who evaluates it, the degree of clarity of his mind, intellectual training and personal mystical, spiritual and religious experience.

This is a completely normal phenomenon, because any spiritual path, be it Buddhism, Yoga, Tantra, Taoism, Zen-meditation, the traditional religious path of faith in Christianity, the path of shamanism, magic, etc. is immeasurably more complex than any kind of external "samsaric" scientific, industrial or creative activity. The inner reality is so complex, subtle and deep that a spiritual novice will have to study for years, comprehending the great art of “inner doing” for decades. Just as in any science, one must study in the science of the spirit, and study seriously and for a long time. This is the first discovery that a spiritual seeker makes.

Three Principles of Guru Yoga

The first principle of Guru Yoga is the willingness of the student to learn.

The student himself wants to learn the spiritual art for the purpose of spiritual transformation (not to worship, not to follow, not to depend, not to adore, not to create an idol, namely, to learn the spiritual art), and what forms this training will take is already the subtleties of the school, in which, as known to enter, respecting its orders, traditions and rules.

The second principle of Guru Yoga is the readiness of the disciple.

The disciple must be ready to establish a relationship with the Spiritual Master. He must develop as a person making a conscious choice. He must learn to be responsible for his choice in order to follow it, regardless of the difficulties of learning, or obstacles on the way, so they say: "When the student is ready, the Teacher comes."

The third principle is the student's free will, freedom of choice.

The teacher is always interested in helping the student to gain greater inner freedom, greater freedom of will, because without free will no further development is possible. No Teacher wants the student to give up his awareness, his will, his inner freedom, his freedom of choice.

No, a Teacher wants to see his student constrained, notorious. Neither the attitude of blind worship, nor the attitude of enthusiastic emotional attachment, and even more so of dependence, are not welcomed by the Spiritual Master.

The true Spiritual Master desires to help the disciple discover the absolute cosmic Consciousness, the Buddha, the inner deity. He wants to help him become self-sufficient, conscious, understanding, gain integrity and inner freedom so that in the future the student himself can teach others, create a new reality (mandala) by the power of consciousness, manage events and even create new universes in the future.

The teacher-student relationship develops towards greater and greater freedom and self-sufficiency of the student. Another question is that often the student himself does not see his limitations, and the Teacher shows them to him, helping to go beyond the "limits".

The chain of disciplic succession

“Only knowledge communicated from the mouth of the Guru is powerful and useful. Otherwise, knowledge is futile, weak and can damage health. One who always listens to the Guru attains the fruits of knowledge.”

"Shiva Samhita" (ch.3)

The Guru-disciple principle is also very important as part of the process of transferring knowledge along the chain of unbroken succession. The depth of the learning process, the authenticity of the transmission line are provided precisely by the teacher-student connection.

"Gods bless only those Teachers who observe succession (parampara)."

Kularnava Tantra (14.5)

The literal translation of the word “parampara” means “following one after another” and indicates an inextricable chain of disciplic succession of Teachers-masters – holders of knowledge who replace each other in the process of transmitting the Teaching.

The chain of succession is like the bed of a fast full-flowing river, in which the water never dries up and the flow does not weaken. If it happens that the chain of succession is broken, the gods themselves contribute to the fact that an outstanding Master comes to the world, restoring the ancient lines of knowledge.

The close connection between the Teacher and the student ensures the purity of the lineage, the so-called "samaya of the Teaching." If the student carefully follows the instructions and instructions of the Master, without distorting them, he is sure to succeed and acquire wisdom – transcendental knowledge of non-duality and supernatural powers (siddhis).

When the Spiritual Teacher is convinced that his disciple is sufficiently prepared, he gives him a blessing and formal permission to transfer the Teaching and knowledge to others. The disciple inherits the lineage, signs and status of the holder of the lineage of the Teaching, just as the son-heir, born in a noble family, inherits the property and family title of his wealthy parents.

Signs of lineage inheritance can be: a sacred text, which is usually kept secret and transmitted only to students – heirs of the lineage; monastic attire (cassock) of the ancient patriarchs – the founders of the Teaching (in the Zen tradition); a scroll with a confirming personal seal of the Master; a ritual skull cup, a rosary of sacred wood, padukas belonging to previous Master Patriarchs (in some schools of tantra); a yogic staff, some kind of symbol, or even a black crown made from the hair of dakinis (in the Karmapa tradition in Tibetan Buddhism).

In a true spiritual tradition, it is not easy to obtain such permission, since each Master-successor feels responsibility to his spiritual tradition and approaches the process of preparing a disciple – a lineage holder – with special care. The various tantras warn that if the transfer of the rights of the lineage holders occurs improperly, with violations of samaya (aparathas), then the one who allowed such a violation will experience suffering and rebirth in the lower realms.

Having gained wisdom, the best of the students themselves become Masters, able to teach others, and pass on the line of the Teaching to the neophytes. Thus, the line of spiritual knowledge again fills the “ready vessels”.

Swami Vishnudevananda Giri

"The Phenomenon of Guru Yoga in the Siddha Yogic Tradition", Divya Loka, 2005