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Guidance

Getting Started > Guidance

There are experienced Yogis or teachers who have achieved a higher spiritual level and can guide others. Such teachers have themselves learned Yoga through hard training and arduous discipline. A real teacher or preceptor is one who has experienced the real nature of his or her self.

In ancient times and even today in India, the knowledge of Yoga is passed directly from the Guru to the disciple. In ancient times, this knowledge was never revealed to an undeserving person. Moreover, the teaching of Yoga was never made a business. Yoga was not a commodity for sale, as it often is at present; nor was it confused with the practice of religion, as it usually is today.

What most people do not realize is that when the practice of Yoga is properly set in motion by the knowledge and special guidance imparted by an experienced Guru, that process becomes completely spontaneously and automatic. The knowledge imparted by the Guru awakens the dormant life-energy of the aspirant, which, when freed from the control of the conscious mind, automatically begins the process that can lead the aspirant through stages of Yogic practice.

The basic tenet of Yoga discipline is that every individual is responsible for one's own liberation. One has to climb the ladder of Yoga step by step, reaching each successive level by one's own efforts. Though the Guru plays an indispensable role in transcending the pitfalls present in the initial stages of the practice, the role of self-efforts cannot be underrated. The guidance of the Guru in the earlier stages makes the progress smooth and easy and saves time and energy, but it is entirely left to the pupil to make the necessary efforts to reach the goal. A Guru can set the truth before a disciple, and provide instructions on how to reach it, but it is the pupil's responsibility to strive and train in conformity with the Guru's guidance.

A Guru may inspire a disciple to seek the truth, and guide him or her toward the path of Yoga, but the Guru cannot compel the disciple to practice, or to do so properly. If an aspirant lacks motivation, or loses interest halfway, or even goes astray, the student alone is responsible, the Guru cannot be blamed. However, if a disciple is completely receptive and possesses an unshakeable longing to experience the truth, the aspirant is sure to make whole-hearted efforts to reach the goal. Such a pupil is a true seeker, one who will succeed without fail.