The word guru refers to a person who has the phenomenal potential of taking you beyond not just your pain and suffering but beyond what you know of as yourself, thereby throwing open doors to higher worlds and experiences that have the power to bring about a transformation in you.

A guru-shishya relationship is beyond the maya or illusion of a commercial transaction. A true guru does not charge a material fee for what he gives you, for the material is maya and it binds you to the physical and someone who is bound by the physical cannot take you beyond what you are right now. Vedic philosophy gives highest place and regard to the guru. The guru is not a physical being; guru is enery, and in this form he is considered even higher than Parabraham, the divine consciousness.

The guru is not merely our guide or teacher. His every word, every indication is divine. For a sadhak (practitioner), the guru is Divinity Incarnate. We all are bound by our limited sense and cannot think beyond what that individual mind perceives. To go beyond the limitations of the body and the sense one has to gradually evolve or transform; one cannot go beyond with knowledge alone. So the guru gradually gives you the experience to help you get transformed and eventually, liberated.

- Dr. Deepak N. Rajguru