What is a guru in Hinduism?

Answer

In Hinduism, a guru serves as a personal spiritual teacher or guide. While commonly linked with Hinduism, gurus are also present in Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh traditions. The term guru translates to “dispeller of darkness” or “large, weighty, long, extended, important, prominent,” reflecting the significant role of the guru as a teacher.

Since at least 1000 BC, India has stressed the tutorial approach in religious education. Historically, religious instruction in ancient India, and until the latter part of the twentieth century, involved the oral transmission of the Vedas— the sacred scripture of Hinduism— from guru to disciple. Typically, disciples, known as shishya, reside with their guru for a period, dutifully assisting as the guru imparts teachings tailored to their spiritual progress. The lineage of teachers, known as guru-shishya parampara, holds considerable importance. Generally, gurus are former disciples of another guru within the same lineage.

In contemporary times, oral transmission remains highly esteemed, but gurus have extensively documented their teachings and also deliver live or recorded online lectures, expanding their reach to a broader audience. Disciples are no longer obligated to have physical encounters with gurus, let alone reside with them. Hinduism has evolved to be more of a leisure pursuit rather than a rigorous spiritual quest.

The guru’s role is to guide disciples on a spiritual journey to help them achieve “god” or realize their atman. According to Hindu belief, the atman represents the eternal self, the spirit, or the essence of an individual. On the path to liberation— also known as moksha, nirvana, or self-realization— the ultimate stage involves recognizing that the atman is essentially brahman, the singular true reality and the fundamental force behind all existence. Hinduism asserts that a guru is essential for attaining such spiritual insights.

There isn’t a direct biblical counterpart to the guru in Hinduism. Jesus conveyed

It is important for us to “make disciples” «Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: », (Matthew 28:19), but the way to God is through Christ, not other teachers «Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. », (John 14:6). Christians have one mediator before God: Jesus Christ «For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; », (1 Timothy 2:5). Gurus in Hinduism each claim to be necessary to lead others to spiritual enlightenment, but Christians have the Bible, which is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” «All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: », (2 Timothy 3:16). We also have this promise: “You have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie” (1 John 2:27;NLT;cf: 1 Corinthians 2:12). And of course there’s a vast difference in the content of the teaching: gurus in Hinduism advise their pupils to look for divinity within; Christian teachers point to Christ, the divine Son of God.