In various Buddhist traditions, there are equivalent words for guru, which include Shastri (teacher), Kalyana Mitra (friendly guide, Pali: Kalyāṇa-mittatā), Acarya (master), and Vajra-Acarya (hierophant). [90] The guru is literally understood as "weighty", states Alex Wayman, and it refers to the Buddhist tendency to increase the weight of canons and scriptures with their spiritual studies. [90] In Mahayana Buddhism, a term for Buddha is Bhaisajya guru, which refers to "medicine guru", or "a doctor who cures suffering with the medicine of his teachings". [91] [92] In Jainism [ edit ] It contains 5867 sacred hymns or Shabads. It also contains prayers, poems and writing from different scholars. A granthi close granthi Reader of the Guru Granth Sahib, who officiates at ceremonies. This can be a man or a woman. is a person appointed to read the Guru Granth Sahib. When the Guru Granth Sahib is being read, a chauri close chauri Fan waved over scriptures, made of yak hairs or nylon; symbol of the authority of the Guru Granth Sahib., which is a special fan made from yak hair, is waved above it. Jiddu Krishnamurti, groomed to be a world spiritual teacher by the leadership of the Theosophical Society in the early part of the 20th century, publicly renounced this role in 1929 while also denouncing the concept of gurus, spiritual leaders, and teachers, advocating instead the unmediated and direct investigation of reality. [110] That is RuPaul’s secret for success, not only in show business, but in all aspects of life, especially in navigating the emotional landmines that inhibit most sweet, sensitive souls.

According to the journalist Sacha Kester, in a 2003 article in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, finding a guru is a precarious matter, pointing to the many holy men in India and the case of Sathya Sai Baba whom Kester considers a swindler. In this article he also quotes the book Karma Cola describing that in this book a German economist tells author Gita Mehta, "It is my opinion that quality control has to be introduced for gurus. Many of my friends have become crazy in India". She describes a comment by Suranya Chakraverti who said that some Westerners do not believe in spirituality and ridicule a true guru. Other westerners, Chakraverti said, on the other hand believe in spirituality but tend to put faith in a guru who is a swindler. [122] Translation: The kirpan, the khanda, the scimitar, the axe, the rifle, and the arrow. The saif, the dagger, the spear: these indeed are our pirs (saints)! Bhai Banno (right) being given the Adi Granth by Guru Arjan (centre-left) to get it boundThe third view held by scholars such as Piar Singh states that independent versions of the Sikh scripture developed in geographically distant regions of the Indian subcontinent. [41] These versions developed because of the forgetfulness or creativity of the local Sikh leaders, errors made by scribes, attempts to adopt popular hymns of bhagats or adapt the hymns to local regional languages where Gurmukhi was not understood. It is these manuscripts that Guru Arjan collected and considered, then edited to produce an approved version of the Adi Granth. The Sikh scripture, according to this school, was thus a collaborative effort and there was no authentic version of the pre-canonical text in Sikhism. [41] Barnhart, Robert K. (1988). The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. H.W. Wilson Co. p.447. ISBN 978-0-8242-0745-8.

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There are Four Kinds of Lama (Guru) or spiritual teacher [89] (Tib. lama nampa shyi) in Tibetan Buddhism: Vivekananda, Swami (1982). Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga. Oxford: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center. ISBN 9780911206227. Description: “There are only two types of people: Mystics and Mistakes,” says Sadhguru. That sounds damning, but mistakes can thankfully be rectified, and that’s the hope this book holds out to seekers. It reminds us that each one of us can make the journey – from confusion to clarity, from error to enlightenment, from self-deception to self-discovery – if only we choose.

The gurukul would be a hut in a forest, or it was, in some cases, a monastery, called a matha or ashram or sampradaya in different parts of India. [7] [57] [58] These had a lineage of gurus, who would study and focus on certain schools of Hindu philosophy or trade, [51] [52] and these were known as guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition). [5] This guru-driven tradition included arts such as sculpture, poetry and music. [59] [60] Bromley, David G., Ph.D. & Anson Shupe, Ph.D., Public Reaction against New Religious Movements article that appeared in Cults and new religious movements: a report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association, edited by Marc Galanter, M.D., (1989) ISBN 0-89042-212-5 The word guru (Sanskrit: गुरु), a noun, connotes "teacher" in Sanskrit, but in ancient Indian traditions it has contextual meanings with significance beyond what teacher means in English. [2] The guru is more than someone who teaches specific type of knowledge, and includes in its scope someone who is also a "counselor, a sort of parent of mind ( Citta) and Self ( Atman), who helps mold values ( Yamas and Niyamas) and experiential knowledge as much as specific knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who reveals the meaning of life." [2] The word has the same meaning in other languages derived from or borrowing words from Sanskrit, such as Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Bengali, Gujarati and Nepali. The Malayalam term Acharyan or Asan is derived from the Sanskrit word Acharya. Description: Sadhguru presents readers with a time-tested path to achieving absolute wellbeing: the science of classical yoga.As a noun the word means the imparter of knowledge ( jñāna; also Pali: ñāna). As an adjective, it means 'heavy,' or 'weighty,' in the sense of "heavy with knowledge," [Note 1] heavy with spiritual wisdom, [15] "heavy with spiritual weight," [16] "heavy with the good qualities of scriptures and realization," [17] or "heavy with a wealth of knowledge." [18] The word has its roots in the Sanskrit gri (to invoke, or to praise), and may have a connection to the word gur, meaning 'to raise, lift up, or to make an effort'. [19] Each book’s topics (rather general and approximate ones!) are in parenthesis after the title. Where the book is available only as an ebook, that’s mentioned in parenthesis as well. a b Grimes, John. A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. (1996) p.133. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-3067-7

The Sri - Gur Granth Sahib is the Holy Book for Sikhs, as Guru Gobind Singh teached us. Guru ji, said the holy book will be the Guru after him, no other human form Guru will come. The 11th Sikh Guru Granth Sahib is the everlasting Guru. The Holy book contains writings of the Sikh Gurus, Muslim Fakirs and Hindu saints. A collection of prayers (Shabads) written by the Gurus which we recite to music.

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Sanskrit guru is cognate with Latin gravis 'heavy; grave, weighty, serious' [20] and Greek βαρύς barus 'heavy'. All three derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷerə-, specifically from the zero-grade form * gʷr̥ə-. [21] In Vajrayana Buddhism's Tantric teachings, the rituals require the guidance of a guru. [12] The guru is considered essential and to the Buddhist devotee, the guru is the "enlightened teacher and ritual master", states Stephen Berkwitz. [12] The guru is known as the vajra guru (literally "diamond guru"). [87] Initiations or ritual empowerments are necessary before the student is permitted to practice a particular tantra, in Vajrayana Buddhist sects found in Tibet and South Asia. [12] The tantras state that the guru is equivalent to Buddha, states Berkwitz, and is a figure to worship and whose instructions should never be violated. [12] [13] [88] Deutsch, Alexander M.D. Tenacity of Attachment to a cult leader: a psychiatric perspective American Journal of Psychiatry 137 (1980) 12, 1569-1573.

Riffard, Pierre A. in Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion Faivre A. & Hanegraaff W. (Eds.) Peeters Publishers( 1988), ISBN 90-429-0630-8Kranenborg, Reender (Dutch language) Zelfverwerkelijking: oosterse religies binnen een westerse subkultuur (En: Self-realization: eastern religions in a Western Sub-culture , published by Kampen Kok (1974) In particular during the 1960s and 1970s many gurus acquired groups of young followers in Western Europe and the US. According to the American sociologist David G. Bromley this was partially due to the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1965 which permitted Asian gurus entrance to the US. [101] According to the Dutch Indologist Albertina Nugteren, the repeal was only one of several factors and a minor one compared with the two most important causes for the surge of all things 'Eastern': the post-war cross-cultural mobility and the general dissatisfaction with established Western values. [102] Feuerstein, Georg Dr. The Deeper Dimension of Yoga: Theory and Practice, Shambhala Publications, released on (2003) ISBN 1-57062-928-5