Who is a Satguru ?

Questioner: Now whom can we call a 'satguru'?

Dadashri: It is very difficult to define and identify someone as a satguru. In the language of the scriptures, whom can you call a  satguru?  Sat is the Atma (the Soul, the Self), so whoever has attained the Soul, that guru is a satguru!

Therefore, an 'Atmagnani (knower of the Soul, Selfrealized) can be called a satguru, for he has experienced the Self. Not all gurus have Atma Gnan. So, the one who continuously remains as the eternal element - the Self - is a satguru! The Gnani Purush is a satguru.'

Questioner: Shrimad Rajchandra has said that without a living and directly present satguru, one can never attain moksha.

Dadashri: Yes, moksha cannot occur without such a One.And what should a satguru be like? He must be free of all kashayas. Even if we hit him and yell abuses at him, he would still not have any kashaya. Not only is he free of kashaya but his intellect (buddhi) should also be completely gone. He should not have any intellect. If you go to people with intellect, how will you attain moksha when they have not attained it themselves? So he should not be affected whether you slap him or yell abuses at him. If you beat him or throw him in jail, he should remain unperturbed. He should be beyond all dualities. Do you understand what we mean by 'duality'? By duality we mean attributes such as profit or loss; pleasure or pain; mercy or mercilessness. In duality, if there is one attribute within, the other attribute will always be there too. That is duality! So the guru who is free of duality, is a satguru.

In the current time cycle, there are no satgurus. During certain times, in some places they can be, but otherwise satgurus do not exist. But people have wrongly assumed that their gurus as being satgurus. That is why everything is at a standstill; otherwise, if you had found a true satguru, would you have all these worries?

Questioner: Everyone nowadays regards his guru as a satguru. What is that?

Dadashri: In all the religions in India, people consider their own respective guru as being a satguru. No one uses the term guru alone; they use the term satguru but its meaning is in the worldly language. In the worldly life, people refer to a guru with very high conduct as a satguru, but really, he cannot be considered a satguru. The quality of his prakruti (worldly attributes) may be very commendable, he may have inner balance in matters of food, worldly interaction and personal character, but he has not attained Self-realization. Without Self-realization he cannot be called a satguru.

It is like this; there are two kinds of gurus. One is in the form of a guide, meaning we have to follow him. He walks ahead like a leader or a monitor. He is called a 'guru'. Do you understand the term 'monitor'? It is someone we follow. If we come to a fork in the road, he will decide, 'No, not this road. Let us take that road.' So we walk on that road. You have to follow him, but he is always in front of us. He does not sway from the route. The other is a satguru. A satguru is someone that liberates us from all our worldly suffering, because he is liberated himself! He does not keep us as his followers. And the guru is someone we have to trust and keep following. There you must not use your own brain and wisdom and you must stay sincere to the guru. The degree to which you are sincere with him is the degree of peace you will experience.

The need for a guru starts from the time we begin school to the time we reach the door of spirituality. A guru can take us all the way to spirituality but we cannot enter into the gate of Atma Gnan (knowledge of the Self) with the guidance of a guru since he himself is looking for it. What is Atma Gnan? Atma Gnan is to be in front of the Self. The satguru helps bring us directly in front of the Self.

So there is a difference between a guru and a satguru!