I am not a guru.
But… and I say this with tremendous humility, when people train with me they get access to The Guru.
I am not a guru. I am a disciple. Even that, if I’m honest, is a stretch. But I have spent many years at least TRYING to be a disciple.
In the tradition I come from, our guru is an access point; not just to the knowledge and expertise that particular guru may have, but an access point to all knowledge on the spiritual path. This is a very big leap for a public Substack, but here you go.
A verse in the Gurugītā says:
यस्य स्मरणमात्रेण ज्ञानमुत्पद्यते स्वयम्।
य एव सर्वसम्प्राप्तिस्तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥६९॥
Just remembering them causes knowledge to arise spontaneously. Indeed they are all attainments. To that Guru, I bow.
A guru, at least a bonafide sadguru (real guru), is the a human embodiment of something called the gurutattva — the guru principle. It’s the principle of a human undergoing a transformation of consciousness whereby they become transpersonal people. They are not just their limited me/mine self anymore. Siddhas — the mahāgurus like our Bābā Nityānanda — have human bodies and human expressions, but energetically, they embody pure Divine Power.
This embodiment of Divine Power doesn’t make them infallible or beyond expectations of ethical behavior. (saying loud for people in the back) This is what the fake gurus trade on. Acting like mahāsiddhas, they go about doing businesses in the world and using their fake status as god-men and god-women to exploit people and take their money/power/labor etc. There are many such gurus on tour these days.
Real gurus are either themselves actual realized masters or very very very faithful disciples and custodians of spiritual lineages which carry the gurutattva.
As I said, I am not a guru, I am a disciple, and a very imperfect one. The thing is, the gurutattva in my lineage is very strong and is very gracious, and the juice seems to flow through despite any flaws in our teaching system.
Back to the point. When we study teachings or practices together, my Gurus are there. The teachings and practices are activated in a way they aren’t when you study on your own or just find them online. This isn’t about me. It’s not my brag to brag. It’s them.
A guru like Bābā Nityānanda was such a powerful vessel that just remembering him activates knowledge within—once there is a connection. He was the modern era mahāsiddha of our lineage, but through connection with him, we have a connection with COUNTLESS other masters. And through connection with them, we can intuitively connect with and get the energetic secrets from all traditions. It’s very mysterious and, honestly I’m not sure if I should even share this here.
Our Training
I’m sending invitations for people to do our 9 Month Advanced Training and I’m excited because I know that what happens in these containers is that people get connected to this ancient stream, and through “my” stream, they find “their” stream.
There’s no “joining” there’s no “group” to belong to except the small cohort you’re with for the 9 months of the training. But you do get connected. And you don’t need to give your power away to some charismatic “guru figure”. The important part of the guru energy is right there in the process we’ll be doing. Remember the gurutattva is different than the guru-figure.
We’ll study the Gītā and other classical teachings together in a way where the teachings get unlocked and the practices are alive. It’s profound. And actually fun too.
If this is the kind of thing you’re longing for, if you’ve done some training, some work, some learning of the mystical yoga tradition but you want to go deeper in your knowledge and get stronger in the practice, apply.
If you’re a teacher or a helper and want to make your offering stronger, apply.
