Teachers and the Guru

Urban Sadhu Exploration January 2026

guru brahma, guru vishnu, guru dēvō mahēśwara guru sakshat, param brahma, tasmai shri guravē namaḥ -  From Guru Stotram

Meaning: The beginning of a cycle is a teacher, the middle of a cycle is a teacher, the ending of a cycle is a teacher. There are teachers in plain sight. There are teachers that will be revealed when the time is right. I humbly bow down to the guru, the remover of ignorance, the enlightenment principle that is omnipresent. – Interpretation: Austin Sanderson

The Sanskrit term guru, ever since it was introduced to the West, has been translated as “teacher.” A guru is a teacher, but is so much more than just the run-of-the-mill teacher that you connected with in elementary school or university. Don’t get me wrong – I have great respect for teachers; in fact, both my parents were high-school teachers, and I consider myself a teacher. So, what is the difference between a guru and a teacher?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a teacher is “one that teaches, especially one whose occupation is to instruct.” The key word in the definition is “occupation”: becoming a teacher is a professional vocation. For a person to become a teacher, one first needs to have a strong calling. Then a teacher also requires training to convey information clearly to students. Finally, a teacher needs to find employment as an expert in a given field. Becoming a teacher is an academic process, whether one becomes a science teacher or a yoga teacher.

But the Sanskrit term guru has a very different meaning. Guru comes from the root word gu, meaning “darkness” or “ignorance,” and the root word ru, meaning “to remove,” “cast out,” or “shine light on.” Gurus may or may not have formal training in a given field, but training does not make them a guru. Gurus deal only with the teachings of esoteric wisdom, not worldly knowledge. Interestingly, the word guru can also be translated as “heavy” – a guru is heavy with wisdom.

The primary qualification of a guru is that they are a fully Self-realized being, one who can guide seekers on their own journey toward Self-realization. A guru lives in total moksha (“liberation”), the final aim of all yoga practices. A real-life guru has burned up all their karmic seeds, and they should be free from worldly attachments. This freedom allows the guru to become a clean mirror, so students see themselves within the guru. With a sadguru (“true guru”) the ego personality has been dissolved into the higher self. The student’s personal baggage (ego) does not get mixed up with the guru’s baggage because the guru has no baggage. With a regular teacher, you never know what you will get because what you are seeing in a teacher’s presentation is their baggage (ego). In teacher/student relationships the teacher’s baggage mixes with the student’s baggage; this can be the root of many problems, especially if the teacher calls themself a guru but is unqualified.   

Most of all, however, an authentic guru does not send out their resume to seek employment in the field of spirituality. Traditionally, gurus don’t proclaim themselves to be enlightened beings. Instead, the people around an enlightened person see their level of wisdom and start to call that person a guru. Recognizing the guru as a sadhaka (“seeker”) is a fundamental principle in the yoga tradition. Tasmai shri guravē namaḥ, the last line in the Guru Stotram, refers to the recognition and acknowledgment of the guru.

Gurus come in different forms: a metaphor, a life situation, a living human, or a cosmic guru (someone who has left the body but whose wisdom continues to be disseminated). In the yoga tradition it is said that a sadhaka should search out a guru physically, which could take many years and many introductions to different spiritual masters within multiple schools of yoga philosophy. Even if the sadhaka felt a strong personal connection with the guru, this would not guarantee that the spiritual master would accept them as a student. After approaching the guru, the sadhaka would ask to be taken under spiritual guidance. But if the guru did not see the right qualities in the sadhaka, such as dedication, effort, commitment, and an openness to new ideas and concepts, the seeker could be rejected and sent on their way. This rejection is one of the significant differences between teachers and gurus. Because a teacher is looking for job, they are usually willing to take on any student who is willing to pay the fees for education; that is not true with a guru.

There are different types of teachers, and in Sanskrit, there are six different names for them, indicating the context and situation. An adhyapakis is a teacher who gives you specific common-sense information such as, “look in both directions before you cross the street.” An upadhyaya combines specific information with deeper worldly insights —for example, your grandmother teaching you to cook a secret family recipe and telling you the oral tradition of how your family developed it. An acharya is a teacher who can teach a student a set of skills and help them put those skills into use, such as a driver education teacher. A punditis is an academic teacher who is deeply knowledgable on a subject, such as a teacher specializing in US constitutional law. A teacher who is a visionary (has new insightful views) and teaches from that creative platform is called a drishta; think of Albert Einstein as an example. Last on the list is the guru, but the difference between the previous five types of teacher and a guru is vast.  

In the end, ideas and concepts of yoga should focus on the teachings, not the teacher. The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 34 states: tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnena sevayā, upadekṣhyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśhinaḥ (“Learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from them with reverence and render service to them. Such an enlightened Saint can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” All we have to do is recognize the guru.

Austin Sanderson, Urban Sadhu