A few days ago, I went to Mumbai. While I was there, I suddenly felt this strong urge to visit Nariman Point. It got fixed in my head that I had to go to Nariman Point. Then I thought I should ask someone for directions.
At the station, a man was sitting there. I asked him, “Brother, how do I get to Nariman Point from here?” He told me, “Just take a taxi outside the station and go. Nariman Point is very beautiful. The view of the sea from there is extremely rare. I’ve experienced it myself.”
I thought, wow, this guy has actually been there. Only someone who has visited Nariman Point and returned could describe it so beautifully.
So what did I do next? I grabbed his feet. I felt I had found what I was looking for. I sat at his feet and began serving him. I started saying, “Now you do whatever is needed. Take me to Nariman Point. Ferry me across. You are my only support.”
Now tell me—did I do the right thing? Will I reach Nariman Point like this? Or will I just remain sitting at the station holding that man’s feet until Nariman Point appears in front of me? After all, he has seen Nariman Point, which means he can even bring Nariman Point to the station, right? See how smart I am… what? I’m not? But this is exactly what people do. They make someone a guru, fall at his feet, and say, “Gurudev, ferry me across.” If that’s right, then why am I wrong?
Today I’m going to tell you something that no one else in this world dares to say. If someone has already said it, I bow to that person, because only such a person truly understands the principle of the Guru and is worthy of reverence.
You must have seen many people giving bookish definitions of the word “guru.” And many so-called gurus claim that guru-worship itself is the ultimate goal of life. If that were true, then when Dattatreya appeared to Dada Guru Matsyendranath in the form of a guru, why didn’t he just sit doing Dattatreya worship? Why did he undergo intense austerities and establish a new path as commanded? This is what today’s guru-devotees fail to understand. They live in illusion. They think lying at the feet of great Guru-like incarnations such as Dattatreya, Swami Samarth, or Samarth Ramdas is itself the highest blessing. They assume that merely worshipping them is life’s fulfillment.
Guru worship is done only when there is no living guru present in your life to test you, or when you are preparing yourself for the next difficult examination and the next level. Worship is meant so that the Guru may test you and declare you passed or failed.
If there is no Guru in your life right now, it simply means your life is going smoothly. You have not yet reached the level where a Guru would even bother to test you. In simple terms, it means you are not even worthy of being examined. So go on living however you are. The day a Guru truly enters your life, that is the day your real test begins. That is the actual truth about the Guru.
Those who want to go deeper into spirituality search for a Guru. Why? Because we want to know whether what we are doing is correct. Do we have flaws within us? Have we completed this level? The person who can assess and test our spiritual level and push us to the next stage is the Guru—because only someone who is the best in that field can evaluate it.
Obtaining a Guru is not like getting a chocolate. Reading the Guru Charitra every year, shedding a couple of tears, listening to devotional songs, and thinking “Now everything will be fine” does not work. People fail to understand that a Guru is not a life coach, not a therapist, not emotional support. A Guru has only one job: to heat you, break you, throw you into the fire, make you fall, and then make you so strong that you can stand on your own.
But what do people want today? They want a Guru to pamper them, praise them, and fix every mess in their lives with a magic wand.
In school or college, everyone accepts the rule: first study, then exam, then the next level. But in spirituality, people expect that once they find a Guru, all their problems will end. When you make Shiva—the Vice Chancellor of spirituality and tantra—your Guru, when you expect mercy from Dakshinamurti, the supreme registrar of all faculties, when you beg compassion from Dattaguru as the exam controller, what do you think will happen? A grand celebration? No—your ego will be shattered.
People forget that a Guru does not come to “fix” life. A Guru comes to overturn life and rebuild it anew. Gold is purified in fire, not in rose water. If a Guru does not give you difficulties, how will the raw material ever become pure? Spirituality and tantra are not nursery school. They are tougher than university and harsher than Vedic examinations.
In this field, the guide, Guru, or Acharya will not have the sweetness of a kindergarten teacher. They will be strict. And above them are even harsher authorities—the HOD, the Registrar, the Exam Head, the VC—forces that care only about qualification, not emotion. If you want to show devotion, show it to your chosen deity. If you want to show surrender, prove it by walking the path shown by the Guru and achieving your life’s purpose.
Flattering the Guru will only trap you deeper in attachment. You will keep repeating the same class—birth after birth.
Have you noticed how teachers treat the brightest students? They challenge them, scold them, and polish them further. And the flatterers? They may be made class monitors or given small responsibilities, and people think, “Wow, he’s the teacher’s favorite.” But in reality, the teacher only sees their utility in bringing chalk and dusters. If they pass, fine. If not, they repeat the class.
The Guru is actually just a signboard on the road. He shows direction. If you cling to the signboard and hang from it, how will you reach the destination? But people grab the Guru and sit there, thinking, “Now that I’ve found a Guru, I’ve found everything.” When you were lost in the forest, reaching the main road and finding a signboard was necessary. But once you’re on the highway, you must keep reading the signs and moving forward until the next one appears. Instead, today’s seekers pitch a tent under the signboard and chant “Guru, Guru, Guru…” and then complain, “The Guru doesn’t listen to me.”
Reading Guru stories and doing recitations is meaningful only until you find a real Guru. The day you do, you should focus on moving toward your chosen deity with discipline. The Guru is not the destination. The Guru is not even the road. The Guru is merely a signboard. But instead of walking the path shown, people place the signboard in their prayer room and perform rituals to it.
Then what can the Guru do? If you cling to him, he has only one tool—examination. And more examination. And even harsher examination. Repeat your class. Take birth after birth. Remain stuck in attachment.
Some people will say, “This Shivansh has gone mad. I did a recitation for my problems and they were solved. Miracles happen to me. Don’t listen to him.” To such people, just understand this: Dattaguru has handed them a rattle to play with. They are the so-called favorite students who will remain in the same class for years—playing in the dirt of attachment, birth after birth, with no real purpose.
People misunderstand Dattaguru completely. Every year they perform Guru Charitra expecting a vision. Does an exam head ever appear personally? The exam head’s job is to increase the syllabus, increase the difficulty, break your limits, and throw you to the next level. A vision of Dattaguru is not some sweet devotional TV scene. Before Dattaguru, even the Navnath draw water in humility. This is a force that does not pamper the disciple. Just as Dada Guru Matsyendranath did not cradle his disciple Gorakhnath—he threw him into the forest and said, “Go, accomplish this, then come back.”
And today? People listen to a couple of devotional songs and imagine, “Dattaguru will come, smile, and hug me.” A hug? For someone being examined? Even his smile is a test. His silence is a test.
The truth is, a Guru will not make your life easy. A Guru will complicate it in such a way that you peel away your own layers and reach your true essence. A Guru does not fulfill your desires. A Guru frees you from desires. And if someone is fulfilling your desires, understand that he is just handing you a toy.
A Guru does not save you from problems. He makes you capable of fighting them.
Those who think “Guru found = life set” receive the hardest shock from the Guru himself.
Because the Guru’s job is to take you to the destination not to raise you in his lap. And those who cling to the Guru receive only one thing in return examination.
