Guru-Lakshaṇa: Qualities of the True Guru

A guru is a spiritual teacher who guides a disciple towards Paramātmā and liberation. Lakshaṇa means a mark or sign. The Manohara Kāṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa (Chapter 3) teaches the guru-lakshaṇas: the signs that set a true spiritual teacher apart from someone who only plays the outer role of a guru without the inner substance.

The same teaching sorts upāsanā (spiritual practice and devotion) into three kinds, according to the three guṇas, the three qualities of nature. It also shows that the kind of guru one has shapes the kind of practice that grows out of the bond between guru and disciple.

The Three Kinds of Guru

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa sorts spiritual teachers by the three guṇas: sattva (light, clarity and truth), rajas (activity and passion) and tamas (dullness and darkness).

The Sāttvika Guru

The sāttvika guru has aparoksha jñāna, direct knowledge, of the true self and of Paramātmā. His teaching comes from real inner experience, not only from book learning. His marks are:

• He is free from personal desire, including the wish to be supported by his disciples
• His inner life and his outer conduct are the same, with nothing hidden
• He is wholly focused on the disciple’s mukti (liberation), not on his own influence or institution
• He can pass on not just information but real spiritual change, through his presence, his words and dīkshā (initiation)

A disciple who receives dīkshā from a sāttvika guru receives not only a mantra but the living current of the guru’s own realisation. Such a guru is rare. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa says that a person must be ready over seven lifetimes to receive the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa itself, and it compares this to the long ripening needed before one can meet and learn from a true sāttvika guru.

The Rājasika Guru

The rājasika guru teaches out of a mixture of knowledge and desire. He may have real learning and even some realisation, but his teaching is coloured by the wish for influence, fame, a growing institution and the wealth that a large following brings. His disciples may truly benefit, but the full passing on of liberation is blocked, because self-interest clouds the channel.

The Tāmasika Guru

The tāmasika guru leads through confusion and wrong values, or misuses the guru-disciple bond for his own gain. Under such a teacher, disciples may become more bound instead of more free, sliding into greater attachment, superstition or being taken advantage of, instead of moving towards mukti.

The Three Kinds of Upāsanā

In the same way, the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa sorts upāsanā, meaning devotional practice, pūjā and spiritual discipline, into three kinds.

Sāttvika Upāsanā

Sāttvika upāsanā is done with jñāna: knowing the nature of Paramātmā to whom one offers it, and one’s own nature as the one who offers. It is offered without clinging to any particular result. The practitioner offers upāsanā because it is the natural way of showing love for Paramātmā and seeing him for who he is, not as a deal or bargain. This kind of upāsanā leads towards moksha, the freeing of consciousness from saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death.

Rājasika Upāsanā

Rājasika upāsanā is done with clear desires in mind: for wealth, for sons, for power, or for particular gains in this world or in svarga. The devotion is sincere but it is a bargain, an exchange with the devatā for certain rewards. Such upāsanā does bring its results, because the devatā responds to sincere devotion whatever the motive. But it does not free the devotee from saṃsāra. It gives its promised rewards and then leads to new births in which the cycle goes on.

Tāmasika Upāsanā

Tāmasika upāsanā is driven by anger, revenge, jealousy or a deeply confused aim. It may be aimed at enemies through abhicāra (rites meant to harm), or it may rest on such a basic misunderstanding of Paramātmā that it tightens the devotee’s bondage instead of loosening it. This kind of practice leads into deeper darkness.

The Guru-Disciple Bond and Liberation

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa’s teaching on the guru’s qualities points to one central truth: liberation is not something one reaches alone. It is passed on within a living relationship. The guru-śishya-paramparā, the chain of gurus and disciples, is the channel through which the liberation that one person has realised becomes open to another. The quality of the guru decides the quality of what is passed on. This is why the Purāṇas and the Tantras keep stressing that one should choose a teacher carefully and wisely before accepting initiation.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Manohara Kāṇḍa (Book 8), Chapter 3