The Role of the Guru

Compiled by: Trisha Lamb

Last Revised: April 27, 2006

© 2004 by International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT)

International Association of Yoga Therapists P.O. Box 2513 • Prescott • AZ 86302 • Phone: 928-541-0004 E-mail: [email protected] • URL: www.iayt.org

The contents of this bibliography do not provide medical advice and should not be so interpreted. Before beginning any exercise program, see your physician for clearance.

Guru Yoga

At the bottom of understanding, Love is there. Breathtaking.

—Candace Byers

Allen, Ryan. Moving toward the light. LA Yoga, Jul/Aug 2003, pp. 26-30.

Explores the way the term “guru” is used in the West and the East.

Ashvagosha. Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion. Many translations.

Baker, Douglas. The Psychology of Discipleship. Great Britain: Baker Publications, 1976, 19991.

“The author . . . describes the characteristics of the true disciple battling to assimilate the ever increasing stress which faces him on the Path of spiritual growth. He deals at length with the subject of personality integration, a prerequisite to treading the Path.”

Barrett, Marvin. Spiritual masters: Linking heaven and earth. An interview with William Segal. Parabola, Fall 2000, pp. 11-19.

Berzin, Alexander. Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a Healthy Relationship.

“The [excellent] book explores the sources of misunderstandings between spiritual teachers and their students and reveals methods to develop healthy relationships.”

Besant, Annie. Gurus & chelas. Adyar Bulletin, July 1929, 22:133ff.

Bilimoria, Purusottama. Yoga, Meditation and the Guru: Critical Reflections on the Australian Scenario. Indra Publishing, 1989.

Bogart, Greg. Separating from a spiritual teacher. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1992, 24(1):1-21.

______. The Nine Stages of Spiritual Apprenticeship: Understanding the Student- Teacher Relationship. Berkeley, Calif.: Dawn Mountain Press, 1998.

Braak, Andre van der. Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American Guru. Rhinebeck, N.Y.: Monkfish Book Publishing, 2004.

2 From a review by Phil Catalfo in the Sep/Oct 2004 issue of Yoga Journal, p. 164: “Andre van der Braak became a close disciple of American-born guru Andrew Cohen, only to find—over the course of 11 years in Cohen’s sangha (community)—the contradictions and strictures that he experienced too painful and insupportable to bear . . .”

Braun, Andreas. Walking open eyed into the guru trap, or loving the guru will kill you. Unpublished paper.

Caplan, Mariana. Do You Need a Guru? Understanding the Student-Teacher Relationship in an Era of False Prophets. London: Thorsons, 2002.

From the publisher: “Caplan’s compelling narrative of her own outrageious encounters with Central American shamans, Hindu gurus, and every kind of witch, healer and magician in between, serves as a guiding thread to illuminate the challenging principles involved in creating a working model of the student-teacher relationship in Western culture. Each chapter includes previously unpublished interviews on the subject with leading scholars, teachers, and long-term practitioners including: Ram Dass, Jai Uttal, Georg Feuerstein, Charles Tart, Vimala Thakar, John Welwood, Krishna Das, Arnaud Desjardins, Ma Sati Jaya Bhagavati, Georg Leonard, Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee, and others.

“Topics addressed include: Do you need a spiritual teachers?; the nature of spiritual scandals; he need for a teacher; Guru games, money, sex, and power; imperfections in the teacher; conscious discipleship and the glory of love.”

Chidananda, Swami. Guru bhakti. Article available online: http://www.divyajivan.org/articles/chida/guru_bhakti.htm.

Cohen, Darlene. What to look for in a spiritual teacher. Article available online: http://www.darlenecohen.net/quotes.html#teacher.

Coukoulis, Peter. Guru, Psychotherapist, and Self: A Comparative Study of the Guru- Disciple Relationship and the Jungian Analytic Process. Marina del Rey, Calif.: DeVorss & Co., 1976.

Contents: Eastern Views and Jung’s Views of Self-Realization; Tantrik Views Regarding the Guru-Disciple Relationship; The Guru-Disciple Relationship in the Bhagavad-Gita; Sri Aurobindo’s Views on the Guru; Ramakrishna, the Great Devotional Guru; The Guru- Disciple Relationship in the Legendary Biography of Tibet’s Great Yogi Milarepa

Devi Bhavanani, Meenakshi. Guru paduka. Yoga Life, Jan 2000, 31(1):12-18.

Dharmnidhi Saraswati, Swami. Resurrecting the guru-disciple system. Article available online: http://www.tantriccollege.org/guru-disciple.htm.

Dorje, Rig’dzin. Dangerous Friend: The Teacher-Student Relationship in Vajrayana Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala, 2001.

3 “The mirror of the lama reflects both the quality of our enlightenment and the style of our unenlightenment, such that we are able to recognize them both. That means on the one hand being able to tell them apart, but also being able to glimpse the dimension in which they interlock.”

Do you need a spiritual teacher? Shambhala Sun, May 1995.

Feuerstein, Georg. Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy- Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

______. The guru function: Transmission in the Yoga tradition. Parabola, Fall 2000, pp. 60-64.

Frawley, David. All gurus great and small. Yoga Journal, Mar-Apr 1997.

Gitananda Giri, Swami. On manufacturing gurus and crucifying messiahs. Yoga Today, Jan 1980, 4(9):37.

______. Satsangha with the guru: The control of sub-conscious mind. Yoga Life, Jul 2002, 33(7):3-6.

Grenager, Suzanne Selby. One woman’s case for gurus: Yes, the relationship between guru and student can be risky—but what relationship worth pursuing isn’t? Yoga Journal, Aug 1996, pp. 20-23.

Gross, Rita. Guru, God, and gender. Shambhala Sun Online. Article available online: http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/woman/gross.htm.

Guenther, Herbert V., Ilse Guenther, and Swami Sivananda Radha. Questions and Answers on Guru and Disciple. Kootenay Bay, B.C., Canada: Yasodhara Ashram Society, 1977.

A booklet compiled by Phyllis Dale, psychologist, from a conference on “Guru and Disciple” led by Dr. Guenther and Swami Sivananda Radha.

Guru: The true protector. Akhand Jyoti: The Light Divine, Sep/Oct 2004. Article available online: http://www.akhand-jyoti.org/sepoct04/article10.html.

H., W. P. The teacher and his spiritual group. Self-Knowledge, Autumn 1996, 47(4):143- 149.

Hawk, Red. Why’d you get a guru? Tawagoto, Fall 2001, 14(4):64.

A Hindu Chela. The guru. Adyar Bulletin, Oct 1928, 21:218ff. Reprinted from Lucifer, May 1893.

4 Kaur, Harinder. From heart to heart: Yoga takes a consciousness to a higher level. The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon), 9 Apr 2005.

“A few years later I found my true source of light, my guru, in the Sikh Dharma. The word ‘guru’ creates confusion for some people. It simply means ‘teacher,’ the one who brings you from ‘darkness’ (gu) to ‘light’ (ru). It is the cosmic/teacher/consciousness that resides in every heart, the source of light itself . . .”

Khyentse Rinpoche, Dhilgo. The Wish Fulfilling Jewel: The Practice of Guru Yoga According to the Longchen Nyingthig Tradtion. Boston: Shambhala, 1988. Republished by Shambhala as Guru Yoga in 1999.

Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzongsar. Approaching the guru. Shambhala Sun. Article available online: http://www.shambhalasun.com/Archives/Features/2000/Nov00/dzongsar.htm.

Kongtrul the Great, Jamgon. The Teacher-Student Relationship. Snow Lion, 1999.

“It is crucial for students of Vajrayana Buddhism to find an authentic wisdom teacher, and know how to properly rely upon that teacher in order to awaken to the buddha nature and thereby attain full enlightenment. As Buddhism is still relatively new in the West, we don’t always know how to go about this essential task. Fortunately, the topic has never been more thoroughly explored, and the ideal relationship more clearly delineated, than by the unsurpassed Tibetan teacher Jamgön Kongrul in the tenth chapter of his monumental Buddhist encyclopedia, The Treasury of Knowledge . . .

“[The present] book also includes a teaching by Gyatrul Rinpoche that explains for Western students the critical importance of the teacher-student relationship in Buddhist practice.”

Kramer, Joel, and Diana Alstad. The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power. Berkeley, Calif.: Frog, Ltd., 1989, 1993.

Krishnananda, Swami. Questions and answers about the guru. Article available online: http://www.divyajivan.org/articles/krishna/qanda_guru..htm.

Contents: Who is a Guru?; The necessity for a Guru; After the Guru has left the body; The guru-disciple relationship

Kriyananda, Swami. Gurus, true spiritual teachers, and the inner experience of truth. East West Magazine, Nov-Dec 2000, p. 24.

______. Do you need a living guru? Clarity, Spring 2003, pp. 4-7. Article available online: http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/magazine/clarityspring2003.pdf.

5 ______. Why a guru? Clarity, Spring 2003, p. 7. Article available online: http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/magazine/clarityspring2003.pdf.

Lamrimpa, Gen. Transcending Time: The Kalacakra Six-Session Guru Yoga. Wisdom Publications, 1999.

Magee, Mike. The guru. Article available online: http://www.shivashakti.com/guru.htm.

Mansfield, Victor. The guru-disciple relationship: Making connections and withdrawing projections. 1995. Article available online: http://www.lightlink.com/vic/guru.html.

Abstract: Although the guru-disciple relationship is of the highest value for some, it is the source of great exploitation for others. The great difficulties with the relationship encourage some to advocate abolishing this ancient form of spiritual instruction. In contrast, I seek reform through understanding. I employ Carl Jung’s formulation of the transference in combination with the writings of Paul Brunton on the guru-disciple to analyze this relationship both psychologically and spiritually. Psychologically projection is stressed, while spiritually the telepathic connection between guru and disciple is discussed. Since our troubles with the relationship are largely psychological, I offer several suggestions for how to deal with potential difficulties. A deeper understanding can help us avoid some of the pitfalls exposed in the all too frequent scandals and move the relationship toward a more conscious and modern form—one reflecting the realties of the Western twentieth century psyche.

Massoudi, Mehrdad. On the qualities of a teacher and a student: An eastern perspective based on Buddhism, Vedanta and Sufism. Intercultural Education, Jun 2002, 13(2):137- 155.

Abstract: This essay looks at the requirements and qualities of a student and a teacher as seen from Eastern traditions such as Vedanta, Zen Buddhism and Sufism. The objective is to show or to propose that the same qualities are also needed in our present-day education system, no matter what the subject of study is. Though the emphasis is on these three particular systems, it is understood that one can find the same or similar qualities in other spiritual traditions. At the end of the essay, a heat transfer model is developed whereby the different aspects of an ‘ideal’ teacher, sometimes also referred to as the real teacher, or the true teacher, can be obtained from such a model.

Moffitt, Phillip. When the student is ready: Finding the right spiritual teacher begins with knowing what you need at each stage in your development. Yoga Journal, Mar/Apr 2002, pp. 61-69. Article available online: http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/652_1.cfm?ctsrc=blurb5.

Moran, Victoria. Do you need a guru? Yoga Journal, Nov 2001, pp. 76-79, 147-149.

Mrinalini Mata, Sri. “If you would know the guru . . .”: Remembrances of life with Paramahansa Yogananda. Self-Realization, Spring 2003, pp. 42-55.

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Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Ira Rechtschaffer. The vajra master: Excerpts from an interview. Alameda, Calif., 1997. Article available online: http://www.aroter.org/articles/nr_ira_interview.htm. Neimark, Jill. Crimes of the soul. Psychology Today, Mar/Apr 1998, pp. 55-59, 75-80.

Sensationalistic piece on discredited gurus.

Niranjanananda Saraswati, Swami. The gurukul. Yoga (Australia edition), Aug 1999.

______. Guru. Yoga (Sivananda Math), Jul 2000, 11(4):19-20.

______. Discipleship. Yoga (Sivananda Math), Jul 2001, 12(4):29.

______. Guru’s grace. Yoga (Sivananda Math), Jul 2001, 12(4):26-28.

Answers the questions: What is guru kripa? What are the prerequisites to obtain it? What changes happen then and why doesn’t the grace of guru last longer?

Ngala Nor’dzin Pamo, Ngala. Devotion. Article available online: http://www.aroter.org/images/arolamas/nnno/articlesinterviewstalks/article_devotion.htm .

A commentary on Ashvaghosa’s Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion.

Palmer, Louise D. The teacher appears. Yoga International, Dec/Jan 2003, pp. 86-93.

On the quest for a spiritual teacher.

Parikh, Balmakund, and Elizabeth Fennell. Guru and disciple. Yoga Today, Mar 1981, 5(11):10-13.

Preece, Rob. The teacher-student relationship (part 1). In Rob Preece, The Noble Imperfection: The Challenge of Individuation in Buddhist Life. Mudra Publications, 2005. Article available online: http://www.mudra.co.uk/mudra_teacher_part1.html

______. The teacher-student relationship (part 2). In Rob Preece, The Noble Imperfection: The Challenge of Individuation in Buddhist Life. Mudra Publications, 2005. Article available online: http://www.mudra.co.uk/mudra_teacher_part2.html.

Roy, Dilip Kumar, and Indra Devi. Pilgrims of the Stars the First Book for Westerners on the Highest Experiences of Yoga, the Spiritual and Superphysical Phenomena, and the Role of the Guru. New York: Macmillan, 1973.

7 Ruiz, Fernando Pagés. Going your own way: Tony Sanchez and Peter Sterios share the lessons learned from parting with their longtime teachers. Yoga Journal, Mar/Apr 2003, pp. 159-161.

Sarlo’s Guru Rating Service. URL: http://www.globalserve.net/~sarlo/Ratings.htm#Desc.

Satchidananda, Swami. Guru and Disciple Booklet. Buckingham, Va.: Integral Yoga.

From the publisher: “Advice on recognizing a true spiritual teacher and on the proper attitude with which the seeker can learn and grow through the guidance of such an enlightened master. The qualifications of a disciple are discussed, as is the means of receiving inner guidance when one’s master is not in the physical body.”

Satyananda Saraswati, Swami, and Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati. Light on the Guru and Disciple Relationship. Munger, Bihar, India: Bihar School of Yoga, 1984

Sharma, K. G. In Search of a Guru. India: National, 1977.

Sivananda Saraswati, Swami. Guru. In Swami Sivananda, Bliss Divine. Article available online: http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/teachings/guru.htm.

______. Guru and Disciple. Rishikesh, India: Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy, 1955.

Spiritual Age India. Role of guru. Available online: http://www.spiritualtimesindia.com/holistic-life-style/role-of-guru.html.

A spiritual teacher. Article available online: http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/spiritual_teacher_guru.html.

A wonderful introduction to the role of the guru.

Strand, Clark. Meditation without Gurus. Woodstock, Vt.: Skylight Paths, 2003.

Sturdy, E. T., and Annie Besant. Gurus and chelas. An Adyar Pamphelt, Jan 1912. Issue 11.

Surath, Sri. Be Your Own Guru. Mountain Center, Calif.: Ranney Publications, 1971.

The Teacher. Parabola, Fall 2000. Entire issue.

Tharchin, Sermey Kensur Lobsang. Six-Session Guru Yoga: An Oral Commentary with a Detailed Explanation of the Bodhisattva and Tantra Vows. Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, 2000.

8 Vaughan-Lee, Llewellyn. The Relationship with the Teacher audiotapes. Inverness, Calif.: The Golden Sufi Center.

This three-tape set explores “the psychological and spiritual dynamics of the relationship with the teacher, so often misunderstood in the West.”

Venkatesananda, Swami. The role of the guru in ahimsa training. Yoga around the World, Oct 1971 - Oct 1972, no. 29, pp. 88-92.

Venkatesh, Yogacharya. Guru and shishya. Yoga Online Newsletter, Jan 2003. Article available online: http://indigo.ie/~cmouze/yoga_online/Gurus.htm.

Wall, Sheila (letter to the editor). Treasuring trust. Tricycle, Summer 2005, pp. 10-11.

On the supreme importance of trust in the therapist-patient and teacher-disciple relationship. The author indicates that “when a revered teacher or a psychiatrist violates that trust, it is equivalent to abuse.”

Yogananda, Paramahansa. By excerpting Yogananda’s talks and writings, an answer is provided to the question: “My focus and goal is unity with God and so I feel all my love and reverence should be given to God. Then what is the role of devotion to the Guru?” Self-Realization, Summer 2001, pp. 14-15.

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