God=Guru=Self

Sri Ramana Maharshi

30-10-1945 Afternoon

Dilip Kumar Roy read out a poem in English composed by him on Bhagavan and sang some songs before Bhagavan. Later he asked, "While all say Guru's direction is necessary it seems Bhagavan said a Guru is not necessary."

B: I have not said so. But a Guru need not always be in human form. First a person thinks he is an inferior and that there is a superior, all-knowing God who controls his own and the world's destiny and worships him  or does bhakti. When he reaches a certain stage and becomes fit for enlightenment, the same God whom he was worshipping comes as Guru and leads him on. That Guru comes only to tell him, "God is within yourself. Dive within and realize." God, Guru and the Self are the same.

Roy: But in Bhagavan's case there was no Guru.

B: The whole world was my Guru. It has been already said that Guru need not be in human form and that the self within, God and Guru are the same.

Roy: I once asked my Gurudev (Sri Aurobindo) about this and he said, 'A spiritual Hercules like Bhagavan needs no Guru.'

B: Everything in the world was my Guru. Don't you know that Dattatreya, when he was asked by the king which Guru had taught him the secret of bliss, replied that the earth, water, fire, animals, men etc. all were his Gurus and went on explaining how some of these taught him to cling to what was good and others taught him what things he should avoid as bad.