A guru is someone seen as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a field, who uses it to guide others — essentially a teacher. That guiding role can also be filled by other things: parents, school teachers, non-human objects such as books, or even a person's own intellectual discipline. Finding a true guru is often considered a necessary condition for reaching self-realization.

Significance of the Guru in Hinduism

The word “guru” is made of two syllables — gu, meaning darkness, and ru, the destroyer of that darkness — so a guru is someone who dispels spiritual ignorance through spiritual illumination. The guru-shishya tradition describes deep knowledge passing from a guru (teacher) to a shishya (disciple), received through the student's respect, commitment, devotion and obedience, until the student masters what the guru embodies. As Kabir put it: “Guru and God both appear before me. To whom should I prostrate? I bow before the Guru who introduced God to me.”

Significance of the Guru in Sikhism

Sikhism's core beliefs centre on one God and on the teachings of the Ten Gurus, as enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh Guru, opposed the caste system of his era and accepted people of every faith as disciples: “Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.” In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh Ji — the last living Sikh Guru — gave the Guruship to the Guru Granth Sahib itself: “Sab Sikhan ko hokam hai Guru Manyo Granth” (“All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru”). Sikhs today count eleven Gurus in total — the ten human Gurus plus the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal eleventh Guru.

Do you need a Guru?

A guru is human too, having gained knowledge either from their own guru or through life experience. One can keep a guru only until the needed knowledge feels reached, turning back to the guru only when stuck — much like calling an electrician to install an air conditioner, and not needing him again once it's working. Others are confident and self-reliant, believing they can tap into universal wisdom through their own inner connection, and that the answers they need already lie within, needing only the confidence to reach them.