Guru

यथा खनन् खनित्रेण नरो वार्यधिगच्छति |
तथा गुरुगतं विद्यां शुश्रूषुरधिगच्छति ||

Yathaa khanan khanitreNa naro vaaryadhi-gachchhati
tathaa Gurugatam vidyaam shushrushuradhi-gachchhati

Meaning: Just as a person gets water by digging the earth with a spade, so also does a student get knowledge, who serves his Guru.

Though we should be remembering our Guru at all times, Guru Poornima is one festival where we should always remember our Guru. Knowledge, as understood in Indian culture, is not jut acquiring information or understanding concepts. It is far more encompassing. Knowledge as in Vidyaa, connotes a realization which enhances and elevates our life to a higher state of being. Knowledge is not knowledge unless it makes a positive, qualitative difference in our current state of living. Information is what we acquire, and knowledge is what we become. To quote my favorite Morpheus: "Don't think you are, know you are!"

With this perspective in mind, this subhaashit emphasizes the importance of a Guru in our lives. A Guru is one who not only has endless knowledge, but also endless love for you. Guru is one who knows what's best for you, and works hard for the best of you to come out. He is one to whom you can go at any time with any of your problems, academic or otherwise. He has the discipline of our father and the love of our mother. That's why Acharya comes right after Maata & Pitaa in our Bodh Vachan. 

With all his love for us, the Guru never imparts knowledge on his own. He creates hunger in us & then educates when we have the ability and eagerness to consume. That is why, knowledge has to be extracted from the Guru, just as water has to be dug out from the earth. The water is there... in abundance... but we can not acquire it without our own toil.

Today, there is a growing support to the teacher-less teaching methodologies, especially due to the advent of the Internet and video-conferencing. These are definitely very good mediums of imparting information. But knowledge is a different ballgame. In fact, in Indian traditions, students went to stay at the Gurukuls not to study but to serve the Guru. It was in the process of serving the Guru that all knowledge was gained. Sure, they had classroom studies, but that was just one part of it. The education of life & the building of character lay outside the classroom.It was through the demonstrative life of the Guru that students learned the lessons of life. It was through the conversations with the Guru that the students learned. It was the spirit of surrendering our self to the Guru through which the students learned. And the knowledge gained thus, was true Vidyaa.

A glorious modern-day example of such a life-oriented institution is Tattvagnana Vidyapeeth, situated in Thane, Maharashtra in India. Their students are true vidyaarthees; they are seekers, spending 2 years of their precious time, searching the questions of life, under the guidance of their Guru.

True knowledge lies in finding our Guru, and surrendering our full selves to our Guru for life.