10 The Guru and the Disciple
( thin gravy made out of yogurt and various spices, usually eaten with rice), you will have to ask someone about the ingredients! Whomever you ask is a guru. So there is a need for a guru wherever you go. You need a guru for everything. Now, if you need some legal work done, your lawyer is your guru. Do you agree? So regardless of what you do and where you go, you need a guru. The guru is necessary everywhere.
Questioner: So if one wants to go all the way to moksha, he will need a guru.
Dadashri: You need a guru for wherever you want to go. If you are traveling by car and want to take the highway, then you( may) need to ask someone, if not, you will end up traveling in the wrong direction. A guru is necessary in matters related to the worldly life and a guru is needed in matters of nischay( spiritual path). Therefore, it is important to understand what a guru is and who can be called a guru.
A Guru is anything or anyone you learn from
Questioner: So as far as religion is concerned, should we have just one guru or should we have multiple gurus?
Dadashri: It is like this: You should maintain the intention( bhaav) of being a student or a disciple in every situation. In reality, you should make the whole world your guru. You can learn from even the trees. What do we do to the mango tree? In order to pick the mango off the tree, we use a stick and beat at the branches, but even then, the tree gives us its fruit. If we learn just this virtuous attribute from the tree, how well we would progress spiritually! The tree too is a jiva( embodied soul)! It is not just a piece of wood.
Questioner: Dattatreya made some animals his guru. In what sense was this?
Dadashri: Not only Dattatreya, everyone does that.