Why Do Need a Guru?
Let us say all that you are seeking is to go to Kedarnath. Somebody is driving; the roads are laid out. If you came alone and there were no proper directions, definitely you would have wished, "I wish there was a map to tell me how to get there."
On one level, a Guru is just a map. He is a live map. If you can read the map, you know the way, you can go. A Guru can also be like your bus driver. You sit here and doze and he will take you to Kedarnath. But to sit in this bus and doze off, or to sit in this bus joyfully, you need to trust the bus driver. If every moment, with every curve in this road, you go on thinking, "Will this man kill me? Will this man go off the road? What intention does he have for my life?" then you will only go mad sitting here. We are talking about trust, not because a Guru needs your trust, it is just that if there is no trust you will drive yourself mad.
This is not just for sitting on a bus or going on a spiritual journey. To live on this planet, you need trust. Right now, you trust unconsciously. Let us say you are sitting in a bus, which is just a bundle of nuts and bolts and pieces of metal.��� Unknowingly, you trust this vehicle so much. Isn't it so? You have placed your life in the hands of this mechanical mess, which is just nuts and bolts, rubbers and wires, this and that. You have placed your life in it, but you trust the bus unconsciously. The same trust, if it arises consciously, would do miracles to you. When we say trust, we are not talking about anything new to life. To be here, to take every breath in and out, you need trust, isn't it? Your trust is unconscious. I am only asking you to bring a little consciousness to your trust. It is not something new. Life is trust, otherwise nobody can exist here.
So if you can draw your own map, if you can drive your own bus, that is wonderful. But on an uncharted path, if you go without a map, it may take lifetimes to find a certain place. It may take lifetimes to cross. If you go with a map you will cross easily. If you go with a good bus driver you will cross very easily; that's the difference.
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