That human relationships are complicated would be a huge understatement. They are much more than just complicated, they are often dark, murky, and messed up. Who of us has not experienced the sheer frustration and despair of not having our expectations met? Or the agonizing pain of having a broken heart?  Or the complex and… Read More »

The Role of a Guru A friend of mine who is a psychotherapist working in France asked me about my research regarding the Guru-disciple relationship. I gave him a short summary about what all I had done. Interestingly, though the idea of the Divine or That Absolute, whatever we choose to call It, was not… Read More »

The definition of a Guru A few years back I came across an article by Joel D. Mlecko titled, “The Guru in Hindu tradition.” The article traces the significance of the Guru-disciple relationship from the Vedic era up to the present times. Though the article gives us only a cursory glimpse of the topic it… Read More »

One of the earliest memories I have of the term “Guru” is that of dancing as a ten year old to the following Sanskrit shloka, “Gurur brahmaa gurur vishnuh gurur devo maheshvarah gurur saakshaat parabrahma tasmai shree gurave namah.” Of course I memorized the lines given that we practiced the dance sequence at least for a… Read More »