Sublime

guru is not a person but the eternal reality that always exists and shines in our heart as our own being, ‘I am’.

At the deepest level, the one without whom none of this would have happened is Gurumayī. The spiritual awakening I had through her grace catalyzed a process of unfolding that allowed me to encounter the words of the Tantrik master Abhinava Gupta as palpably living energy, not mere fossils. Without Gurumayī’s unfailing love and grace, I would likely

the guru is ultimately not an external figure, but the unconditioned, boundless wisdom aspect of our own inner nature that has presented itself in the form

the guru, the spiritual teacher, is in every one of us. All that another person can do is to make us aware of the teacher within ourselves.

Among many others, I draw on the ideas of two spiritual teachers I should mention. One is my friend Douglas Harding, whose unique and inimitable approach sheds light on the Self as Consciousness, which is pure Kashmir Shaivism. The other is the enigmatic 20th-century teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. I met his teachings in my earliest days as a spiritual se