Guest guest Posted May 29, 2004 Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 Question from Brian: What is the difference between a Swami and a Guru. Swamiji's response : There are many levels of Gurus. Guru can be a title of respect for any teacher. Or a Guru can be an individual's personal ideal of divinity. There are many relationships in the middle between these two. A Guru can be an example of how to live with God, or a Guru can give information about it. A Swami is ordained. It is a title of respect offered to someone authorized to teach. There are two ordinations: one from above, as when your Guru authorizes you to teach; and one from below, as when your students give respect because they want to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 Swamiji, I have been following this Q/A with interest. May I ask, can you tell us anything on your own process of ordination from your own Guru. These terms are very interesting, they seem to absorb a certain amount of weight from our own experience. I appreciate how you bring the students into the equation. I feel, the Guru is one who is both a friend, and loved, trusted, and is very much aligned to seeing God. It is sort of a living ideal. Too many people use the term to their own ends; it is very precious in its pure form. OM. Please send love to Maa. And love to you and all the Mandir. Steve C. , "Latha Nanda" <lathananda> wrote: > > Question from Brian: > > What is the difference between a Swami and a Guru. > > > Swamiji's response : > > There are many levels of Gurus. Guru can be a title of respect for > any teacher. Or a Guru can be an individual's personal ideal of > divinity. There are many relationships in the middle between these > two. A Guru can be an example of how to live with God, or a Guru can > give information about it. > > A Swami is ordained. It is a title of respect offered to someone > authorized to teach. There are two ordinations: one from above, as > when your Guru authorizes you to teach; and one from below, as when > your students give respect because they want to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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