Editing Guru (section)

{{Short description|Spiritual teacher and guide}}
{{Other uses}}

[[File:Guru and DiscipleI.jpg|thumb|The guru-smiti relationship. Watercolour, Punjab Hills, India, 1740.]]
'''Guru''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|uː|r|uː}} {{langx|sa|गुरु}}; [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: ''guru'') is a [[Sanskrit]] term for a "[[mentor]], [[guide]], [[expert]], or master" of certain knowledge or field.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pertz |first1=Stefan |year=2013 |title=The Guru in smiti - Critical Perspectives on Management |publisher=GRIN Verlag |isbn=978-3638749251 |pages=2–3}}</ref> In pan-[[Indian religions|Indian traditions]], a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or ''[[wikt:शिष्य|shisya]]'' in Sanskrit, literally ''seeker [of knowledge or truth'']) or student, with the guru serving as a "counsellor, who helps mould values, shares [[experiential knowledge]] as much as [[Knowledge#Hinduism|literal knowledge]], an [[Role model|exemplar in life]], an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student".<ref name=joelmlecko/> Whatever language it is written in, [[Judith Simmer-Brown]] says that a [[tantra|tantric]] spiritual text is often codified in an obscure [[twilight language]] so that it cannot be understood by anyone without the verbal explanation of a qualified teacher, the guru.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Judith Simmer-Brown |last=Simmer-Brown |first=Judith |year=2002 |title=Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism |location=Boston, Massachusetts |publisher=Shambhala Publications|page=169|isbn=978-1-57062-920-4}}</ref> A guru is also one's spiritual guide, who helps one to discover the same potentialities that the ''guru'' has already realized.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/guru-Hinduism |title=Guru |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2013}}</ref>

The oldest references to the concept of ''guru'' are found in the earliest [[Veda|Vedic]] [[Hindu texts|texts]] of [[Hinduism]].<ref name=joelmlecko/> The ''guru'', and ''[[gurukula]]'' – a school run by ''guru'', were an established tradition in India by the [[Vedic period|1st millennium BCE]], and these helped compose and transmit the various [[Vedas]], the [[Upanishads]], texts of various schools of [[Hindu philosophy]], and post-Vedic [[Shastras]] ranging from spiritual knowledge to various arts so also specific science and technology.<ref name=joelmlecko/><ref name=tamara/><ref name=scharfetempleschools2/> By about mid 1st millennium CE, [[The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual|archaeological]] and [[Early Indian epigraphy|epigraphical evidence]] suggest numerous larger institutions of ''gurus'' existed in India, some near [[List of Hindu temples|Hindu temples]], where [[guru-shishya tradition]] helped preserve, create and transmit various fields of knowledge.<ref name=scharfetempleschools2/> These gurus led broad ranges of studies including [[Hindu scriptures]], [[Buddhist texts]], [[Sanskrit grammar|grammar]], [[Indian philosophy|philosophy]], [[Indian martial arts|martial arts]], [[Indian music|music]] and [[Indian painting|painting]].<ref name=scharfetempleschools2/><ref name=michelltempleschool/>

The tradition of the guru is also found in [[Jainism]], referring to a spiritual preceptor, a role typically served by a [[Jainism|Jain]] [[Jain monasticism|ascetic]].<ref name="Jeffery D Long 2009 pages 110, 196">Jeffery D Long (2009), Jainism: An Introduction, IB Tauris, {{ISBN|978-1845116262}}, pages 110, 196</ref><ref name=patridge252/> In [[Sikhism]], the ''guru'' tradition has played a key role since its founding in the 15th century, its founder is referred to as [[Guru Nanak]], and its scripture as [[Guru Granth Sahib]].<ref>William Owen Cole (1982), The Guru in Sikhism, Darton Longman & Todd, {{ISBN|9780232515091}}, pages 1-4</ref><ref name=singhakaur/> The guru concept has thrived in [[Vajrayana|Vajrayāna]] Buddhism, where the tantric guru is considered a figure to worship and whose instructions should never be violated.<ref name=berkwitz130/><ref name=johnston371/>