to spiritual principles and the search for spiritual meaning in her own life. By imbibing this throughout childhood, they will most likely continue that path for the rest of their adult life. And as they grow away from direct maternal guidance, they will hopefully then wish to seek out an even more enlightened being to further enhance their growth.
   The yogic and tantric guru-disciple tradition has survived for millennia. Prior to even the oldest known written records, spiritual knowledge and practices were passed on orally by way of demonstration and verbally through mantras, scriptures and allegorical stories. Not only in India, but on many other continents, indigenous peoples have kept alive their traditions of spiritual knowledge in exactly the same ways. This is called direct transmission. Even today, in the ashrams of India and elsewhere, this tradition is continued where the yoga knowledge is passed on only from guru to disciple; only following special initiations; only after the aspirant was deemed fit and ready for them; and only after the students had made that link with the teacher and the ancestors.
   However, since yoga has come to the West, this system of teaching has become more informal and less hierarchical. This means that yoga is now known to a far greater number of people than ever before, but it has also meant that the true nature and purpose of the guru-disciple relationship has become misunderstood and even maligned. Many students will gladly accept the philosophy, the techniques and the benefits of this yoga tradition, but will instantly shy away from any mention of this deeper aspect, that is the link between the practices, the guru and the lineage of yoga's ancestors.
   For a sincere spiritual aspirant, the relationship with a guru is indispensable. The journey towards self-knowledge can be so tricky, that unless we have a point of contact outside of ourself, we can very easily become lost or deluded. Today in the West, many of the new-age pundits (and their followers!) reject the idea of having a guru, proudly preaching the doctrine of - "Everyone has (or is) their own inner guru". Rather than surrendering their ignorance to a bona fide master and settling into any one lineage, such seekers prefer to mix and match ideas and techniques from any number of sources, taking only the bits they like and ignoring anything else they feel is "not right for me". Whilst it may be ultimately true that we are all our own gurus, in my opinion, prematurely embracing such an idea is a sure trap into which the ego falls whenever it may be confronted by its own inability to transcend itself.

   It is important for all seekers to understand that it is the disciple who initiates the relationship with the guru. It is always the student's need, readiness and choice to connect or disconnect with any guru, yet at the same time, it is also their destiny or dharma. When you meet and feel drawn to your true guru, it is sometimes called "the choiceless choice". There is an inevitability about it.
   A guru is not a guru without a disciple. A person, no matter how wise, how spiritual, how loving, cannot proclaim themselves a guru. They don't just do a course in guru skills and then put up a shingle announcing - "Guru Bob: Open for Business" - although these days some bogus ones do! Check out the Internet sometime, they're all there. But seriously, any teacher who has advanced spiritual development will just be living where they are, as they are, without any pretensions or need to advertise. Most often it is the disciples who create the marketing of their masters.
   Every individual's relationship with their guru is unique, intensely private and often indescribable to others. One hundred people may have the same guru, and yet have a totally different experience of his / her teachings. How can the same guru be so inconsistent to so many people? But it is not the guru who is inconsistent. Their purpose and their teachings are always consistent. It is the individual nature of the disciple who creates the "tailor made" nature of the relationship as well a their own interpretation of it. The day to day relationship with the guru varies according to the needs and nature of the disciple and as well the methods the guru employs to awaken the inner knowledge vary as well. It would be impossible to describe the way the journey might proceed for someone else.
   As a result of this uniqueness, the relationship with a guru may be formal or informal; they may appear to be acquaintances, friends, family, lovers or husband and wife; it may involve full time contact, part time contact, or no contact at all; they may visit, write, speak or not make physical contact at all, in which case the relationship is played out purely in the psychic realm through meditation, dream or direct transmission. The guru may be male or female; the same gender as the disciple or the opposite; the same nationality or different; physically close or distant; living in the physical body or passed on. The disciple may be one of thousands or may be the only one; they may be taught yoga and meditation techniques or they may not. All these kinds of guru-disciple relationship are equally as valid as they are different.