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This involves a deep commitment to self-transformation, submission to a course of discipline by which the mind is tricked out of its conventional habit patterns, and a loving regard for the guru, who must be viewed not as an individual but essentially as a cosmic function. That function is designed to obliterate the illusion of discipleship. Thus the spiritual process between guru and disciple is of a highly paradoxical nature: In order to open to the guru’s transmission and allow it to work the miracle of transformation in us, we must assume the role of the disciple and hence deem the guru as external to ourselves. Yet the guru’s transmission stems from the Spirit itself, which is not separate from us, since it is our very own ultimate identity. The whole spiritual path shares in this paradox. The reason, Yoga tells us, is that while we are inherently free, we do not at present realize this in every moment. Instead we consider ourselves conditioned by all kinds of limiting factors. This turns us into seekers. The search ends when we fully and in every moment live in and as the Spirit, which is truly indivisible whole, whereas the so-called individual is in fact a fragmented being conjured by the illusion of the ego. The guru is the ultimate ego buster. Even while the guru has immense sympathy for the disciple who still thinks of himself as a finite island unto himself—an illusion that is fraught with suffering (duhkha)—the guru constantly and patiently attempts to draw the disciple out of himself and into the supra-individual and universal Self. In this task the guru is governed by wisdom (prajnā) and compassion (karunā), which are themselves supraindividual capacities that are oriented toward the Spirit rather than the finite human personality.
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