Guru teaches autonomy not submission

The idea of guru being greater than mother, father, even God, is an idea that emerges from medieval times and is articulated in the “Guru Gita”, a conversation between Shiva and Shakti from the Skanda Purana. This chant is very popular today but was not popular in Vedic times, when the guru was essentially acharya (teacher) who was paid fees (dakshina) for his services.

The idea of the charismatic guru, chased by fans and followers, starts with Buddha whose students submitted (sharanam) to him and followed him, until the day he died. This idea recurs in Vajrayana Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism of Nepal and Tibet, where the gurus like 84 Mahasiddhas are admired and worshipped. It is also found in the Nath Yogi traditions where Gorakhnath is completely committed to his master Machindranath. In Islam, everyone is beholden to the Final Messenger, Muhammad Paigamba. In Shia traditions, everyone follows Muhammad’s descendants, the Imam. In folk Islam, we find similar adoration of Ghazis and Pir. Here, the chela follows the ustad, very much as the shishya follows the guruji for the rest of his life. He is completely beholden to the guru who has complete power. In Sikhism too, the guru is all supreme and the final guru is a book—the Granth Sahib. Still, the new gurus, who establish deras, have vast number of followers, who do whatever the guru says. There is submission, not autonomy.