Swami Vivekananda’s Quotes On The Guru, The Spiritual Teacher Or The Acharya

"A real Guru is one who is born from time to time as a repository of spiritual force which he transmits to future generations through successive links of Guru and Shishya (disciple)." These wise words were spoken by none other than the revolutionary Hindu Monk of Ramakrishna's monastic order, Swami Vivekananda. Although born of a high lineage, he was a recluse inside whose burning desire was to know about the mysteries of this world, and most importantly about God. When he later met Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, he became history and became a full-fledged monk and a seer of rare abilities, His perception of a Guru or Acharya is something beyond us to imagine but it was Paramahamsa who fit the bill, A to Z. Here are a few of his quotes on Acharya or The Spiritual Guru.

1. Anyone and everyone cannot be an Acharya (teacher of mankind); but many may become Mukta (liberated)
2. Find the teacher, serve him as a child, open your heart to his influence, see in him God manifested.
3. He alone teaches who has something to give, for teaching is not talking, teaching is not imparting doctrines, it is communicating
4. He is an Acharya through whom the divine power acts
5. Guru-Bhakti is the foundation of all spiritual development
6. It is easier to become a Jivanmukta (free in this very life) than to be an Acharya. For the former knows the world as a dream and has no concern with it; but an Acharya knows it as a dream and yet has to remain in it and work
7. Know it for certain that without steady devotion for the Guru and unflinching patience and perseverance, nothing is to be achieved
8. My dearest and nearest relative in life is my Guru; next, my mother; then my father. My first reverence is to the Guru. If my father says, "Do this", and my Guru says, "Do not do this", I do not do it. The Guru frees my soul. The father and mother give me this body; but the Guru gives me rebirth in the soul.[Source]
9. My success is due to my popular style - the greatness of a teacher consists in the simplicity of his language
10. Mind you, the Guru-Bhakta will conquer the world - this is the one evidence of history
11. Only the knowers of Brahman are the spiritual teachers of mankind
12. The disciple must worship the Guru as God Himself
13. The father and mother give me this body; but the Guru gives me rebirth in the soul.[Source]
14. The Guru has to bear the disciple's burden of sin
15. The Guru is the bright mask which God wears in order to come to us
16. The Guru is the conveyance in which the spiritual influence is brought to you. Anyone can teach, but the spirit must be passed on by the Guru to the Shishya (disciple), and that will fructify.
17. The Guru must teach me and lead me into light, make me a link in that chain of which he himself is a link. The man in the street cannot claim to be a Guru. The Guru must be a man who has known, has actually realised the Divine truth, has perceived himself as the spirit. A mere talker cannot be the Guru. A talkative fool like me can talk much, but cannot be the Guru. A true Guru will tell the disciple, "Go and sin no more"; and no more can he sin, no more has the person the power to sin.[Source]
18. The one who has the power of transmitting this current is called a Guru
19. The power that can transform life in a moment can be found only in the living illumined souls, those shining lights who appear among us from time to time. They alone are fit to be Gurus
20. We must all wait till the Guru comes, and the Guru must be worshipped as God
21. Without an unbroken chain of discipleship-Guruparampara-nothing can be done

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