The Guru and Disciple Book

The dynamic between a wise and compassionate preceptor and a committed student is the human foundation for many of the world’s great spiritual traditions. The Guru & Disciple Book examines the traditional identity, character, roles and methods of the spiritual teacher and student in the classical and contemporary world. In forty-five accessible chapters, the author describes the nature of spiritual relationships and the spiritual community created by them, together with the occasional struggles that can occur, through history and in modern times. There are detailed sections on the definition of guru , a word first found in India’s ancient Sanskrit scriptures , the Vedas , and subsequent chapters explore the traditional guidance, pastoral care and counselling techniques of these spiritual masters. The book examines the transplantation of the guru-disciple tradition from India to firstly America and Europe, and then throughout the world. That transplantation, the author argues, has produced both spiritual enlightenment and scandal as westerners adopted, struggled with, and adapted tradition for their contemporary setting. Later chapters explore the origins and mixed fortunes of the order of orange-wearing monks the sannyasis or swamis – which came to embody the principle of guru in post-mediaeval India.