People always ask me who my guru is so I thought this episode will be my unveiling. The answer may shock you.

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Intro + Outro Music: Silent Ganges by Maneesh de Moor

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Episode 139 – Introducing My Guru with Sahara Rose

By Sahara Rose

Namaste. It’s Sahara Rose and welcome back to the “Highest Self” podcast. A place where we discuss what makes you your soul’s highest evolvement. A question I get all the time is “who is your guru?” People want to know who’s the person that must have taught you everything it is that you know. And the truth is, my guru is my dog, Chubby. He’s two years old, and he is the most amazing guru I’ve ever had.

You see, he practices unconditional love, he’s always present, he practices forgiveness and he never holds a grudge. He always looks at the bright side of things and always remains hopeful. He lives with playful energy and is always ready for fun. He is hyper sensitive to all energies that come in and out, even the unseen ones, and he can tell exactly when someone is upset, or nervous, or going to leave the house, and will do everything that he can do to comfort them.

He doesn’t care what he looks like, like he doesn’t know if he has a cute haircut, or totally shaggy. It makes no difference to him, he’s totally past physical appearance. And he is so loyal, affectionate, supportive, he reminds me of what matters. So truly I believe that animals are our gurus, dogs are our gods, and I would not have been able to write “Idiot’s Guide for Ayurveda” or “Eat Feel Fresh” if it wasn’t for Chubby. Because he continued to remind me to take breaks, to take easy, that I am loveable already even if I don’t achieve anything.  He doesn’t give a shit if I have a podcast, or have written a book, or what my hair looks like. He just loves me for me and that is the greatest thing any guru can give you.

So we live in this age where people are still seeking the answer. They’re almost waiting for someone to levitate out of thin air and be like, “Hey, what’s up, I’m your guru, nice to meet you. You’ve been waiting for me, I’m actually Sinbad from, you know, that ‘90s movie, yeah. I’m your guru, so I’m going to tell you all the answers to life, you’re never gonna have to think on your own again. I’m just here to solve all of your problems, call me.” Yeah, like that doesn’t happen.

And I know some people have gurus and that’s been an incredible experience for them, and if that’s your journey, that’s amazing, and I’m really happy for you. That hasn’t been my journey, I have never had a person who has kind of been like, “I’m gonna teach you everything that there is to know.” That person has been me, and I am so grateful for that and that is how my journey was meant to be played out.

It has allowed me to think on my own. That when I have a problem or a dilemma instead of going to a mentor, or a friend group, or even a parent it has been me that has figured it out. And a lot of you guys listening have had similar journeys. And I know this because you guys message me all the time saying, “Where do I find a guru? Where do I find a mentor?” And the thing is, that person is you and your animal, and the nature outside your house, the trees, the sky, the oceans, this is your guru right here.

And I think that there is a lot of strength that one acquires from not having someone that they can go to every time they have a problem. Because it allows them to think on their own feet. And truly that person who may be a guru for you or a mentor for you they are not perfect, no one is perfect. And in this age, the former age of the gurus, people often thought that some people were above others and that is not true.

There is no one who is born more enlightened than anyone else. Yes, they may have more clean slate I would say at looking at things that they are able to look at the truth more clearly. But that does not make them better, that does not make them more entitled, that does not make their opinions on your life correct. And oftentimes we lose ourselves from gurudom. We pray to this person to be our lord and save-all when we forget that that person can only be us. No one can solve your problems if you cannot solve your problems. If you don’t know what decision to make and you know all of the back story of your problem then chances are someone else who has two seconds with you is not going to either.

Now this does not mean that you should not ask for help. I definitely think that it can be very powerful to have a team of mentors, a therapist, a life coach, et cetera. But I don’t think that that person should become your guru or the way that we have made gurus become in this society. The word guru in Sanskrit means teacher, so in India, people are gurus, but that just may mean they’re a teacher, they can be a guru of yoga, a guru of Vedanta, but that not mean that they are the end all, be all.

However, the way that it has gone—and this is even more in India—that now these gurus almost have power over people. And they’re seen as gods, as divine, as better than holy. And there is a lot of danger in doing that. So I’m not your guru, Tony Robbins is not your guru, no one can be the person who makes the decisions of your life. The person who is assigned to that role is you. And as tempting as it is to give up all responsibility and to have someone to basically figure it out for you so you can just take the next step, the whole point of the human experience is for you to weasel your way through.

You know, imagine if you were placed on this maze and there was someone telling you, “Okay, turn left, turn right,” and directing you the whole way, yeah, you will make it to the center of the maze, but was that journey really worthwhile? What makes the maze worthwhile is when you get to the dead end and you realize, “That wasn’t the way,” and you turn around and you try another path, and then you figure out the rhythm on your own. It is useless when it is handed to you because you don’t learn the lessons, you are blindsided by someone who is controlling you.

So in this new paradigm we must let go of the age of the guru. We must let go of thinking that someone else is smarter than us, better than us, has the answers for our lives. Yes, there are spiritual people, there are people with profound truth, there are people with incredible wisdom. Some people are born more connected than others, that happens too, but that does not mean that they are better than anyone. We are all equal and sometimes the people who’ve gone through the most shit, who have been in the shadows, in the trenches, who really know what it’s like to be addicted to something, to lie, to steal, sometimes those people have the most wisdom of all.

So we can’t say, “Oh, this person is a seventh generation guru and they’ve never even smelled marijuana, and they don’t know what alcohol is.” That doesn’t make them a more crystal clear channel. That just means that was their journey. But sometimes the people who can see truth so clearly because they’ve been on the other side of it are the people with the shadows.

So this is why we must let go of judgment. Why we must see everyone as our guru. That person when you’re crossing the street and asks you to take your hand and he’s homeless and he’s smell and he’s saying, “Can you help me cross the street?” And you have meetings to go to, and people to see, and the last thing you have time for is to help this guy cross the street. That man right there is your guru and that’s what happened to me in my situation and that exact man, and that exact situation was the guru, was the angel that changed my life and led to Deepak Chopra writing the foreword of my books.

So your guru is not the holy teacher, your guru is not the person that everyone comes and touches their feet. Your guru is not the person that people have framed posters of in their house and in their yoga studios. Your guru comes in disguises, in the people that annoy you, frustrate you, other me. In that Instagram post that rubbed you the wrong way and that thing your friend say that you still can’t get over your guru is hidden in those seeds, we just don’t recognize it.

Because what those seeds have hidden for us are deeper truths into our being. Those things that bother us are things about ourselves that we must come to surface with. And someone can tell us that, but it’s not going to be the same as us coming to our own realization. So stop searching for the answers, stop searching for the clear path, stop looking for the guru, and realize that that guru is you. Namaste.

Episode 139 – Introducing My Guru with Sahara Rose