Guru and Teacher

Guru and Teacher; what difference if any?

Difference? Oh yes! not one, not two but many.

The school teacher is concerned with the head,

The spiritual guru focuses on the heart.

One is concerned with facts and figures,

The other with spirituality and values.

One explains how ten times six is sixty,

The other values more a smile and a ‘thank you’.

The teacher leaves you to find your own pathway,

The Guru reveals to you the right alleyway.

To the one the best course is competition;

To the other, right conduct and cooperation.

Competition is the source of selfishness,

Cooperation generates love and selflessness.

This is what Guru Ved Vyas and Valmiki taught,

It’s also the path our Guru, Sri Sathya Sai showed.

The right path leads to peace and prosperity,

The wrong one opens the door of gloom and misery.

Beloved Swami, to you we are ever grateful,

For teaching us to serve and be helpful.

Guru Purnima is the auspicious day,

For taking a pledge to tread the Guru’s way;

For loving and caring for our motherland,

To turn it into a blooming and peaceful land.

Leckram Gunnasaya

National Spiritual Coordinator