Dedicated to the lotus feet of the divine Guru Shivabalayogi Maharaj

Guru – Q&A, No. 273

Recorded on 9 May 2026 with worldwide participants

0:00 Intro
0:10 Who is a guru?
2:18 Is a guru essential for Self-Realisation?
3:54 Some saints in the past have not had a physical guru. How did they achieve Self-Realisation?
6:17 ‘When the student is ready, the guru appears’ – is this saying correct?
7:52 From the student’s point of view, how to identify the right guru?
13:57 How does a guru help a disciple or devotee?
31:59 Why does a guru go through all the efforts to train the disciple?
38:55 How do we repay the guru for all the pain that the guru takes for the disciple?
40:02 What is the solution if many thoughts come in meditation?
40:46 When Lord Buddha was asked what he had achieved, he said, “nothing”. What did he mean?
42:08 Is there any way of intensifying the watching in meditation or does it happen automatically?
44:00 Is meditation creating a habit of silence that we can also do outside of meditation?
44:33 Should we accept scoldings from elders in the family?
45:26 In my new business, if I am stressed, more things get organised and get done with work. In the last 20 minutes of meditation, many ideas and new energy is there in the mind connected with my work. How to deal with this?
47:37 Is Gurudev our inner Divine space as we try to watch the gap in between the two thoughts? How does He manifest as the outer guru in the physical world?
48:43 Should the student see everything in life as coming from the guru?
49:29 How do I know what the guru is commenting day to day, when the guru is so far away?
50:40 Is the guru an individual or a concept? Can it be a ‘baton-pass’?
51:42 What is the difference between vipassana meditation and the technique that Babaji teaches?
54:45 How can meditation be utilised in day to day life?
55:23 What should we focus on when active in daily life?
56:00 What is the concept of inner guru?
56:49 Is it that the physical guru gives independence and awareness to the disciple of the inner guru?
58:35 How to keep the mind motivated when it is failing to silence the mind in meditation many times?
1:00:11 Like a disciple seeks a guru, does a guru also seek a student?
1:00:33 Is there a spiritual transmission from the guru to the disciple, and how does that work in the development of the disciple?
1:01:28 Can someone realise the Self, just by keeping the company of a Realised master?
1:02:03 Thoughts are eliminated in meditation, but body consciousness is still there. How to progress further?

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