Guru and God

Guru and God both appear before me. To whom should I prostrate?
I bow before the Guru who introduced God to me.
-Kabir

In one of his discussions with fellow disciples of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda referred to Ramakrishna as God. Another disciple objected, saying, ‘Surely that is extreme. I agree that the Master is enlightened, but how can he be God?’

Vivekananda asked his fellow disciple, ‘What do you know about God?’

The fellow disciple said, ‘Oh, God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.’

Vivekananda asked, ‘What do you mean by saying that God is omnipresent?’

The disciple said, ‘God is everywhere.’

Vivekananda said, ‘Surely then you must be able to see him now in that case.’

The disciple was confused and did not know what to say further.

Vivekananda told him, ‘To you God is a concept that you can not see, a notion that you do not even know or understand. Here is the Master in front of you who is God in reality.’

Someone asked me, ‘What is the difference between God and Guru?’

I told him, ‘What do you know about God? All you know is a bunch of words, concepts. You have no clue as to what you are talking about when you refer to God. To you he is just an idea, an imagination of what you believe to be the ultimate energy and universal consciousness, or whatever name you wish to give something you know nothing about!’

The Brahmanda Purana says,
Guru is Shiva sans his three eyes,
Vishnu sans his four arms
Brahma sans his four heads.
He is Parama Shiva himself in human form

The guru is real. He is the reality of the ultimate cosmic energy. He is here and now. He is in the present; He is the present. He is the bridge between you and the concept of God. In that sense he is greater than God.

Some one asked me, ‘Are you God?’
I told him, ‘If you do not know what or who God is, how can you ask me whether I am God? God cannot be defined. He can only be experienced.’
Let me tell you one thing clearly, ‘I am not here to prove that I am God. I am here to prove that you are God.’