Sutra 26 purvesham api guruhkalena anavacchedat

Commentary: The key is that isvara has been identified as the param-purusa or innate universal seed consciousness. Ish refers to the inner, as in the ishta deva or inner deity (yidam in Tibetan). Vara can also refer to inner or innate grace. Hence Isvara is the remover of the darkness (gu) or inner light (ru). This is the only sutra which refers to "guru" in the entire Yoga Sutras. It is obvious that yoga practice is designed to bring out the nascent innate light. It is the culmination of sublime vairagya, where the yogi surrenders all attachment and dualistic (egoic) identifications.

Isvara pranidhana is a practice .HERE our every intimate experience becomes our teacher when we ask for guidance in the eternal moment by not identifying with false and limited dualistic beliefs of separation (avidya), but rather when we see eternal spirit as sacred presence in All Our Relations. This Scared Presence is also called "being present". The teacher/teaching is always HERE. The teacher/teaching is always HERE. The teacher/teaching is always HERE. Isvara is found within the unobscured instantaneous eternal moment -- here and now as Now awareness, ever accessible to the true devotee.

"Gu" means darkness, and "Ru" mans to remove. The definition for the word guru then is the remover of the darkness, and in a secondary way, the guru is the one who not just radiates and brings forth light and grace, but rather evokes it inside the sadhak, so that ignorance is destroyed. In one sense all of our experiences and relationships can act as our teachers (in the long run as long as we are learning fro them -- waking up). But certainly most of us appear to suffer from the "hard" lessons not quickly learned that has brought about some temporary darkness, ignorance (avidya), and pain (duhkha). When we reside in sacred presence, HERE , when our HeartMind is open, we are all learning our lessons. Thus everyone everywhere and everything in is in this greater perspective our gurus -- in the integrity which is All Our Relations. The true teacher thus directs us back to the true Self within into the living university and temple. That true teacher resides in the cave of the heart as well as inside the heart of all. It is known in asamprajnata (transcognitive non-dual) realization (samadhi). That guru is not exclusively external (although it resides inside all). It is not exclusively inside (as it resides inside all). That light that the guru reveals or appears to transmit is not exclusive at all. It cannot be owned by anyone specifically.

That said, in the the classical orthodox Hindu guru-shishya -- parampara diksha system the guru once evaluated and accepted is then to be followed unquestioningly and in complete surrender seeing her or him as a manifestation of the perfect and eternal (Sat) Guru or Adinath (primordial master). That interpretation of "guru" is not what Patanjali is referring to. Rather in the Yoga System as put forth by Patanjali the situation is quite different than orthodox Brahmanism, where the guru is not even mentioned except in this very sutra alone. Rather Patanjali refers to devotion to the *practice*of isvara pranidhana as the practice itself, and here there is surrender only to the most pure boundless formless "Self" (purusa) in isvara pranidhana (which becomes a constant practice). Thus, Patanjali suggests surrendering directly to isvara, as it is said that isvara is primordial teacher (guru) of even (api) the teacher of the most ancient teachers -- the darkness dispeller of the darkness dispellers.

Isvara is the innermost teacher and is always accessible inside. Isvara simultaneously is also the universal teacher inside all beings and things. As such isvara is our innate highest potential or said in another way, our innate Buddha nature, or yet in other words, the eternal teacher (Sat Guru) as the light removes the darkness. In yoga, the practice (isvara pranidhana) is indeed the teaching, the teaching is in the practice, and the teacher is in the teaching. Every time we do the practice in an attentive way all of this comes together (if we are lucky) in our own embodiment of it (more or less).

Similarly in Buddhist yoga, it is postulated an external teacher/Buddha, the inner teacher/Buddha, and the secret teacher/Buddha. The outer serves to tune the practitioner in to the inner. Once the inner is experienced, then the universal Buddhanature is recognized in all beings, operating in every atom, being, and throughout boundless space represented as a perceptible interdependent movement. This is not ideology, nor can it be conceptualized, rather through one pointed dedication/devotion to the practice, direct experience is attained (devoid of any fragmented distractions/diversions).