The Guru is a Superman, is an ideal or spotless Man and even more than that
Amongst men the Guru is a perfect man. A perfect man is the fulfilment of spiritual evolution in human beings. It is impossible to praise him adequately. He is possessed of all virtues and is the fountain-head of spirituality. Whatever there is in the universe, is within him. The virtues of all the regions, from Sat Lok, the True Region, down to this world are within him. They are all manifest in his person. It is difficult to find them elsewhere. It is difficult to swim across the ocean of the world or to bathe in it at all. Bathing is always done on the beach. The perfect man is like the beach of the ocean of life.
You may ask what is special about this perfect man; whence and wherefrom he has come after traversing the various regions? Where is he living? What does he do here? The answer to these questions is that he comes from Sat Lok. He has come to this Bhu Lok1, land of death, and lives here. He is manifesting the glory of the Highest Reality. The influences and virtues of the various higher regions are found in him.
The Lord resides in his heart. The Guru manifests in his being the virtues and personality of the Lord. In this worthy man, perfection of personality and perfection of virtues have met at one place. The virtues of Divinity are manifested in him. If you wish to see God, you should see the Guru. According to the Jews, God made man in His own image.
He has hidden a sun in man.
Maulana Rumi
When the inner eye is opened, one realizes that the Master is the one before whom all should prostrate themselves. He is the life of the universe. He is Truth personified, or Reality in human form. He is of the Truth and reflects the Truth. He is the top of creation. There is no one better than him. There is no one greater than him here or hereafter. Both the worlds should bow at his feet. All the good qualities to be found in the astral and causal regions find a place in him. All virtues are centred in him. He who has seen him has seen the Lord in human form. All the virtues of the Lord are reflected in him. He is the image of the Lord in this world. He is His viceroy and does His work in this world. His intellect and wisdom are unique, and his judgement is sound and unquestionable. He may not have received an education in any school or college, but he is nevertheless the fountain-head of all learning. He understands its meaning.
Even if you look at him from the human point of view, he is the most perfect man. He is the source of all virtues. He does not belong to any particular country or nation. He belongs to all countries and nations. He serves all and teaches all. He has love for all. His teachings are for the entire world. He is a citizen of the world. He lives in this world radiating love, and has come here to spread the light of the Lord as His messenger.
The Guru lives like an ordinary human being. He lives in the world but remains unaffected by it. He treats every one lovingly and sympathetically. His love and care is many times greater than that of a mother. He is a perfect man and has no defects. He takes pity on us despite our faults.
In outward form he is a human being. He is, however, a superman. He is beyond good and evil, and is the most exalted of men. He is the Lord Himself in human form. He is a mixture of morality and spirituality. He shows himself powerless, even though he is all-powerful. He is humble in spite of his greatness. The blending of power with solicitude and humility, and of wisdom with love – the ideal which has been placed before the world by Plato and other philosophers, is to be found in a Satguru only. In actual fact, the Guru is more than a superman because his reach extends beyond human limits. He works in regions which are not perceptible to our senses. He has access to subtle and causal regions and even beyond. These cannot be perceived by our senses, even with the help of external instruments. The scientists are unable to see these regions, since it is not possible for them to travel beyond the material universe. They confine their activities to the world of the mind and intellect. They have experimented a great deal and will continue to do so. But there are subtle regions and worlds beyond the reach of the mind, and the regions of pure consciousness lie still higher. The Master travels through these regions every day.
A Gurumukh comes and goes at will.
Ramkali M1, 932-12
Those who live according to His will can see those regions. But how can we find such a person? Saints and holy men say that all the worlds and regions, the treasure of spirituality, mercy, knowledge and bliss are inside of man.
All things are within our home (body); nothing is outside it. […] How can you find outside what is really inside?
Asa M2, 425 11-16
He who searches without is lost in doubt.
Majh M5, 102-4
Everything is inside. Those who know the method of going inside can find and possess everything.
There is everything in the body, vast lands, regions and under-worlds. The life-giver resides in the body, and sustains all. The treasures of spirituality are inside the body; the springs of devotion are also there. In the body are the nine regions of the earth, and all of its crowded commerce. In the body is the treasure of the Name, but can be found only through the Shabd of the Guru.
Suhi M3, 754 7-11
Hakim Sanai2 says that in the regions of the soul, there are beautiful heavenly regions and also their rulers. There are many mountains and rivers and seas and deserts in the way of the soul, and these cannot be even imagined. This world is like a piece of seaweed in that ocean of creation.
There are skies in the regions of the soul. Their rulers are also there. On that path there are hills and dales, high mountains and mighty rivers.
Sanai Sahib
Inside man, are seas, deserts and mountains; all faculties of thought and imagination are overwhelmed to stillness seeing them. In the vast empty space, this earth would look like a thin hair in the full-flooded ocean.
Maulana Rumi
The human body is an epitome of the universe. It is the microcosm. One who knows it knows the universe.
What is in the macrocosm is in the microcosm. He who seeks finds.
Pipa, Dhanasri 695-15
The human body is a microcosm which is an epitome of the macrocosm. If we know the body we know the universe also. But ordinarily we see only the external appearance of the universe and not the inner reality. In a way, we water the leaves of a tree and not the roots. The roots of the tree of creation are in subtle regions to which we can gain access only by searching inside ourselves. We have, however, never done so.
Emerson says, "Tap inside." All the Saints lay stress on this point. How we can go inside is explained by the Masters, and this has been explained at another place in this book.
Saints and holy men are scientists of those regions, the bliss of which can be experienced only by the soul. They say that the gross physical universe is full of suffering, but that beyond it are numerous subtle and causal regions which are full of light and nothing but light. Satgurus visit these regions at will every day and testify to the existence of these worlds. Those who visit the laboratories of the Saints see them (just as we see the gross physical world) and experience it as a certainty in the same way that two and two make four.
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Footnote:
1) The realm of gross physical matter.
2) Hakim Abul-Majd Majdud ibn Adam Sanai Ghaznavi, known as Sanai, was a Persian mystic and poet who lived from around 1080 – 1131/1141 AD. His best-known work is Hadiqat-ul Haqiqah, known in English as "The Walled Garden of Truth".