The Guru is in Everyone
In yoga, as with any great spiritual teaching, we learn that the most valuable and profound lesson is to know who we are in Truth ~ or, Self-realization. In Sanskrit the true Self is ‘Saakshaat’ and referred to as one’s ultimate guru to seek, for it is when we connect with that truest part of ourselves that all darkness, as the ‘illusory’ self, or ego-self, is dispelled. As long as we remain identified with the ego as who we think we are, then we remain trapped within the constant fear-based struggles of the ego-mind, or ‘Ahamkara’ in Sanskrit. The ego knows no peace and is constantly either seeking pleasure or avoiding pain.
yogi me this...
However, once we begin a spiritual path and detoxify the mind, transformation occurs spontaneously and life unfolds synchronistically. One can either exist in living the dharma, or their karma, but not both. So, by choosing the path of dharma ~ by learning and understanding that we all have dharma to live and fulfill, we grow spiritually and therefore, evolve.
In yoga, we unlearn more than we learn and realize that:
knowing is different that thinking,
wisdom is different than intellect,
and that power is different than force.