A Uttama Guru

"I need to go to Tiruvannãmalai. I look at a sign board on the highway with an arrow saying 'Tiruvannãmalai : xx Km'. Does the sign board take you to your destination? No! It is just an indication. Wouldn't it be foolish to just keep looking at the sign boards and expecting them to take us to our final destination?"
says His Holiness, in one of His discourses on Ramana Maharshi's Aksharamana Mãlai. It just but amounts to say that the scriptures and other writings are just like the sign boards, which show you the direction. But you have to put your own effort to get to the destination.

I am forced to think, well, how about a map, or even better, a 'GPS' when I drive? You really don't have to put in much thinking and effort. Just provide gas and control your brakes properly, and blindly follow what the map or GPS has to say. You are definitely there.
Isn't it easy?

I fall flat thinking of the easiest - Take a cab or a bus!!! You don't need to follow the sign boards, maps or GPS, don't even need to know to drive, though the driver is an expert at all of these. All you need is confidence!!! Just believe that you are in safe hands - a safe driver, who has already been to the destination, who is very confident of the route and can drive you safely, and land you up in time. Anybody would obviously opt for this option, given a choice.

If it is so obvious in material life, why is that one is so reluctant to choose a driver in the journey of spiritual quest - a Guru?
But beware!! One needs to exercise utmost caution to select a Uttama Guru. With a reckless and half-baked driver, we end up not only getting astray in our journey but also falling into deep, diabolical drains for life!

Is it as profound as it seems?
Not really. The scriptures call it by different names - Sharanãgati, Prapatti, etc. All of them signify a simple concept - Surrender. Confide in Him, and He will take us ahead.