Devoted association with grace is living with the Guru

The mind is always operating through the senses. The vasanas, continually moving towards sense objects, make the mind resemble a lamp flickering in the wind. If it is desireless, the same mind will become motionless, like a lamp in still air. Living with the Guru is the best means for accomplishing this. However, living with the Guru is not, as some people think, the association of one body with another. The Sadguru is God in human form, but if the aspirant regards the Guru as being a form, in the same way that he takes himself to be a body, his own I-am-the-body idea will not cease. So long as this root problem does not cease, the devotee's real nature will not manifest, bondage will not end, and liberation will not be obtained. The aspirant should therefore practice worshipping the Sadguru as the unconditional supreme Brahman. Through this practice he will in due course realise that his real nature is not different from the true nature of the Sadguru. This realisation will remove the I-am-the-body idea and the devotee will attain jivanmukti.

In essence, the aspirant should take consciousness of the Self -- which shines within him just as it shines within the Sadguru -- as his gracious Guru, and abide, through Self-attention, in its presence. This is the true meaning of living with the Guru.

~Sadhu Natanananda, Sri Ramana Darsanam