It is said that enlightenment is possible only by spiritual birth from a Guru. A Guru is necessary for divine initiation. Indeed, having a true Guru is a greater accomplishment than any academic or worldly achievement. The Guru is one who points out to you that you are the Self. He makes you experience your own essential nature. I have heard the following story that reveals the importance of a Guru.

Once upon a time, a washerman went into a forest with his donkeys. There he saw a lion cub alone, without its mother, so he took the cub home, and he brought it up himself, along with his donkeys. The lion cub grew up with donkeys and, of course, he thought he was a donkey, too. One day the washerman took him to the river with the other donkeys, and while they were there, a grown-up lion happened to come along. He was amazed to see the young lion there with all the donkeys.

“What are you doing hanging around with all these donkeys?” he asked.

The young lion was surprised to hear this question. “They are my brothers,” the young lion said. “I’m a donkey myself.”

”Do I look like a donkey?” the old lion asked.

“No, you obviously belong to some other species,” replied the young lion.

“Okay, let me show you something,” said the old lion.

He took the young lion to the riverbank, and he pointed to their two reflections in the water. “Now, do you belong to their species or mine?” he asked and let out a tremendous roar.

Hearing the lion’s roar, the cub tried to roar and found that he could! Filled with delight and wonder, the cub jumped, roared, and relished the realization that he was truly a lion. Immediately, the young lion began to live like a lion, eventually becoming the king of the forest.

That young lion was a lion throughout his life. He was a lion even when he thought he was a donkey, but it took an experienced lion to remove his ignorance. Without that old lion to point it out to him, that young lion might not have realized his lionhood. In the same way, the energy called kundalini in yoga is dormant within us. Only when the Guru’s own energy enters into us to awaken the dormant kundalini energy, can we experience our own divinity.