Who is a Master?...

Who is a master? He is the Self after all. According
to the stages of development of the mind the Self
manifests as the master externally. The famous
ancient saint Dattatreya said that he had more than
twenty-four masters. The master is one from who
one learns anything. The Guru may be sometimes
inanimate also, as in the case of Dattatreya. God,
Guru and the Self are identical.

A spiritually-minded man thinks that God is all-
pervading and takes God for his Guru. Later, God
brings him in contact with a personal Guru and the
man recognises him as all in all. Lastly the same man
is made by the grace of the master to feel that his Self
is the master.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

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"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985