In India, the full moon day in the lunar calendar's month of Ashadh (typically July here) is celebrated as Guru Purnima. The word guru has been loosely applied to all kinds of experts, but traditionally, and in this context, it refers to master spiritual teachers. On Guru Purnima devotees express gratitude to their own gurus and, more broadly, to the very concept of the guru as one who dispels darkness and leads spiritual aspirants from the shadows of ignorance to the light of awakened wisdom. Thanks to immigration and the embrace of yogic practices and Indian philosophies by Americans of all origins, Guru Purnima is no longer celebrated only in its birthplace. This year, on the night of...
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