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n this book the character Lion Sage is the guru, which of course means teacher. But he is not just anyteacher, he is ateacher of Sat, or the highest truth of the Self within us. The character Mystic Mouse is the chela, the seeking disciple. But he is notjustanydisciple, he is amystic who seeks to personallyexperience within himself the highest truth.Notallreligions have livingteachers ofthehighesttruththatone can approach and apprentice under. Hinduism does. There arethree important parts to the Hindu religion, which can be called its three pillars. First,we have the temple,then the scriptures andfi nally the satguru. Knowledgeable Hindus are involved with all three of these parts of the religion and thereby make strong prog-ress in their spiritual journey toward Self-realization.Seekersoften ask,“DoIneed a guru?” My standard response isto compare the need for a guru to having a singing coach. I begin by saying that anyone can sing simple devotional songs,bhajans. No training is needed. However, if you want to excel in classicalCarnatic music, then you defi nitely need a teacher to help you understandandmasterthemusic’s complexities.Hinduismis thesame. Understanding the mind and learning to meditate deeplyrequire the training of a satguru. Lion Sageillustrates this ideathrough its many stories. pieter weltevredehimalayan academy