Guru-disciple relationship

Your original question was: Is the Guru-disciple relationship real?

From the standpoint of the Self one would have to say that it is all maya, but one could add that it is the best kind of maya. One can use a thorn to remove another thorn. Similarly, one can use the maya-like Guru-disciple relationship to root out maya in all its manifestations.

Maya is so firmly established in us that only the illusory Guru-lion in our dream can give us a big enough shock to wake us.