Do u need a GURU; Ego and Self-respect... Same?

Recently I received two questions vide a personal e-mail. The ensuing discussion, I felt, would be of interest to blog readers....
The sender had asked......
"Some of my questions are
How important is a guru in a seeker"s life
and
what is the difference between ego and self respect."

My Reply :
Thank u for your mail and your kind query. The question is very thought provoking and the intensity of the question can be only felt by a person who is very keen about spiritual growth, though apparently the question looks very 'general'.
The importance of a Guru can be explained by means of an example....
A blind person can go about taking his own time by 'hit and trial' method, driven by chance of luck, to hit the right path, and reach the goal.... Whereas if a person with sight (vision ... in spirituality) decides to hold the hands of the blind and gently leads the way, the path needs the least effort, time and element of uncertainity.... but ironically, in spirituality, it is the Guru who seeks the disciple, unlike the students 'applying' for 'admissions' to educational institutions, tution centres etc... this is so because the very nature of the spiritual path demands such relationship ! And shall I add... the example is only indicative and not literal, since, for instance, in spiritual path, the Guru 'enables' the 'blind(ed)' to start 'seeing' by himself, and in turn has the 'choice' to help out others (if they are willing) !
The next part of the question, difference between self respect and ego..... Self respect seeks to acknowledge the status at which we are instead of being unduly submissive...which, when mixed up with ego, tends to be unnecessarily 'assertive' to 'demand' recognition and results in 'inflating' the ego ultimately ending up in a chain process of seemingly irreversible 'karmic' bondage of ego !
Ego, has to be understood contextually, since the application of the word with multi faceted meanings is more of contextual relevance than isolated meaning.. especially, when discussing with reference to spirituality. For example, in spiritual path we say, the very bond of body and the being is due to a little bit of ego, which is essential for sustaining the 'togetherness'... which perhaps explains why some 'attained' souls just 'leave' the body and 'vanish !!' after they 'attain'. This subject instantly takes us very deep into a very interesing area of spirituality and only a direct interaction can do justice to a sincerely interested person.
The importance of self-respect can be better understood by trying to look at the situation in the absence of it... A person who lacks adequate self-respect is vulnerable to un-necessary misery inflicted upon him by people who are fond of exploiting such situation... Otherwise, self respect, in spiritual path merely means to acknowledge one's milestones to enable to progress further meaningfully instead of repeating the processess unecessarily due to(or because of) 'over-humility' !
I hope I have done justice to the question to extent that an e-mail mode allows or affords, though I find that the questioners generally feel clarified more only during 'face-to-face' interaction, like the one we had during our recent meet at the residence of Ms.Saraswathy, during first week of this month.
You are most welcome to continue... I hope 'reply' mode of this email reaches you...
Thanks & Regards,
P.S.Narayanan

Critical questions in spirituality

A beautiful gift was given to me in the form of a book titled "Dialogues with The Guru".
It deals with basic questions of spirituality presented by a great intellectual and lucid irrefutable answers given by a great master. Truly, the book is worth its weight in GOLD ! References are made to some religious quotes are for easy understanding. Otherwise the discussions do not warrant any "ism" or belief to understand.... On the contrary an open mind without any belief of any sort would help better to grasp the subtle truth conveyed through these dialogues
I welcome any discussion on the contents of this book from blogger community...