WHO IS A GURU?

A. Guru comes from the two sanskrit roots

'Gu', which means darkness
'Ru', which means 'the remover of'

Here darkness signifies ignorance. The Guru gives us knowledge.

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Q. DO WE NEED A GURU TO LEARN THESE TEACHINGS?

A. YES! 99.999% of us do need a Guru. Under the rare case that you find
someone extraordinary who gains moksham on his own without learning the
scriptures under the guidance of a Guru, he has probably had a Guru in his
previous birth and completed most of his teachings.

Such individuals are few and rare, and I can assure you that most of us are
not in that league, so certainly, find a qualified Guru. No task is
perfectly learnt without a Guru, especially not Vedanta.

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Q. HOW TO FIND A GURU?

A. This depends on two things.

1) Your free will - the effort you put into finding one
2) Your past karma- which will determine whether or not you are supposed to
find one

Both of these work hand in hand, and can speed up or slow down your process.
So while your past karma isn't in your hands, at least take the necessary
efforts to prepare yourself, and approach a Guru