Swami Gnanananda

“To obtain [the Sat-Guru’s] grace the disciple should be the embodiment of service; like Satsang and Iswara pranidhana [surrender to God] it brings the mind under subjection and helps one to achieve one’s objective very quickly. Loving service to the guru is very important for attainment of wisdom.
 
Only one who serves the spiritual master, says the Swami, comes to possess the wisdom that is taught by him, just as only he who digs with a spade gets water. There is nothing in this world which cannot be attained with the anugraha or favour of the guru.”
Sadguru Gnanananda, His Life, Personality and Teachings, by His Devotees (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1979), p. 109.