"Guru devotion, seeing the guru as a buddha, is called “the root of the path” because just as the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit grow from the stable root of a tree, all the realizations of the graduated path to enlightenment grow from stable devotion to the guru. If there is no root, nothing can grow. If we have the stable root of guru devotion, all realizations come quickly."

Lama Zopa Rinpoche