Disciple: “What is the relation between Guru and the Ishta? Are they one?”
Swami Shivananda: “Guru and Ishta (Chosen Ideal or Deity) are one. But then so long as you are in the relative world, bounded by name and form, you have to accept them as separate. When knowledge comes, you will find that the two are one. This knowledge one gets after hard austerities.” (Source: Spiritual Talks by the First Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna)