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I am from Bangalore. I have been blessed by the entry of two Gurus into my life. I believe I must have done some good Karmas in one of my earlier lives. Though I do lead a material life, I am sincerely interested in moving on the spiritual path and I am earnestly doing my Sadhana regularly. I have a friend just like me and our Guru refers to as soul mates. We two have a lot of genuine doubts, but unfortunately we rarely get to meet our Guru and so many of our doubts remain unanswered. One mind-boggling question is how can genuine seekers end up with fake Gurus? We have deduced our own conclusion with our very limited minds. But we'd like to know from someone who is at a higher level of evolution. And then there are Gurus who are either revered completely or totally denounced. How does this happen? Satya Sai Baba for instance or Sri Sri Ravishankar. An enlightened Master in our understanding can never be misunderstood isn't it? We will be grateful if you could clarify.
Jyothi (Name changed), India |
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You said: “We two have a lot of genuine doubts, but unfortunately we rarely get to meet our Guru and so many of our doubts remain unanswered.”
It is a fact that Doubts in our mind are the cause we are away from the God. Doubt or uncertainty is a great obstacle in the path of Self-Realization. The doubts keep us away from God. Doubts must be removed by study of religious books, Satsanga (holy company), Vicara (enquiry) and reasoning.
At the same time there is another fact: Most of the times doubts cannot be removed even after seeker gets the answer. Even if your Guru answers some of your questions you will again return to the same base (even if it is the right answer.) This happens because of our Samskaras (past impressions) from past lives. The only thing that clears the doubt is the divine wisdom which comes only after practice of divinity for several decades.
In the material world teacher teaches, but in case of spirituality Guru never teaches, it is the disciple who has to learn from the Guru. Consistent and sincere Sadhana provides Sadhak the ability to learn.
You asked: “One mind-boggling question is - how can genuine seekers end up with fake Gurus?”
The answer is one who ends up with a fake Guru is not a genuine Sadhak in the first place. (In my view there is no concept as “genuine Sadhak”. Everyone is a traveler and they all are relatively on the higher or lower rung of the ladder of divinity. But for this discussions I will stick with this concept for now.) God has given us full freedom to of choice. A seeker will have many choices before him (or her) but a “Mudh” person (one living under veil of ignorance) tries to judge a Guru by his external appearance (fame, miracles, speech etc.) and most of the times will end up with wrong Guru because such Gurus generally teach or talk what that Sadhak wants to hear. All this happens because of lack of Vairagya (dispassion) and Viveka (discrimination) in that individual.
If one tries to judge a Guru with wrong tools (intellect stained by our ego and 5 sense organs) he will mostly be led to the wrong path. God does not help such people. He may try to guide them in the right direction many times, but since they cannot differentiate between good and bad they will end up with a bad or fake Guru eventually.
Those who have right tools (intellect powered with Vairagya and Viveka) will most of the times be led to the right Guru (this happens not by that individual’s choice but by divine grace. This is where divine plays a major part for the “able” Sadhak.)
Summary: Those who get attracted to external appearance will be misled on the wrong path. If such Sadhak will increase his divine wisdom he will still be led in the right direction eventually (meaning nothing is permanently right or wrong.)
You asked: “And then there are Gurus who are either revered completely or totally denounced”
The reason is most of the seekers are “Mudh” (living under veil of ignorance). So their actions are also wrong.
Let me give one simple examples. Siddharudh Swami (Hubli, Karnataka) was one of the enlightened souls. One day he was happily sitting near a Trash dumpster in his blissful state. Some kids who were playing around put burning firewood on his head. He still did not move. It was a passerby who took it off from Swami’s head, took him home and did the first aid. There was no one around there in that town who could identify a genuine Siddha. In simple words, people don’t have the ability (or tools) to identify a genuine one, and therefore, if people are running after some Guru does not mean he is a genuine one and vice-versa.
In my view, an enlightened Master is the one who is most of the times (always) misunderstood by people (because people don’t have ability to judge him). Enlightened one has nothing to show us externally (that our eyes can see) and has everything internally (that our eyes cannot see.) A real guru is one who has full knowledge of the self and the Vedas. He dispels the doubts of aspirants. He is free from likes and dislikes, joy and sorrow, egoism, anger, lust, greed, pride, etc. He is an ocean of mercy. In his presence one gets peace and elevation of mind - all doubts are cleared. The Guru does not expect anything from anybody. He has an exemplary character. He is full of joy and bliss.
To identify a Siddha Guru one needs to have DivyaChakshus (divine eyes) which most of the people don’t. Even those who are with an enlightened Guru are under the veil of ignorance for extended period of time. It’s the spiritual efforts and Guru Bhakti (devotion) of several decades or lives that helps tear this veil of ignorance.
Hope this helps.
Thank you.
Mahendra Joshi
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