The Vedas say: The one who knows the land, gives direction to the one who does not know, and asks for it (Rigved 9.70.09). One has to complete the journey with his or her own efforts. One has to row his or her boat through the turbulent waters of this world. People discover the truth by their own efforts. Krishnamurti said: 'The precepts of Truth are essentially an individual process.' Just as the complete spectrum of sunlight is not visible to human eye without a prism, similarly, we cannot see the light of Brahm without the grace of Guru, God, and Gita.

Personally, we feel that anybody who does not share the knowledge fully is not helping either his own spiritual progress, the progress of the society, or the followers. The Eastern gurus should learn the art of sharing from the West. The material progress of the world is mostly due to the sharing of scientific and technological knowledge of the West. Any body who meets the minimum requirements can learn anything in the universities in the USA. The fees are affordable and the requirements not very difficult to meet. This is not the case with the so called spiritual masters writers have come across. Most, if not all, Indian spiritual masters (that this writer has met in USA or in India) are very miserly. They are really not serving the people, or their disciples. I hope this article promotes the concept of true sharing of spiritual wealth by the possessors of the wealth for the upliftment of the humanity. Lord Krishna has condemned all those who do not help others with a selfless motive in the true spirit of selfless service, or Nishkaam Karm Yog.

The Vedas prohibit the sale of God in any form. It says: O mighty Lord of countless wealth, I will not sell thee for any price (Rigved 8.01.05). The role of a guru is that of a guide and a giver, and not of a taker. Before accepting a human guru, one must first have — or develop — full faith in the guru, and leave the human frailties of gurus out of consideration; take the pearls of wisdom and throw away the oyster shells. If this is not possible to do, it should be remembered that the word guru also means the light of Jnaan, the true metaphysical knowledge, that dispels ignorance and delusion, and the light comes — automatically — from Par-Brahm, the internal Param guru, when one’s mind is purified by sincere Saadhanaa, Sevaa, and Surrender (Gita 4.38). One must follow the scripture with faith, especially in this age when it is very difficult to find a sadguru.

There are four categories of gurus: a false guru, guru, Sadguru, and Param guru. In this age too many false gurus are coming to teach (or give a mantra) for a price. These false gurus are the merchants of mantra. They take money from disciples to fulfill their personal material needs without giving the Taartamya-vidyaa, or Brahm-jnaan, the true knowledge of Brahm. Saint Tulasidaas said that a guru who takes money (or any form of Sevaa from the disciples and does not remove their ignorance of metaphysics goes to hell (Tulasi Raamaayan 7.98.04) ). Jesus also said: Watch out for false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but they are really like wild wolves on the inside (Matthew 7.15).

A guru is the one who should impart true knowledge and complete understanding of Sat and Asat. The most common meaning of the word guru is the subject matter expert, a teacher or the guide. Thus any human being who imparts you any knowledge, spiritual or material, becomes your guru for that knowledge. Rishi Dattaatreya had twenty-four gurus, both human as well as non-humans, such as: Earth, water, fire, sky, air, sun, moon, as well as some birds, beasts, and insects, because, he learned lessons from their lives.

A Sadguru is a Self-realized master mentioned in Gita 4.34. A Sadguru helps the devotee maintain God-consciousness all the time by his or her own spiritual power. When Antah-karan, the subtle senses such as the mind and intellect, is purified; Supreme Lord Krishna, the Param guru, reflects Himself in the Chitt of a devotee, and sends a guru, or a Sadguru to him or her.

A real guru is the giver. He never asks any money or a fee from a disciple, because he depends on God only. A real guru would not ask anything from a disciple for personal or even for organizational gain. However, a disciple is obliged to do the best he or she can to help the cause of the guru if one has really benefited from the services and wants to promote it for the benefits of others. The aim of the American Gita Society (AGS) is to guide and serve people without a fee. All our services are absolutely free. Sage Yaajnavalkya and his father also believed that one should not accept any fee from a people without giving him or her full instruction and understanding (Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad 4.01.02) of Aksharaateet or Par-Brahm, Akshar or Brahm, and Kshar or Naaraayan, and His various expansions such as: Param-Shiva, Paramaatmaa, Avyakt, Gaayatri, Durgaa, Kaali, Brahmaa, Vishnu, Mahesh, Purush, Maayaa, Prakriti, and Jeev together with their functional relationships with the one and the only One Supreme Person, God. This was the beautiful Vedic tradition that has been completely lost in Kaliyug due to the conflict of personal and organizational interests of modern gurus.

Our own Atmaa inside all of us is the Param guru. Outside teachers only help us in the beginning of the spiritual journey. Our own mind, when purified by Nishkaama Karm, prayer, meditation, Jap, Kirtan (the congregational chanting of holy names), and scriptural study, becomes the best channel and guide for the flow of divine knowledge (See also Gita 4.38, and 13.22). The Divine Person within all of us is the Param guru, and one must learn how to tune in with Him. It is said that there is no greater guru than one’s own mind. A pure mind becomes a spiritual guide and the inner divine guru leading to a Sadguru, and Self-realization. This is expressed by the common saying that the guru comes to a person when one is ready. The word guru also means vast, and is used to describe Brahm or Paramaatmaa, the Param guru and the internal guide.

The wise spiritual teacher disapproves the idea of blind personal service, or the guru cult, which is so common in India, and is being imported abroad. A Self-realized master says that God only is the only guru, and all are His disciples. A disciple should be like a bee seeking honey from flowers. If the bee does not get honey from one flower, it immediately goes to another flower and stays at that flower as long as it gets the nectar. Idolization and blind worship of a human guru become stumbling block in the spiritual progress of both the disciple and the guru and bring downfall of Hinduism.

One must follow a scripture of his or her choice with firm faith, especially in this age when it is difficult to find a true guru. Adherence to the high teachings of the scriptures will ward off all evil and bring about goodness. If a bridge is built, even an ant can easily cross the river, no matter how big a river is. Similarly, the scripture is the bridge to cross over the river of Samsaar.

The ignorance of true metaphysical knowledge (Ajnaan) is humanity’s greatest predicament and root cause of all evils in the world today. There is only one God, and all creatures are His children, then it is childish to fight in the name of Father! In some religions, however, only the members of one’s own sect are considered favorites of God, and others are considered infidels. The Vedas say: Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere (Rigved 1.89.01). Different religious teachings are but different expressions of the Supreme. They are to be respected, not regarded as instruments of division. The dignity and welfare of humanity lie in the unity of races and religion. True knowledge of religion breaks down all barriers, including the barriers between faiths. Any religion, prophet, preacher, sant, mulla, or prachaarak that creates the walls of conflict and hatred among people in the name of God is not a religion, but selfish politics in disguise.

We read in the media, both in India and the US, about holy-men, swamis, and gurus getting involved in immoral and criminal activities. This suggests that all saffron clad may not be holy. In fact, in India many smugglers, thieves and robbers disguise themselves in a saffron robe. In USA there are many phony gurus and sants who work for money, name, and fame to satisfy their worldly material desires. Many of these false gurus do not understand the Vedic scriptures, and start their own brand of Hinduism to the extent that they declare themselves as Bhagavaan (God) or some other name. They distort the meaning of the scriptures and quote scripture written by some unknown false guru that says: (human) guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, all in one. Surrender everything to me. These gurus do not know that we can evoke the potential energy of cosmic forces by contemplating on deities. Such gurus will neither fight when Hinduism is attacked nor preach among the poor, sick, tribal, and Dalits in India or abroad.

In historical times there were many gurus such as Vishwamitra, Vashishtha, Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna, Dayanand Sarasavati, Vivekanand, Yoganand, Nanak Dev, Buddha, Mahatma Mahavir, Christ, Muhammad, etc. Even today there are many great souls who are spreading the true Vedic knowledge. This article is NOT againt Gurus, but only a warning to beware of.

Do not think that anybody who wears a saffron or any other type of sectarian robe is naturally a Jnaani and a guru. Be very careful before you accept a guru and touch his or her feet. And remember the Indian saying: paani piyo chhaan kar Guru chuno jaan kar (Drink water after filtering, and accept a guru only after completely knowing him or her). If you have not yet found a true guru yet, wait and remember what Guru Nanak said: The best of all efforts is to always remember and repeat the name of God within the temple of your heart.

'Blind surrender to an authority (Guru) is an emotional indulgence and illusory security upon which the guru thrives.'

Remember the Sanskrit verse: Shri Krishnam Vande Jagad-Gurum - Bow down to the Universal Guru, Lord Krishna. #