Masters and Gurus

Mainstream religions tend to focus on their principle teacher, saint, prophet or guru - great masters such as Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, etc. Yet there have been a great many teachers who have left their mark upon the world. I have a great little book called "Living Biographies of Great Religious Leaders" which contains summaries of the lives of Moses, Isaiah, Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, Confucius, John the Baptist, Jesus, Saint Paul, Shankar, St Francis of Assisi, John Huss, Martin Luther, St Ignatius of Loyola, Jean Calvin, George Fox, Emanuel Swedenborg, John Wesley, Brigham Young, Mary Baker Eddy and Mohandas Gandhi.

In "Mans Eternal Quest", Paramahansa Yoganada (right) urges us to: "Visit different temples and churches - Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and so on - to develop your appreciation and understanding of all faiths. Look upon each one as The Temple of Our God."

To all the followers of the mainstream religions, I encourage you to be open-minded to other beliefs. It seems to be common practice for ministers to preach that your religions is the best and only true way, and all other paths are inferior. Your chosen religion may well be the best way for you, but there are other types of people on the planet and other paths may be more appropriate for them. Our challenge is to live together on the planet, following our chosen paths, in peace. (Incidentally, I find that Hindu's are most tolerant of other religions). As it says in the Bhagavad Gita (Shri Purohit Swami translation, ISBN 0 571 06157 5):

As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purposes.

A few years ago I had a directory of some 1200+ spiritual teachers on this web site (since removed because the maintenance overhead was too high). Its purpose was to show:

That there have been many great world teachers in recorded history
That there are great teachers alive on the planet today
That there have been, and are, both male and female spiritual masters

The internet now allows seekers to find living teachers and go to their ashrams or centres. The internet also allows you to research for bad press or other warnings about teachers and organisations. What is the difference between a genuine organisation and a cult? Check them out.

Is it necessary to find a Guru?

There is no universal agreement on this. Some traditions believe a living Guru is a requirement; others say that the teaching of a deceased Guru is fine; others believe that the ultimate Guru is the contact and teaching received from your own Self. My view is that early in your search it does help to make contact with a living teacher. As with the study of any subject, an apprentice will seek out the best master they can find. But the apprentice may not remain with the master for their entire life, and in some cases the apprentice may exceed the skill of the master. In other cases, the apprentice does remain in the care of the master for their entire life. There is no hard and fast rule here - by the Framework, we are all different.

Where can you find a Guru?

Many of the greatest teachers prefer to remain anonymous for most of their lives; some only being known after their death when their followers publish the teachings and promote their works. Mother Meera has stated that there are many alive on the planet today working for the betterment of humanity, but only a few choose to make themselves known. I have heard rumours of a great lady in Peru; caves in the Himalayas occupied by fully God-Realized masters - go and search for yourself if you feel so inclined, but also take care.