Nowadays, we see many people turning to Spirituality for a better quality of life. It is Many a time, one comes across people who say that they have a Guru or that they have received an initiation or mantra from their Guru (Guru mantra). This may make one feel that the person considered as a Guru is indeed a Guru, or that the person receiving the mantra from the Guru is a disciple. In reality however, it is important to first understand who is a Guru and who is a disciple.

    According to the science of Spirituality, one who is at a minimum spiritual level of 70% is considered a Saint or Guru. (To get some idea about the hierarchy of spiritual evolution, a relative scale of spiritual levels or progress is considered. On this scale, nonliving elements are considered to be at 0% spiritual level and those who have merged completely with the God Principle at 100% spiritual level.)

    According to the science of Spirituality, one who has surrendered his body, mind, wealth and life to the Guru to the extent of at least 50% and practises Spirituality as recommended by the Guru, is considered a disciple.

    Based on the above definitions, many people giving initiation or mantra may not qualify as Gurus and many people receiving an initiation or mantra may not qualify as disciples.

    Seekers who are desperately in search of a Guru must realize that the Guru principle is very subtle. A seeker’s perception being more of the gross and less of the subtle dimension, in Spirituality, one cannot find a Guru despite searching for one.

    Another common error is considering a particular Saint to be one’s Guru. A seeker is not supposed to choose his Guru. It is the Guru who chooses and spiritually uplifts seekers and His disciples. One should never consider oneself the disciple of a particular Guru. It is the Guru who should proclaim one to be His disciple. This is similar to romance where it is not enough for a youth to consider a girl to be his lover. She, too, should reciprocate those feelings. Hence, a seeker in the initial stage should become a disciple of the unmanifest Guru Principle, that is, The Lord’s Name*. Then as he progresses spiritually through spiritual meetings, service to the Truth and sacrifice, he is blessed with a manifest Guru.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one’s current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

• Seekers in the initial stages of spiritual practice (less than one year) can repeat The Name of the Lord as per their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for details).

• Seekers who have been doing regular spiritual practice for over a year or so can determine the appropriate chant for them from the experiment given in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section.