Common Misconceptions about Spirituality

Considering a saint that has long since renounced His body as one's Guru

We often come across people who consider a saint that has long since passed away as their spiritual master. Generally in such cases, one tends to choose his favourite saint to be his Guru, even if the saint is no longer alive.

One does not acquire the grace of a saint merely by choosing Him to be his Guru. The Guru has to choose one as His disciple to be assured of His grace. This can be assured only through diligent spiritual practice. As one progresses to a certain spiritual level (55%* - level of a disciple), a Guru will come into his life on His own and grace him.

*On a scale of 1 to 100, a spiritual level of 20% depicts that of an average individual whereas a spiritual level of 100% depicts that of one, who has merged with God (attained Moksha).

*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.