Common Misconceptions about Spirituality

Saints take the devotees sickness on themselves

Many people believe that Saints take sickness of devotees on themselves. Actually, Gurus or Saints who claim to be suffering due to their devotee's sickness, by taking the disciple's illness upon themselves, are of a lower spiritual level. They do it just to attract people. If They continue to do this, then after sometime Their divine consciousness (chaitanya) decreases, and They are no longer fit to be Gurus. Real Gurus do not interfere in a disciple's destiny. Instead, They give the disciple the strength to endure it. Besides, only a Guru with a low spiritual level has to face the distress if at all he takes the disciple's illness onto Himself. A Guru of a higher spiritual level is not in the least affected. Saint Bhaktaraj Maharaj said, “Saints do not fall ill if others pay obeisance to them. Saints do not take others' illnesses upon themselves and saying so is mischievousness.”

*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.