Principles of Spirituality

Path Of Guru's Grace (Gurukrupayoga)

A Saint and a Guru

Every Guru is a , but the reverse is not always true. In spite of this being so, the majority of the characteristics of Saints also apply to Gurus. The following table grossly compares a Saint and a Guru, both with a spiritual level of 80%. (On a scale of spiritual levels from 1% to 100%, the level of 20% depicts that of an average individual whereas the level of 100% depicts that of One Who has attained the Final Liberation.)

	A Saint	A Guru
1. Love for others %	30	60
2. Service %	30	50
3. Sacrifice %	70	90
4. Writing A. Quantity % B. Nature	2 More of spiritual experiences	10 More of spiritual guidance
5. Manifest energy %	20	5
6. Spiritual evolution *	Rapid	More rapid

*Both Saints and Gurus have a spiritual level of at least 70%. After crossing the 70% level, spiritual progress is faster in Gurus than in other Saints. They attain the levels of a Sadguru (80%) and a Paratpar Guru (90%) faster than other Saints attaining the same spiritual levels. This is because Gurus are constantly engrossed in the mission of spiritually uplifting Their disciples, while Saints, at times, perform tasks from the Great Illusion, for the sake of Their devotees.

*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.

To begin with, one can repeat God's Name according to their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for a list of God's Names as per various religions), or the Name that they feel most comfortable chanting.
Interested readers can determine the exact chant for them from the experiment given inIssue 124, Message to Seekers section.