Where To Find A Guru?

Tarun Pradhaan

*This article provides a broad guideline to start your search for a guru. This does not actually provide any names or addresses of gurus.*

## Spiritual Goal

Search for a guru begins by setting up a spiritual goal. Obviously, why would anyone want to go to a teacher if they want to achieve nothing or learn nothing. Before you decide to search for a guru, search for your spiritual goal. It is something important for which you are born. It will be unique for an individual. Everyone has their own spiritual goal. So do not copy others.

It must be a deep desire, not superficial. Not a hobby or timepass. It must be meaningful for you and you should be passionate about it. It should not feel like a burden or a work to be finished by effort. And most importantly, it should not be something worldly.

Usually an ordinary seeker has no clear goal initially. A guru can help in that also. Simply have a spiritual desire, a desire to progress. Usually you will come to know your goal after a little search.

## Path

Once you have a goal, you need a path to reach there. A path is a method to achieve your spiritual goal. There are many many paths, each suitable for a certain goal. In case you are not sure about your path, a guru can help. Or you can educate yourself about various paths before taking up one.

A wrong path can cause failure, loss or waste of time. So the path must be decided beforehand and must be ascertained very carefully. Important thing is, your guru must be on the same path. The sign that your path is correct is that you will enjoy it and you will progress towards your goal. If that does not happen, you took the wrong path.

## Guru

Now comes the main topic. A guru is a person who guides you towards your spiritual goal. He teaches you the way, path or method. One cannot expect to progress without a guru. A guru makes it easy and fast.

If you are a seeker, you are seeking something in the spiritual field, you will surely come across many gurus. Usually one hears about a guru. One listens to a guru, or reads a book written by some guru. This is the initial phase when you are exploring the field. Eventually there will be someone who will attract your attention. Someone who will be captivating. It does not matter if you do not understand what he or she says, but you may like that person. You should start your search here. Approach that guru and ask for guidance.

Usually there is no point in searching for a guru if you do not know your path or your goal. Anyhow, you should start searching with some rough idea in your mind. The guru will guide you further.

If you are attracted to many gurus, give most of them a chance. Contact them, meet them, email them. See what happens. You need to be patient and relaxed in this matter, do not hurry. The search continues until you find the right guru and reach your spiritual goal.

## Likable

As pointed out, you cannot call someone as your guru if you do not at least like them. Initially you will not be able to judge someone from their teachings or deep philosophy, you may not understand it. But you can feel some liking or love for that person.

If his or her teachings deeply resonate with you, then surely there is a good opportunity to explore, else see what you like. Start somewhere.

## Books and Media

Books and videos etc cannot replace a guru, but are a good medium to know a few gurus and paths. So study as many books as you can. Give it a few years. They will give you a broad idea about paths and what is happening in the land of spirituality.

It may happen that you read a book by someone, and that person becomes your guru. Or you may find information about some gurus in books etc. and start searching there. Also watch videos that interest you, as most of these gurus are on YouTube these days. Do not believe all of them blindly, do not judge impulsively, simply learn, gather experience, take notes.

## Nearest

In case you do not especially like anyone, try to approach the nearest guru that you know of. Someone who lives near your house, in your town or village. Someone you know from your friends or relatives. Start there. Talk to that person, take advice. Decide later. One clue can lead to another.

You can travel to nearby places to begin your spiritual journey. This is how people searched for a guru in the past. Ask for recommendations from local people. Check who is their guru.

## Internet

Obviously this is the most efficient way to find anything, including your guru. Search for keywords that correspond to your goal or path. Read about the gurus who teach that. Find those who are nearby. Visit their websites, check their fees. Make a list of gurus and ashrams to visit. Do your best. Be practical.

Many times, newcomers ask for names of the best guru in social media or comment sections of videos or twitter etc. But there is no best guru, there is only a suitable guru. Often the recommendations are worth checking but do not blindly believe them. Search and see who is suitable. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet.

## Ashrams

Sometimes it is best to directly visit ashrams and check what is being taught there. See if that is useful for you. You can meet the guru there or meet their staff or other students to get an idea and feel. Check their tradition, if any. Collect information. You can also join short courses or retreats. Learn from experience.

Make friends there and talk to them about their experiences, ask them about other gurus or paths. Research.

However, these days many ashrams are just shops focussed on profit. So be careful. Do not spend too much on them before you decide to accept one.

## Senior seekers

If you know any experienced seekers, ask them for advice. Grow your spiritual contact circle. One links to another. It helps to talk to people who have already searched. They know the inside matters well. Get their feedback or recommendations. However, people are never without biases or judgements, so decide carefully. They may not misguide knowingly, but everyone sees things through their own colored glasses.

## Other Gurus

Probably you will find a guru who is not on your path, or who teaches something else. Anyhow, they are also useful. They have a very long experience in these matters, they can recommend someone. Mostly gurus know some other gurus, if not all of them. Or they can ask one of their students to help you.

If you liked someone in a certain tradition, but that guru has now departed, you can still learn something from their tradition or others in the same lineage. However, do not expect exactly the same quality as their master.

## Delusions

Newcomers are often full of unreasonable expectations or delusions about the guru. It is not their fault, almost all of humanity is ignorant about spiritual matters. It is not common knowledge. Here is a non-exhaustive list of commonly found delusions. Avoid them.

Many people believe that gurus are magicians, they perform miracles, cure diseases, make ghosts appear on command etc. This is stupidity. A guru is a person with some expertise in some field of spirituality. If you are looking for a wizard of some kind, spirituality is not the right field.

Many people expect that gurus will fix their worldly problems, make their relationships perfect, guide them towards power, money and fame. No guru will do that, rather a guru teaches you detachment, letting go of the worldly matters.

Many people think that a guru is superior, special, superhuman being. There is no doubt that a guru is vastly evolved compared to ordinary humans, but is still a human. There are mostly no extraordinary qualities in a guru. They teach nicely, that is their best quality and ability.

Many people assume that the meeting with a guru must be a miraculous magical event like that of some fantasy movie, else that person is not my guru. There is no end to the stupidity in this field also. It need not be a special event. In fact it will be the most ordinary event. The magic is in what you learn. Your progress is the real miracle.

People assume that gurus have long beards, belong to some community or sect, wear weird clothes, live in caves and speak strange languages, perhaps Sanskrit and so on. While it is true that there are such gurus, these strange ones are rare. Most of the gurus are ordinary people like you and me. They look like any other person, are found in ordinary clothes, eat simple food and live in simple houses.

People also think that gurus have very high ethical standards, like they cannot kill an ant or a mosquito, or never ever lie or touch money or women. But such cases are very rare. Gurus have much better standards, but these extremes are not found in all of them.

Some people believe that a true guru communicates only via dreams or visions, never uses a phone or email. Well, good luck finding such a guru.

Some people look for a guru who was their guru in the past life. There can be such cases, but who knows what is the truth. There is no way to verify. Or people delude themselves by mistaking some signs as signs of a past relationship. This life is most important, forget the past.

Some people prefer the ancient great masters as their guru, some people imagine a deity as their guru. While it is inspiring, it is totally useless. A living guru in a human form is most useful.

There are some common beliefs that a guru can only be a man, not woman, or must be a citizen of a special spiritual country, such as India, or must belong to a special caste or creed or race, or must be very old, must be a poor ascetic etc. These are all wrong and limiting beliefs.

So the list of delusions is strange and long. But you get the idea. There can be more, but these wrong notions limit your choices greatly and can keep you away from your true guru.

## Precautions

Like any other field, newcomers often fall into traps in the field of spirituality. Here are some precautions to keep you safe.

Beware of fake gurus. There are many frauds in the spiritual field.

Beware of those who demand too much money or promise extraordinary things.

Beware of cults and extremist religious groups or political schemes.

Women should take special precautions, especially while visiting far off places or strange unknown ashrams.

Beware of gurus or babas who claim to treat everything using ash or some miracle. They are not gurus. Do not blindly believe in stories or rumours about any guru. Ask for evidence or simply walk out, save your time.

Do not act on impulse, do not run away from your home, do not leave your job and family. These actions are unnecessary and will not help you in achieving your spiritual goal. These actions will make your life miserable.

Do not do strange practices or difficult practices blindly believing in a guru. A good guru will never prescribe such practices.

Do not be superstitious or religious about gurus. Use common sense, intelligence and think rationally and practically.

Hopefully these warnings will alert you sufficiently, in short, if there is a doubt, it is best to avoid that guru. Often there is much more choice here. Gurus are not so rare. Yes, the right guru is rare, but you will find him or her eventually, do not give up so easily, in case you get a bad experience somewhere.

## Tools

Start from the <a href="https://gyanmarg.guru/start.php?lang=en" target="_blank">start page of this website.</a>

Use the <a href="https://gyanmarg.guru/pf" target="_blank">Pathfinder</a> app to find your spiritual path.

Use the <a href="https://gyanmarg.guru/pre" target="_blank">Preallocation</a> app to find your life goal.

Use the <a href="https://gyanmarg.guru/g" target="_blank">Gurulogy quiz</a> to learn more about gurus.

Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB-JSAbBz5B63ZDW7sQfAPL6Ly17hRJiw" target="_blank">Knowledge Sutra series of videos</a> on the basics of spirituality, paths, practices and gurus.

## Conclusion

I hope this brief article will get you started. Remember that these are only broad guidelines, these are not rules. Your choice matters, your decision is final. All the best for your journey. You will surely be successful.