Understand the Reality of Paramatma

Bhakta: Swami, faith in the Lord too diminishes sometimes. What is the reason for that?

Swami: When one is deluded by the mere external world and when one does not attain success in such external desires, faith in the Lord diminishes. So, give up such desires. Desire only for the spiritual relationship; then you won’t become the target of doubts and difficul­ties. The important thing for this is faith in the Lord; without that, you start doubting everything, big and small.

Bhakta: Until we understand the reality of Para­matma [super soul], it is important, they say, to be in the company of the great and the good and also to have a guru. Are these necessary?

Swami: Of course, the company of the great and the good is necessary. To make that Reality known to you, a guru too is important. But, in this matter, you should be very careful. Genuine gurus are scarce these days. Cheats have multiplied and teachers have retreated into solitude, in order to realize themselves undisturbed. There are many genuine gurus but they cannot be secured easi­ly. Even if you get them, you must thank your destiny if they vouchsafe to you more than one single sadvakya [true word]; they won’t spend time telling you all kinds of stories! There should be no hurry in the search for a guru.

Bhakta: Then, what in the world is the path?

Swami: Why, it is just for this that we have the Veda, Shastra, Purana, and Itihasa. Study them; adhere to the path they teach and gather the experience; under­stand their meaning and the trend of their message from pundits; follow them in practice; meditate on the Para­matma as the guru and as God; then, those books them­selves will help you as your guru. For, what is a guru?

The guru is that through which your mind gets fixed on God. If you consider Paramatma as the guru and do sadhana with unshakablel, the Lord Himself will appear before you and give upadesha [discourse] just as a guru. Or, He may so bless you that as a result of the sadhana, you may meet a Sadguru.

Bhakta: But, nowadays, some great big persons are granting upadesha to all who ask; are these not Sadgurus, Swami?

Swami: I won’t say they are or they are not. I declare only this: It is not the sign of a Sadguru to grant upadesa to any and every person who comes to him with praise, without considering the past and the future, without discovering the qualifications of the pupil and testing whether he is fit.