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Re: neo-Sadhus

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Sadagopan • June 29, 2001 


Dear Pradeep: You are raising 
a very important question the answer to
which will save one from chasing the  wrong Gurus
and wasting one's time and ruining one's
expectations."Marry in haste and repent at
leisure " has to be avoided at all costs
in the matter of choice of One's AchAryan.
Neo-Sadhus are  dime a dozen.

On the other hand , There are living 
examples of SadAchAryans ( True perceptors ) 
existing today at many parts of India
and guiding their disciples with
great affection and competence.
Their standards are very high in 
selecting a Sishyan .

Let me comment further: 

At 06:43 AM 6/27/01 -0000, you wrote:

>I have a request to the group. 
>
>In this age where there are a lot of new people who make tall claims 
>that they are God's incarnation and also have some following, in 
>addition to some mystical powers that they exhibit sometimes, how 
>does one go about culling out the wrong ones ? 

Yes, You are right about all kinds of fake gurus 
claiming all kinds of accomplishments and offering 
all too easy solutions to a serious searcher. 

One has to cull them out by questioning their 
Jn~Anam , VairAgyam and anushtAnam and the paramparai
that they come form . True gurus do not go after 
sishyans like collecting victory points. The true
sishyans come to them thru Bahgavan's grace.

Excellent descriptions of Who is a true Guru
and what his qualifications are have been
described precisely in Swamy Desikan's 
Sri NyAsa Vimsathi SlOkams 1-4.

The qualifications of a True AchAryan , 
a true Sishyan and their relationships 
are beautifully  described in these 
four verses.

In today's scene , I can identify a few
AchAryans , who live up to these demanding
requirements and come to the rescue of their 
sishyAs. Yes, they do exist.I am fortunate to
have one such great SdaachAryan as My perceptor
and every thing.
 
>
>Is it possible to create an awareness or post like true candid 
>reviews/experiences whereby someone who wants to choose a guru gets 
>atleast some idea & info on whom to rely/trust and so on, atleast 
>whom to avoid ? 
>
Yes.The tests again are Knowledge about ShAsthrAs,
AachAram , anushtAnam , the lineage they come
from and their VairAgyam .

>It is my opinion that "Guru" :
>1) is NOT a Profession -> like I was a lawyer/doctor/engineer and now 
>I am a guru from tomorrow and get paid for my services / discourses/ 
>consultation
>
>2) is NOT a Post -> like I was a vice-chancellor and now I became a 
>Chancellor by some process say experience or recommendation, 
>seniority whatever. 
>
>To me it seems logical that "Guru" is a state that someone attains to 
>by the grace of god and is sent by God and is God himself in a human 
>form. Please correct my views if I am wrong.

No, You are absolutely correct in your 
descriptions.The AchAryan is indeed
the God on earth. 
>
>But when such glory is to be attributed to a Guru...how does one 
>distinguish the true one from the rest. 

Through the help of others , who have searched in
vain and found their true Guru. 

V.Sadagopan 


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