Posted on: 03 Oct 2020
[Divine Satsanga: About 40 devotees participate in a weekly online satsaṅga in Telugu, every Sunday. On September 27, 2020, Swami also participated in it and answered devotees’ questions, some of which are given here for the benefit of all. Smt. Vijaya, Smt. Renuka, Shri Bharat, Shri Satti Reddy, Smt. Lavanya, Smt. Rama, Shri Raja Sekhar, Kum. Trylokya, Mr. Navachaitanya, Shri Ajay, Mr. Prasad, Mr. Kishore Ram, Mr. Nitin, Smt. Usha Rani etc., are some of the devotees who were present in the satsaṅga online, while Shri Phani and Shri Sharma were present with Swami.]
Swami replied: How do you decide whether a preacher is a Sadguru in whom God exists or whether the preacher is only a Guru, who is an ordinary soul? If you want to decide which gold-seller is honest, you cannot decide it just by looking at the various gold sellers and testing them personally. You have to test the gold sold by them. Only then can you come to the conclusion about the honesty of the seller. If the purchased gold is tested and found to be 100% pure, that seller alone can be declared to be honest. Similarly, you have to analyze the spiritual knowledge preached by the preacher. Based on that analysis of his spiritual knowledge, you can conclude whether the preacher is divine (Sadguru) or not (ordinary Guru). Even God Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna that he should analyze the entire Gītā preached by Kṛṣṇa before accepting it and before accepting Kṛṣṇa as a Sadguru (Vimṛśyaitadaśeṣeṇa...). He did not say to Arjuna that Arjuna should accept Him as a Sadguru even before analyzing the entire Gītā. If the analysis shows that the knowledge preached is perfect, then alone should we conclude that the preacher is divine (Sadguru). The way to recognize that the knowledge is perfect is that your inner consciousness should be fully satisfied with the clarity of the knowledge and its truth (Pramāṇam antaḥkaraṇa pravṛttayaḥ).
Today, I find the so-called Sadgurus concentrating only on the scientific methods of relieving stress like psychiatrists. They are merely like doctors who only cure the illnesses of the body and mind. I do not say that they are doing anything wrong because health is also essential for doing spiritual service, which brings God’s grace. Hanumān developed perfect health in order to serve God. But merely gaining good health is not the goal. Upon gaining good health, one can even use that healthy body to commit sins more effectively! Moreover, the methods suggested by these Sadgurus are not even related to the root cause of the stress faced by people. Their solutions are only external and temporary.
The root cause of the fever is certain germs. So, an antibiotic medicine should be prescribed to kill the germs. Putting a wet cloth on the forehead is only a temporary method of bringing down the fever. It is not a cure. The root cause of a person’s stress or misery is the sins committed by the person. Hence, a true Sadguru should advise souls to control their habit of committing sins. If a person is reformed and as a result, does not repeat the sin, then from this day onwards, all the past sins are cancelled by God (Jñānā’gniḥ...—Gītā). The realization (knowledge) of the sin, the repentance (devotion) for it and the non-repetition of the sin (practice) are the three steps in the person’s reformation. If a person follows these three steps, all the sins of the person are burnt. When a sinner does not repeat the sin, there is no need of any punishment for the past sin since the punishment was only meant to prevent the person from repeating the sin. Once the person reaches the stage of non-repetition of the sin, there is no meaning in punishing the person for the past sins. This is divine logic.
This must be preached by a Sadguru and along with it, devotion to God must also be preached because it helps the soul to avoid sin (Kṣipraṃ bhavati dharmātmā…—Gītā). The Sadguru must constantly project the divine personality of God and not his own personality, even while giving some scientific methods for temporary stress relief. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Seeing this state of affairs, Datta Swāmi had to enter the spiritual field. Otherwise, Datta Swāmi could have taken rest!
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| Shri Datta Swami | Why are there differences in the preaching of different Sadgurus (divine preachers), when they all possess the same God within? | Satsanga Jnanagnih Kshipram bhavati dharmatma Vinrishyaitadasheshena Pramanam antahkarana pravrittayah Giita Gita