Your specific development will draw you to a specific teacher. The worst teachers of yoga-meditation whom we criticize today have their role. Everything sub serves a divine purpose from the lowest to the highest teacher, however hopeful aspirants’ and un-awakend souls cannot expect to have their appointed master, sage or guru guiding light to just drop in their lap without the required spiritual yearning. You cannot jump start to a higher state of consciousness. What does that mean? You must make the spiritual effort first and go through many necessary experiences. Some travel from incarnation to incarnation just trying to find the right path, when you find the path; you analyze the teacher, the teaching, the path and the fruit produced by that path.
Beware The Teachers “Wearing yoga pants with flowing floral skirts, to gather those in a healer’s home for a course in alternative therapy of balancing chakras, clearing auras, transferring energy and their meditation.”
Those trying to quicken their spiritual progress should not seek phenomenal experiences as proof of advancement. For the beginner meditation seems to be the most difficult habit to form because the results are slow in coming and beginners are plagued with delusive thoughts about getting quick results. A frequent cause of disillusionment to a beginner is the meditators expectation that there will be a response from God in a great flame of breathtaking radiance. Some expect to be rewarded immediately with the materialization of saints, deities and heavenly lights; however premature this expectation is, real visions manifest only by prolonged and continuous spiritual progress. The spiritual path to Divine enlightenment is not a circus or a mathematically created jackpot.
Spiritually underdeveloped individuals should not try to jump-start to a higher state of consciousness. However, God is the sole judge of a man’s spiritual conduct whether it has been satisfied and to accelerate his realization nullifying some karmic debts.
So, there are many kinds of yoga – different kinds of yoga, as is: Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyana Yoga, Kriya Yoga. And taking the best of all these things constitutes Raja Yoga, which in Self-Realization Fellowship, you receive Raja Yoga.
Do you know the yogic terminologies and what they mean?
For those of you in Rio Linda, a Yogi is one who scientifically unites his soul with Spirit with the teachings of a true Guru and can be a worldly or one of renunciation. The word Guru means preceptor. You can have many teachers when studying the difficult teachings in the beginning, however you can only be given and have one Guru. Until one takes the one path and one Guru, you are still called a student and never a disciple. A disciple is one who strictly follows the path of the lessons as directed by the one Guru.
That is why during this period of psychological curiosity God sends to the seeking individuals just ordinary or mediocre teachers for addressing the awakening of souls through spiritual books and so on. But when a soul is very determined to know God, the Heavenly Father sends him a true guru or an illumined soul. A person who learns from an ordinary teacher is called a student but a person who learns from a guru is called a chela or disciple. When the disciple faithfully applies and learns the teachings of a God sent guru preceptor, he attracts the same guru in following incarnations until liberation is attained.
If you are new to the spiritual path reflect on these points of improvement. Think about making progress, not just measuring it. Wanting God is proof of spiritual progress. Not giving up is making progress. Overcoming the causes of discouragement is progress. This is the way to live your life. Now, and in the beginning and for years to come you must make a relentless effort.
You must learn that all your troubles are nothing but grafts on the screen of your consciousness. Do not accept their restricting influence; they don’t belong to your soul. Why be doubtful or fearful and say you can’t meditate because you are restless. Those kinds of statements contradict the truth because they are a lie. In man’s present stage of evolution, living a life without difficulties would be of little worth for the ordinary man when there are so many lessons for spiritual growth to be learned and the necessity of an incentive to know one’s maker.
The bottom line is, it does not matter your responsibilities or work, and you must keep your most important appointment with God in meditation. If you betray Him all things will betray you. Never miss your engagement with him, particularly in the evening. Do not go to bed until your develop the habit of communion with Him.
What Is The Real Difference Between An Ascending Master, A Saint and A Guru?
If you want forgiveness of your sins you go to Saints. If you want to emancipate yourself intellectually without too many sacrifices you follow an ascending master. But if you want to liberate your “self” then God sends you a Guru.
Ascended Masters
The masters tell us through the millenniums and centuries God sends in to the planet souls with different states of realization corresponding to the desire of the individuals. There were some nations in the planet that advanced morally with more spiritual people like in India and then came the Ascended Masters; the Ascended Masters came from time to time throughout the centuries to India. These great masters were not just Saints, but ascending masters who were practically one with God. They came with their wisdom gradually convincing people to motivate their lives to increase spiritual efforts and become a better person to grow spiritually.
The difference is explained clearly that manifested masters had their liberation on and ascension in a previous existence, while ascended or liberated masters have to acquire liberation in the present life. A master who ascends and becomes merged in Spirit and does not come back to earth is called an “ascended or liberated master.” But any saint who, after death, reappears or takes another incarnation according to his own will (not forced by Karma) in order to help mankind, is spoken of as a “Manifested master”.
Saints
There are people going to confession to be saved from the results of their transgressions? Some credulous offenders want to be free of their suffering and consider it sufficient to seek confession from an everyday priest and receive divine amnesty by confessing their sins from their evil deeds. There is mental consolation that confession confers on them, but the operation of the karmic laws are too subtle for them to be seen and they deem themselves to be forgiven. Only God and His Saints or highly advanced masters can forgive others and free men from suffering the consequences of their wrongdoing. There have been saints recognized for having taken onto themselves the very diseases of the afflicted and thus relieving the sufferers.
The Guru
When the first yearning for truth comes, somebody recommends a teacher to awaken you. Then when your desire is strong enough and you want to emancipate your “self” and when to a certain extent God is pleased he sends the Avatars, incarnations of God who have only one purpose and that is, to liberate you. God will send you a guru, not just an ordinary teacher but one that has cosmic consciousness and is one with him, such as Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Sri Ramakrishna, Paramahansa Yogananda, and other great unknown masters who have come to earth throughout the centuries.
These masters have complete mastery of the self and no karma of their own. They come only to help the disciple to be free from his own karma. It is extremely important for you to follow one master who has no karma who can take a portion of your cross on his back. If the person you follow has not realized God he cannot take it, he is only a school teacher. There is a difference between a Guru who has realized God and a teacher. In transmitting or bestowing wisdom, money, physical or mental power and spiritual consciousness, the one must have attained those assets himself. The best of all the givers among men like that of God Himself is the guru. Once the disciple is ready for the sublime experience, only an illumined guru can transmit his divine realization.
The true guru knows the secret thoughts of men and is able to manipulate certain mechanical features of the laws of karma which can be skillfully adjusted by his fingers of wisdom and by counteractive measures taken by a distressed person such as faith, deep love for God, prayer and yoga meditation to reduce or cancel out the harmful effects of past sinful actions. But if the master wants to hasten the spiritual development of an individual or disciple, he may in severe cases of deep-rooted bad karma. He may also in reply to the devoted faith and receptiveness of the petitioner accept onto himself the karmic state of a disciple or part of it, and let the karmic effects be worked out in his own body.
When a person is condemned to suffer from wrongdoing, he is bound by the karmic law of cause and effect but a great master can repel the turmoil and let it spend its force within his body. Only masters and remarkable Christ-like healers have knowledge of the sacred technique and are able to take on the spiritual, mental or physical sufferings of another to release them in their own physical bodies. From the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
