Gurus, while realized souls, have physical bodies through which they too experience pain and pleasure like you and me. Even the great Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did not just die easy in his sleep. Instead, he was inflicted by throat cancer for 18 months. The pain was excruciating, and he could not eat, or speak, or even lie down and this tortured him day and night. Despite this, his heart was with his devotees, and everyday he would wait for seekers of God to come so that he could bless them and help them realize God. Did he not have the power to heal himself? Of course he did – as he was a master of Siddhis. But strange are the ways of God-realized men. Even though his close disciples would beseech him to heal himself or pray for his own health, the saint would always refuse. Why? Because his mind was totally focused on God, and he did not want to waste even a single second, by bringing his mind to his body, from God.
There is much fanfare and following in India for those who call themselves Gurus. There are plenty of fakes too, but that is only natural. Is there a way to call out the genuine from the rest?
It is difficult, but not impossible. A tell-tale sign would be – how much the Guru is undergoing pain and suffering for the benefit of his devotees and disciples.
The phoney Gurus might care for their people, but they care for themselves first. The real Guru will have no care about him/herself, and instead have full attention on you/us. They do not care about themselves because they seek nothing material. And the spiritual wealth they have, they want nothing more than to be able to share with us, while also alleviating any of our physical troubles.
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