Do you know any approachable guru who's a representative of God?

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by kris

http://www.srikrishnamandir.com/index.php?option=com_
content&view=article&id=36:my-sat-guru-pujya-sri-prema-pandurang

Why 'Sat Guru", the True Guru...why not Guru?

What does she show, teach?
What is the initiation? Or techniques?

[kris]

Originally Posted by kralaro

Do you know any approachable guru who's a representative of God?

By representative of God I mean s/he can hear God or have his body be controlled by God. Or instead of God, s/he can hear a person who can hear God, or so forth.

kralaro, your post raises a few questions.

How do you expect me or anyone to know if another person, a guru, can hear God? For me to know that, I would have to be able to hear God my self. If I could hear God, I would offer to be your guru rather than refer you to that other person.

Do you really think a guru's body only is controlled by God? And God gives rest of us control over our bodies?

[kris]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Why 'Sat Guru", the True Guru...why not Guru?

Good question. I am speculating here. India has known a lot of fake gurus throughout history who are basically pretenders to the title of guru. (You can make a good living in India if you can convince gullible people that you are a guru.) Sat Guru is then a way to differentiate between the pretenders and the real. On the other hand sadguru does mean a guru who knows sat or truth.

What does she show, teach?
What is the initiation? Or techniques?

She is a devotee (bhakta) of shrI krSNA. I used to think of myself as a good, if not a great bhakta. When I saw her for the first time when I attended her two day discourse, she made me realize how far I have to go before I can call myself a bhakta. It was a humbling experience. Her talks are however geared for Indians rather than Westerners. I believe her method is to inspire bhakti in those who come to hear her. I have not received initiation from her.

I think a guru can only help those who are prepared to be helped. She is the seventh among the teachers who have guided me since I was a teenager. My approach is a mix of JNAna, bhakti and karma yoga.

[peteyzen]

Hi karalo,
try mother meera, she is an avatar and is , I think, what you need
god bless

[Uma]

A true guru (sadguru or satguru) is one who truly lives in the light.
There are many devotees claiming their guru is the highest one but the person's behaviour is flawed so they are therefore not truly sadgurus, only "almost there" gurus.

The principle is simple - only a teacher who truly has what you want can give it to you.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I have spent the day watching youtubes of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta, Papaji, Gangaji...this will be a good thread.

Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta are two of my all-time favorites. Lately, I've been re-reading "Talks with Ramana Maharshi". It's incredible.

Did you know that Ramana Maharshi is considered to be the prototype for the guru in Somerset Maughan's classic, "The Razor's Edge". Maughan spent time at Ramana's ashram and I believe it was BEFORE the book was written. Nisargadatta eventually stopped his dialogues and just told disciples to focus on the "I AM". Both are awesome.

[kralaro]

Wow, thanks for all the blessings and support.

I'll give some examples. In Autobiography of a Yogi Chapter 4, Yogananda prayed silently to God, and then a sadhu told Yogananda that "In response to your prayer, the Lord tells me to assure you that your sole path in this life is that of the renunciate". In Chapter 37, Babaji told Yogananda that "Our Heavenly Father has heard your prayer. He commands me to tell you: Follow the behests of your guru and go to America. Fear not; you will be protected". Both the persons delivered God's message to Yogananda. I'm looking for someone like them. I'm looking for answers from God.

Please don't just tell names, but also tell how you know the person to be representative of God. Or is your guru omniscient or connected to someone omniscient (example God) ? Example, if a guru is omniscient then he'll know all languages.

Originally Posted by Vinayaka

If you can give us more specifics it might be helpful. For example, what might a Satguru say that would satisfy your curiosity in some sense? What would it take to have you believe the message was indeed from God?

Originally Posted by kris

How do you expect me or anyone to know if another person, a guru, can hear God?

How I'll test the person or whether there's need for testing will depend on what s/he's claiming and depend on circumstances. Example, I've found lots of people on internet who say that they can hear God and then I've requested them to request God to tell them that what's my real name or what I've written on a piece of paper. This way I've been directly testing; sometimes I've offered money, sometimes not. Now I've read that there's a sadhna to read others' minds and to know their past; I understand that someone can tell me my name using such siddhis but then by some more tests like how I feel in the company of the person or how the person is replying to my spiritual questions I can have a safe bet that whether the person is hearing God. If a person is not claiming to hear God but his followers are claiming that their guru can then instead of directly testing the person I can do it more subtly. If a person is claiming to hear God and I think he's spiritually too advanced to lie then I can believe him. Depending on the conversation and circumstances I've been testing people in various ways.

Originally Posted by kris

Do you really think a guru's body only is controlled by God? And God gives rest of us control over our bodies?

I'm talking about God representing himself through someone else's body and replying to my questions the same way he would have replied if talking directly.

[kris]

Originally Posted by kralaro

I'm talking about God representing himself through someone else's body and replying to my questions the same way he would have replied if talking directly.

To use this test, you first have to know how God would answer your questions if he was talking directly to you. And if you know how God would answer your questions directly, versus through someone else's body, then why do you feel a need for God's representative?

[Vinayaka]

Originally Posted by kralaro

I'm talking about God representing himself through someone else's body and replying to my questions the same way he would have replied if talking directly.

IMHO, This is pretty much outside of Hinduism, BTW. Some sects have the concept of avatar, but that is God, not using someone else's body. Of course in monistic advaita, we're all God.

[kralaro]

Originally Posted by kris

And if you know how God would answer your questions directly, versus through someone else's body, then why do you feel a need for God's representative?

I may ask the person that what's my name but that doesn't mean I'm looking for a medium to know my name. After I'm satisfied with the person's replies to my tests, then I can ask him the questions which I don't know answers to.