In human existence every created being must proceed, from birth to death, on a predetermined path, a path called destiny. Generally, the common man is a slave of his own destiny and undergoes the events of his own life rather than controlling them and directing them in the direction he wants. To better understand this situation, imagine a person who wants to swim across a river. The river in this case represents the destiny that invariably flows. The person in question has two options:
1. Throwing himself in the river and swim to the other shore, having the objective that he must achieve clear in front of him. To do this he makes conscious efforts - that is, he faces and controls his own destiny; the events of one's life are thus determined by the person himself and by the divine will;
2. Throwing himself in the river and, instead of swimming to the other shore, let himself be carried away by the current thinking that sooner or later it will be brought from the same near the other shore. The question we can ask ourselves is: how soon will it be taken to the other bank? And against what and how many obstacles will he have to bump and get hurt before being carried by the current on the other shore?
At every step we take on the individual, spiritual or material path, we must make decisions. Our life is made up of decisions. Right or wrong decisions. God has given us this great gift of free will that allows us to be similar to Him, allows us to create our destinies through the choices we make at every moment. Together with this gift of freedom God has also given us independence, because, through the possibility we have of deciding, we become the only ones responsible for our actions and our life. But deciding is not an easy thing to do for a person whose conscience is still obscured by the veil of ignorance. As a matter of fact we can say we use free will only when we are conscious and responsible, spiritually speaking. If we "live" life only to eat, sleep, procreate and work, we certainly do not use free will, we do not knowingly choose but we are drawn by destiny. We can say that destiny chooses for us. It is good to understand, however, that destiny is not invariable. Destiny can be changed. This change of destiny is realized first of all by making the right choices or decisions and then applying them practically. From the physical point of view the choices we have to make are generally related to the family, to work, to the circle of friends, to the various objects that we decide to own or not, etc.
From a spiritual point of view, however, the situation is a little more complex. Meanwhile, we begin by saying that only those people who find themselves at a point in their inner evolution that allows them to approach a spiritual path or a spiritual Master, come to have a spiritual approach in life, otherwise they can live all their lives without having the slightest concern for the spirit. As the person grows inwardly, he becomes spiritually more mature, a series of questions that need an answer also appear in his conscience: why do I feel this inner emptiness? Do I really have to live the rest of my life just to work, eat, etc., or is there something else? What am I doing here? "Where am I from? What will happen to me after death? Is there life beyond death? etc. etc. Along with these questions there is also growing interest in what the person believes to be spiritual, they begin to read books that were not previously thought to be read, to listen to music that they did not consider before, to meet "different" people, people who have spiritual interests. At this point, the person feels the need to be guided in the mysterious path of the spirit, therefore the need to find a spiritual guide and a spiritual path that allows him to grow from within appears. This is, on the one hand a magical moment for 'aspirant to spirituality, and on the other hand an extremely dangerous moment for the person in question, because in our days the "spiritual offer" is so large and the risk of taking a wrong path is great because of the many traffickers of souls who trade in spirituality. If at this moment the wrong path is taken, there is the risk that the whole existence and perhaps also many other successive existences are compromised and that the person stagnates or even worse regresses. Speaking by analogy is like being at an intersection with dozens of directions, and we have to choose only one: the one that takes us Home. If we choose the wrong direction, the result will be our departure from Home and a great waste of time before we find the right direction. This is truly one of the most important and even riskier moments in a person's spiritual evolution. So important that so many authentic Masters, mystics and saints, sacred scriptures and prophets have lingered and have left to posterity some very clear indications so that they do not get lost and do not run the risk of following chimeras, wasting their lives. However, despite the abundance of information on how to choose a Master and a spiritual path to follow, people punctually make bad choices, and we notice this from their results and the disastrous result of the society in which we live. Strangely, people choose impostors instead of authentic Masters, they prefer to practice a pseudo-spirituality rather than a simple and true spirituality, they prefer to have "states", "lived" instead of having Realization, they choose to practise bizarre practices for entering trance states rather than developing the clear and adamantine consciousness of which sacred texts speak, prefer to read texts written by pseudo-gurus who in turn took information from other books instead of trying to deepen the study of revealing scriptures of truth, they become too preoccupied with practising "spirituality" promoted by pseudo spiritual movements and thus forget God, they become increasingly opaque inwardly instead of becoming luminous, they give strange interpretations to the scriptures only to justify their weaknesses, they confuse their weaknesses which they do not control with the practice of a spirit modernity or what they call "Tantra". Yet things could be very simple. It would be enough to take an example. It would be enough to study the lives of the saints and see if what they say and what we practise corresponds. There’s a reason why they became saints! But no, most people choose pseudo-gurus who give them pseudo-teachings and so, the consequence will be a pseudo-spiritual evolution. People are afraid of being sincere, especially with themselves. We often try to attribute to ourselves faculties that we do not really possess, merits that in reality we do not have, etc., etc. and this thing is essentially a real obstacle on the spiritual path since you cannot change something by having a false basis, you cannot change what does not exist, you enter only more deeply into the illusion.
However, for people who are lucid and sincere with themselves, those people who are not afraid of "looking in the mirror" and accepting what they see hoping for improvement, fortunately there are scriptures and testimonies of holy people, people who like them have had the courage to accept the truth and improve. These testimonies, even if in the form of verses, metaphors, or simple stories are in any case real spiritual guides, precious indications to understand which directions we must take. We find these indications in all the spiritual traditions of the planet. For example, since we know that man "is weak" and tends to be duped by "shiny" things (not all that glitters is gold!) in the Christian tradition, more precisely in the Apocalypse, we find a clear warning – indication: "These are demon spirits, who do amazing miracles." (Revelation 16 - 14) Or: "The Devil and his spirits also have the power to perform miracles. Miracles prove only one thing: supernatural power. But such power can come from both God and Satan (Deuteronomy 13: 1-5; Revelation 13:13, 14). And then, Jesus, from what terrible danger does he warn us? Here it is: "there will be false Christ and false prophets; these will perform such miracles that they will deceive, if it is possible, even the elected." (Matthew 24:24). What modality can we use to distinguish impostors from people who have the gift of spirituality? We always find the answer in the Bible which says to verify if their teachings and their behavior are in conformity with the word of God. If they preach and behave contrary to what the scriptures say or if they behave contrary to what they preach, then they are false prophets and "there is no light within them" (freely taken from Isaiah 8:20) while we suggest another quotation that says: "the tree is recognized by its fruits while the man recognizes himself by his actions" ... And this is because people think that "miracles" or paranormal powers are necessarily synonyms of spirituality. In reality most of the time it is exactly the opposite, and here, not surprisingly, in the Apocalypse we have this warning.
If instead we want to refer to the Buddhist tradition, we cannot but think of the words full of wisdom of the famous Milarepa, words that, even if in the form of verses, have described with a stunning clarity the risks that the aspirant runs to the Supreme Liberation. Here are his magic words, balm for the heart and the mind, as well as a source of inspiration for all those who intend to follow the right path: "I never valued and I didn't study the complicated knowledge through words, written in books in the conventional form of questions and answers that are entrusted to memory; these lead only to mental confusion and not to the concrete realization of the Truth. In this verbal knowledge I am ignorant; and if I've ever known it, I've long since forgotten it.
• Long accustomed to meditating on the Chosen Whispered Truths, I have forgotten all that is said in the books!
• Accustomed as I was to studying Science – That doesn’t fail – I lost the knowledge of the ignorance that fails!
• Long accustomed to studying everything through my own experiences, I forgot the need to look for the opinions of friends!
• Long accustomed to applying every experience to my own spiritual knowledge, I have forgotten all creeds and dogmas!
• Long accustomed to meditating on the Innate, I have forgotten all definitions!
• Long accustomed to meditate on all visible phenomena as if they were Dharmakaya, I have forgotten all mind-made meditations!
v • Long accustomed to understanding the meaning of Silence, I have forgotten the way in which the roots of verbs are traced!
• Track, wise man, these things in standard books!
• Not operating for the good, Accumulate the result of bad deeds!
• If you really wish to avoid pain and sadness, then avoid harming others!
• Regretting and confessing all sins, And swearing not to commit any more evil, You are on the shortest way to compensate for the sins committed!
• Those who don't know in which direction they are going, But they still allow themselves to impersonate as spiritual guides for others, They hurt themselves and others!
• If the teacher is not from an uninterrupted line, what is the meaning of initiation?
• If the Dharma is not merged with its own nature, what is the use of knowing the Tantras by heart?
• If remorse is not born within someone, what is the point of saying: "renounce and repent"?
• If someone does not meditate on the fact of loving others more than himself, what is the point of saying only with the mouth: "oh, poor creatures!"
• Do not hurry to help others if you have not realized the Truth in all its fullness; you would be like the blind man trying to lead another blind man!
• If the Mystical Initiation is not achieved, the simple words that the Tantras carry will only serve you as handcuffs!
• If you don't meditate on the chosen truths, the simple renunciation of the worldly life will be only torture of itself!
• If you do not eliminate bad passions through their antidote, the simple verbal sermons will only be empty sounds!
• If you do not get the Great Merit, And work for yourself only, existence in Samsara will continue!
• If you do not get the light of Inner Peace, Simple external pleasure will only become a source of pain!
• Occupy the lowest place and you will get the topmost one! Hurry slowly and you will soon arrive!
• If you stop feeling all the differences between you and others, you will be ready to serve them!
• And when serving others you will get fruits, then you will meet with me, And finding me, you will conquer the State of Buddha!
• Serving a perfect Guru, And serving a skilled person, It seems to be the same thing, but be careful and don't confuse them!
• The true descent of Emptiness in the mind, And the illusory obsession of the conscience, They seem to be the same thing, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The knowledge of the Pure, Luminous State, through meditation and the indulgence of the Quiet State that comes from the ecstatic trance, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The flow of the Deep Intuition and other convictions like: "This seems to be true", They seem to be the same, but be careful and don't confuse them!
• The clear perception of the Not – modified Mind and the noble impulse to serve others, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The spiritual gift that shines inside someone as a result of the Bound Causes and the temporary merit, bearer of earthly goods, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The spiritual guide and the prophetic commandments of the matrika and dakini keepers, and the temptations of the deceptive ghosts and spirits, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The flower of the Nirmanakaya kingdoms and the heavenly flower of a sensual paradise, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• A chaitya like the gods miraculously produce a chaitya as demons can manifest, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The faith that results from the karmic connections of the past and the faith created through artificial methods, seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The real success that someone has achieved, and the apparent success that the voices talk about, seem to be the same, but be careful and don't confuse them! "
As you have read, in Milarepa's words we have clear indications to discern when choosing the Guru, when choosing the Path, when choosing what we intend to practice. And keep in mind that Milarepa is a high-sounding name in the Buddhist tradition, therefore, evidently an authority on spirituality!
If instead we want to move in the Indian spiritual tradition we cannot but think of the very precious information left by Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Sri Yukteswar, etc. However, among all those who spoke most clearly, I believe were Ramakrishna, when he said that one cannot improvise masters, that in order to be masters one must have the papers in order, have what he called "divine mandate" and Vivekananda. Personally I prefer Vivekananda who, to the question: "how should a Master be so that we understand that he is such?" - he answered with the clarity that is specific to him and that cannot leave room for interpretation. Here are the words of Vivekananda, this giant of spirituality, who taught both in the East and in the West:
"A necessary condition to be a master is to be full of purity. We often ask ourselves: "Why worry about the master's character and personality? We must judge only what he said and revealed to us ". This is false; if a human being wishes to instruct me on problems related to mechanics or chemistry etc., then he can be whatever he wants, morally speaking, because the physical sciences involve first of all intellectual qualities. However, from the beginning to the end of progress in the spiritual sciences, it is impossible for any kind of spiritual light to appear in an impure soul. The sine qua non condition to know God is the purity of the heart. A vision of God or the perception of what lies beyond appearances is never obtained before the purification of the soul. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. In this single sentence the essential teaching of all religions is condensed. If you have understood this, you know all that has been said in the past and all that will be said in the future, you no longer need to search elsewhere because you have all that is necessary in this single sentence; such phrase succeeds in doing what all the writings put together cannot do.
So, as far as the spiritual master is concerned, we should first see if he is what he claims to be. He must be perfectly pure. Only then his words are valid because he is the true "transmitter", the true "divine antenna" through which God can reveal himself in an undistorted manner. What could it convey to us if it did not hold the spiritual power and purity himself? In order for him to transmit to the disciple, through resonance, the vibration of spirituality, this vibration must be firmly stabilized in his consciousness. In reality, the teacher's role is to convey something and not just to stimulate the intellectual faculties or any other type of his student. Something real and profound is transmitted from the master to the disciple: Shakti. For this reason, the teacher must be pure, since the transmission is realized only outside of any selfish motive: profit, glory, fame, etc. The Holy Spirit can only be transmitted through love. Any selfish motive drives love away. God is love; only he who knows God as love can teach men what holiness, faith and God are. When you find all these things gathered in your master, you are safe; otherwise, if you do not find them, it is not prudent to follow his teaching, since he will not be able to pour holiness into your hearts, and run the great risk that you only pour into yourself perversion. We cannot learn to love, to understand and to assimilate the truths of the spiritual path in any place and from anyone ".
(Swami Vivekananda)
In conclusion, we can say that it is very important, vitally important, to learn to make the right choices if we want our efforts to be crowned with success in the end and to do this it is essential that we develop a marked ability to discern between false and true. We must also be aware of the fact that when we make the wrong choice, we generally think we are right, especially if we have chosen it too easily. It is also useful to remember, when we have difficulty making a decision, the famous words of a great character: "The great truths are simple, but we come to them only after we feed ourselves of essences".
1. Throwing himself in the river and swim to the other shore, having the objective that he must achieve clear in front of him. To do this he makes conscious efforts - that is, he faces and controls his own destiny; the events of one's life are thus determined by the person himself and by the divine will;
2. Throwing himself in the river and, instead of swimming to the other shore, let himself be carried away by the current thinking that sooner or later it will be brought from the same near the other shore. The question we can ask ourselves is: how soon will it be taken to the other bank? And against what and how many obstacles will he have to bump and get hurt before being carried by the current on the other shore?
At every step we take on the individual, spiritual or material path, we must make decisions. Our life is made up of decisions. Right or wrong decisions. God has given us this great gift of free will that allows us to be similar to Him, allows us to create our destinies through the choices we make at every moment. Together with this gift of freedom God has also given us independence, because, through the possibility we have of deciding, we become the only ones responsible for our actions and our life. But deciding is not an easy thing to do for a person whose conscience is still obscured by the veil of ignorance. As a matter of fact we can say we use free will only when we are conscious and responsible, spiritually speaking. If we "live" life only to eat, sleep, procreate and work, we certainly do not use free will, we do not knowingly choose but we are drawn by destiny. We can say that destiny chooses for us. It is good to understand, however, that destiny is not invariable. Destiny can be changed. This change of destiny is realized first of all by making the right choices or decisions and then applying them practically. From the physical point of view the choices we have to make are generally related to the family, to work, to the circle of friends, to the various objects that we decide to own or not, etc.
From a spiritual point of view, however, the situation is a little more complex. Meanwhile, we begin by saying that only those people who find themselves at a point in their inner evolution that allows them to approach a spiritual path or a spiritual Master, come to have a spiritual approach in life, otherwise they can live all their lives without having the slightest concern for the spirit. As the person grows inwardly, he becomes spiritually more mature, a series of questions that need an answer also appear in his conscience: why do I feel this inner emptiness? Do I really have to live the rest of my life just to work, eat, etc., or is there something else? What am I doing here? "Where am I from? What will happen to me after death? Is there life beyond death? etc. etc. Along with these questions there is also growing interest in what the person believes to be spiritual, they begin to read books that were not previously thought to be read, to listen to music that they did not consider before, to meet "different" people, people who have spiritual interests. At this point, the person feels the need to be guided in the mysterious path of the spirit, therefore the need to find a spiritual guide and a spiritual path that allows him to grow from within appears. This is, on the one hand a magical moment for 'aspirant to spirituality, and on the other hand an extremely dangerous moment for the person in question, because in our days the "spiritual offer" is so large and the risk of taking a wrong path is great because of the many traffickers of souls who trade in spirituality. If at this moment the wrong path is taken, there is the risk that the whole existence and perhaps also many other successive existences are compromised and that the person stagnates or even worse regresses. Speaking by analogy is like being at an intersection with dozens of directions, and we have to choose only one: the one that takes us Home. If we choose the wrong direction, the result will be our departure from Home and a great waste of time before we find the right direction. This is truly one of the most important and even riskier moments in a person's spiritual evolution. So important that so many authentic Masters, mystics and saints, sacred scriptures and prophets have lingered and have left to posterity some very clear indications so that they do not get lost and do not run the risk of following chimeras, wasting their lives. However, despite the abundance of information on how to choose a Master and a spiritual path to follow, people punctually make bad choices, and we notice this from their results and the disastrous result of the society in which we live. Strangely, people choose impostors instead of authentic Masters, they prefer to practice a pseudo-spirituality rather than a simple and true spirituality, they prefer to have "states", "lived" instead of having Realization, they choose to practise bizarre practices for entering trance states rather than developing the clear and adamantine consciousness of which sacred texts speak, prefer to read texts written by pseudo-gurus who in turn took information from other books instead of trying to deepen the study of revealing scriptures of truth, they become too preoccupied with practising "spirituality" promoted by pseudo spiritual movements and thus forget God, they become increasingly opaque inwardly instead of becoming luminous, they give strange interpretations to the scriptures only to justify their weaknesses, they confuse their weaknesses which they do not control with the practice of a spirit modernity or what they call "Tantra". Yet things could be very simple. It would be enough to take an example. It would be enough to study the lives of the saints and see if what they say and what we practise corresponds. There’s a reason why they became saints! But no, most people choose pseudo-gurus who give them pseudo-teachings and so, the consequence will be a pseudo-spiritual evolution. People are afraid of being sincere, especially with themselves. We often try to attribute to ourselves faculties that we do not really possess, merits that in reality we do not have, etc., etc. and this thing is essentially a real obstacle on the spiritual path since you cannot change something by having a false basis, you cannot change what does not exist, you enter only more deeply into the illusion.
However, for people who are lucid and sincere with themselves, those people who are not afraid of "looking in the mirror" and accepting what they see hoping for improvement, fortunately there are scriptures and testimonies of holy people, people who like them have had the courage to accept the truth and improve. These testimonies, even if in the form of verses, metaphors, or simple stories are in any case real spiritual guides, precious indications to understand which directions we must take. We find these indications in all the spiritual traditions of the planet. For example, since we know that man "is weak" and tends to be duped by "shiny" things (not all that glitters is gold!) in the Christian tradition, more precisely in the Apocalypse, we find a clear warning – indication: "These are demon spirits, who do amazing miracles." (Revelation 16 - 14) Or: "The Devil and his spirits also have the power to perform miracles. Miracles prove only one thing: supernatural power. But such power can come from both God and Satan (Deuteronomy 13: 1-5; Revelation 13:13, 14). And then, Jesus, from what terrible danger does he warn us? Here it is: "there will be false Christ and false prophets; these will perform such miracles that they will deceive, if it is possible, even the elected." (Matthew 24:24). What modality can we use to distinguish impostors from people who have the gift of spirituality? We always find the answer in the Bible which says to verify if their teachings and their behavior are in conformity with the word of God. If they preach and behave contrary to what the scriptures say or if they behave contrary to what they preach, then they are false prophets and "there is no light within them" (freely taken from Isaiah 8:20) while we suggest another quotation that says: "the tree is recognized by its fruits while the man recognizes himself by his actions" ... And this is because people think that "miracles" or paranormal powers are necessarily synonyms of spirituality. In reality most of the time it is exactly the opposite, and here, not surprisingly, in the Apocalypse we have this warning.
If instead we want to refer to the Buddhist tradition, we cannot but think of the words full of wisdom of the famous Milarepa, words that, even if in the form of verses, have described with a stunning clarity the risks that the aspirant runs to the Supreme Liberation. Here are his magic words, balm for the heart and the mind, as well as a source of inspiration for all those who intend to follow the right path: "I never valued and I didn't study the complicated knowledge through words, written in books in the conventional form of questions and answers that are entrusted to memory; these lead only to mental confusion and not to the concrete realization of the Truth. In this verbal knowledge I am ignorant; and if I've ever known it, I've long since forgotten it.
• Long accustomed to meditating on the Chosen Whispered Truths, I have forgotten all that is said in the books!
• Accustomed as I was to studying Science – That doesn’t fail – I lost the knowledge of the ignorance that fails!
• Long accustomed to studying everything through my own experiences, I forgot the need to look for the opinions of friends!
• Long accustomed to applying every experience to my own spiritual knowledge, I have forgotten all creeds and dogmas!
• Long accustomed to meditating on the Innate, I have forgotten all definitions!
• Long accustomed to meditate on all visible phenomena as if they were Dharmakaya, I have forgotten all mind-made meditations!
v • Long accustomed to understanding the meaning of Silence, I have forgotten the way in which the roots of verbs are traced!
• Track, wise man, these things in standard books!
• Not operating for the good, Accumulate the result of bad deeds!
• If you really wish to avoid pain and sadness, then avoid harming others!
• Regretting and confessing all sins, And swearing not to commit any more evil, You are on the shortest way to compensate for the sins committed!
• Those who don't know in which direction they are going, But they still allow themselves to impersonate as spiritual guides for others, They hurt themselves and others!
• If the teacher is not from an uninterrupted line, what is the meaning of initiation?
• If the Dharma is not merged with its own nature, what is the use of knowing the Tantras by heart?
• If remorse is not born within someone, what is the point of saying: "renounce and repent"?
• If someone does not meditate on the fact of loving others more than himself, what is the point of saying only with the mouth: "oh, poor creatures!"
• Do not hurry to help others if you have not realized the Truth in all its fullness; you would be like the blind man trying to lead another blind man!
• If the Mystical Initiation is not achieved, the simple words that the Tantras carry will only serve you as handcuffs!
• If you don't meditate on the chosen truths, the simple renunciation of the worldly life will be only torture of itself!
• If you do not eliminate bad passions through their antidote, the simple verbal sermons will only be empty sounds!
• If you do not get the Great Merit, And work for yourself only, existence in Samsara will continue!
• If you do not get the light of Inner Peace, Simple external pleasure will only become a source of pain!
• Occupy the lowest place and you will get the topmost one! Hurry slowly and you will soon arrive!
• If you stop feeling all the differences between you and others, you will be ready to serve them!
• And when serving others you will get fruits, then you will meet with me, And finding me, you will conquer the State of Buddha!
• Serving a perfect Guru, And serving a skilled person, It seems to be the same thing, but be careful and don't confuse them!
• The true descent of Emptiness in the mind, And the illusory obsession of the conscience, They seem to be the same thing, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The knowledge of the Pure, Luminous State, through meditation and the indulgence of the Quiet State that comes from the ecstatic trance, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The flow of the Deep Intuition and other convictions like: "This seems to be true", They seem to be the same, but be careful and don't confuse them!
• The clear perception of the Not – modified Mind and the noble impulse to serve others, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The spiritual gift that shines inside someone as a result of the Bound Causes and the temporary merit, bearer of earthly goods, They seem to be equal, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The spiritual guide and the prophetic commandments of the matrika and dakini keepers, and the temptations of the deceptive ghosts and spirits, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The flower of the Nirmanakaya kingdoms and the heavenly flower of a sensual paradise, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• A chaitya like the gods miraculously produce a chaitya as demons can manifest, They seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The faith that results from the karmic connections of the past and the faith created through artificial methods, seem to be the same, but be careful and do not confuse them!
• The real success that someone has achieved, and the apparent success that the voices talk about, seem to be the same, but be careful and don't confuse them! "
As you have read, in Milarepa's words we have clear indications to discern when choosing the Guru, when choosing the Path, when choosing what we intend to practice. And keep in mind that Milarepa is a high-sounding name in the Buddhist tradition, therefore, evidently an authority on spirituality!
If instead we want to move in the Indian spiritual tradition we cannot but think of the very precious information left by Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Sri Yukteswar, etc. However, among all those who spoke most clearly, I believe were Ramakrishna, when he said that one cannot improvise masters, that in order to be masters one must have the papers in order, have what he called "divine mandate" and Vivekananda. Personally I prefer Vivekananda who, to the question: "how should a Master be so that we understand that he is such?" - he answered with the clarity that is specific to him and that cannot leave room for interpretation. Here are the words of Vivekananda, this giant of spirituality, who taught both in the East and in the West:
"A necessary condition to be a master is to be full of purity. We often ask ourselves: "Why worry about the master's character and personality? We must judge only what he said and revealed to us ". This is false; if a human being wishes to instruct me on problems related to mechanics or chemistry etc., then he can be whatever he wants, morally speaking, because the physical sciences involve first of all intellectual qualities. However, from the beginning to the end of progress in the spiritual sciences, it is impossible for any kind of spiritual light to appear in an impure soul. The sine qua non condition to know God is the purity of the heart. A vision of God or the perception of what lies beyond appearances is never obtained before the purification of the soul. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. In this single sentence the essential teaching of all religions is condensed. If you have understood this, you know all that has been said in the past and all that will be said in the future, you no longer need to search elsewhere because you have all that is necessary in this single sentence; such phrase succeeds in doing what all the writings put together cannot do.
So, as far as the spiritual master is concerned, we should first see if he is what he claims to be. He must be perfectly pure. Only then his words are valid because he is the true "transmitter", the true "divine antenna" through which God can reveal himself in an undistorted manner. What could it convey to us if it did not hold the spiritual power and purity himself? In order for him to transmit to the disciple, through resonance, the vibration of spirituality, this vibration must be firmly stabilized in his consciousness. In reality, the teacher's role is to convey something and not just to stimulate the intellectual faculties or any other type of his student. Something real and profound is transmitted from the master to the disciple: Shakti. For this reason, the teacher must be pure, since the transmission is realized only outside of any selfish motive: profit, glory, fame, etc. The Holy Spirit can only be transmitted through love. Any selfish motive drives love away. God is love; only he who knows God as love can teach men what holiness, faith and God are. When you find all these things gathered in your master, you are safe; otherwise, if you do not find them, it is not prudent to follow his teaching, since he will not be able to pour holiness into your hearts, and run the great risk that you only pour into yourself perversion. We cannot learn to love, to understand and to assimilate the truths of the spiritual path in any place and from anyone ".
(Swami Vivekananda)
In conclusion, we can say that it is very important, vitally important, to learn to make the right choices if we want our efforts to be crowned with success in the end and to do this it is essential that we develop a marked ability to discern between false and true. We must also be aware of the fact that when we make the wrong choice, we generally think we are right, especially if we have chosen it too easily. It is also useful to remember, when we have difficulty making a decision, the famous words of a great character: "The great truths are simple, but we come to them only after we feed ourselves of essences".
