True Blue Preceptor

Now the question here would be how to recognize a true blue Guru.

1.The Guru has a fantastic preceptor who cannot be compared to anyone.

Ramananda was a great preceptor of Kabir. Need I say more. He met his Guru by one day lying supine on the steps when Ramananda was returning from His bath. Ramananda uttered the words "Ram" when he stumbled on Kabir and thats how Kabir got His Guru mantra.

2. The Guru shows the correct path to be followed in life.

Shivaji Maharaj gave away his kingdom at the feet of his Guru Samarth Ramdas, who returned it back telling him to run his kingdom as if it belonged to his Guru.By proxy and that way he would not feel egotistical while running it.

3.To do the Guru seva without any hang ups

Krishna had to go and search for the son of His Guru(Sandipani) in the nether world and such type of tasks are required to do the seva. The four holy rivers(Ganga,Yamuna..) did seva at the ashram of Kukukatta who was the preceptor of Pundalika of Pandharpur.

4.To get one on one teachings from the Guru.

Meerabai used to sit at the feet of her Guru called Sant Raidas or Ravidas, when he used to make leather shoes.Nisargadatta Maharaj took his teachings from his Guru Siddharameshwar Maharaj sitting at His feet and had a one on one with Him.

5.The specified paths are defined by our Vasanas(Tendencies) and the Guru.

Shri Ram was a kshatriya and His Guru was Vasistha muni.They both were great administrators in their own way.Vasistha had to guide in the battle field also.Parshuram, the avatar of Vishnu was guided by Vasithas arch enemy Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra was the Guru of Shri Ram's father Dashrath. Now can you see how statecraft and battlecraft are taught by your own Guru's.

6.Guru defines the end goals.

The case of Swami Vivekananda where His Guru Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa showed Him the path towards Self Realization.Using various methods one can get to the ultimate destination called Self realization.

7.Guru never takes money for His teachings but Guru dakshina is a must.

A true blue Guru like Ramanna Maharishi or Saibaba never asked for money for His teachings but used to take Dakshina(Offerings) which they distributed to others and never used on their own self.

8.The teachings are given in secluded locations and not public.

Dasbodh or any other teachings from holy books were expounded in private to individual students(sadhaks).Jesus and His apostles and His private methods of imparting teachings.

9.They do not have a PR machinery to take care of their tomtoms.

A true blue Guru like Tukaram or Tulsidas never used media to publish their own works. Though there were methods during their reign to publish their works.

10.Your heart will tell you if the One is true or not.

When Chinmayananada went to Swami Sivananda, he told Chinmayananda that His Guru(Tapovan) was sitting on the banks of the river and it is not me(Sivananda).Chinmayananda went to Tapovanam and found his Guru.

There are many other ways of finding the true blue Guru but I guess you will now understand that if someone who does NOT conform to the above can only be a fake Guru.