Essential Information for Seekers Seeking Initiation (Diksha)

Minutes to read.

The Identification of a Complete Master: Before receiving initiation, a seeker must first evaluate and identify the credentials of the Guru. Only after careful verification should one take initiation. In this current age of Kali Yuga, identifying a Complete Master has become the most complex question facing the devotee society.

However, there is a very brief and simple answer to this: a Guru who performs worship in strict accordance with the scriptures, and ensures his followers and disciples do the same, is a Complete Saint.

The supreme constitution of the path of devotion consists of our sacred scriptures, such as: the verses (Vani) of Kabir Saheb, the verses of Nanak Saheb, the verses of Saint Garibdas Ji Maharaj, the verses of Saint Dharmadas Ji Saheb, the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Puranas, the Holy Quran, and the Holy Bible. Any Saint who prescribes spiritual practices and guides the devotee society according to these scriptures is a Complete Saint. Conversely, anyone directing practices contrary to the scriptures is a fierce enemy of the devotee society; he is gambling with this priceless human birth. Such a guru or saint will be hung upside down in the deepest hell within the court of the Almighty.

To look at an example: if a teacher provides an education that is completely outside the prescribed syllabus (curriculum), that teacher is effectively acting as an enemy to those students.

Consider the evidence in the Holy Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 7, Verse 15:

Na, Maam, Dushkritinah, Moodhaah, Prapadyante, Naradhamaah, Mayaya, Apahritajnaanaah, Aasuram, Bhaavam, Aashritaah ||

Translation: Those whose comprehension has been stolen by Maya, who possess a demoniac nature, who are the lowest among mankind, and who perpetrate evil deeds—such fools do not worship Me. This implies that they continuously remain entangled only in the worship of the three gunas (Rajogun-Brahma, Satogun-Vishnu, and Tamogun-Shiva).

Consider the evidence in the Yajurveda, Chapter 40, Verse 10 (With Commentary and Translation by Sant Rampal Das Ji):

Anyadevaahuha Sambhavaad Anyadaahur Asambhavaat, Iti Shushruma Dheeraanaam Ye Nastad Vichachaxire ||10||

Hindi-to-English Translation: Regarding the Divine, people generally declare Him to be formless (Nirakar), meaning He is never born. Others declare Him to possess a form (Akar), meaning He manifests by taking birth as an incarnation. However, those steady, anchored, and completely enlightened sages who narrate the spiritual truth beautifully, are the ones who decode and explain this direct, experiential knowledge in its absolute, reality-based form, systematically differentiating each aspect.

Consider the evidence in the Holy Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 34:

Tat, Viddhi, Pranipaatena, Pariprashnena, Sevaya, Upadekshyanti, Te, Jnaanam, Jnaaninah, Tatvadarshinah ||

Translation: Understand that spiritual knowledge. By prostrating yourself respectfully before those Saints who know the truth and solutions of that Supreme God, by rendering selfless service unto them, and by questioning them straightforwardly without deceit—those enlightened mahatmas, who perfectly know the core truth of the Divine (Tatvavetta), will impart that elemental spiritual knowledge (Tatvajnana) unto you.