Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

Fragment ID: 20761

One can have a guru inferior in spiritual capacity (to oneself or to other gurus) carrying in him many human imperfections and yet, if you have the faith, the bhakti, the right spiritual stuff, you can contact the Divine through him, attain to spiritual experiences, to spiritual realisation, even before the guru himself. Mark the “If”, for that proviso is necessary; it is not every disciple who can do that with every guru. From a humbug you can get nothing but his humbuggery. He must have something in him which makes the contact With the Divine possible, something which works even if he is not in his outer mind quite conscious of its action. If there is nothing at all spiritual in him, he is not a guru, only a pseudo. Undoubtedly there can be considerable differences of spiritual realisation between one guru and another; but much depends on the inner relation between guru and shishya. One can go to a very great; spiritual man and get nothing or only a little front him; one can go to a man of less spiritual capacity and get all he has to give – and more. The causes of this disparity are various and subtle; I need not expand on them here. It differs with each man. I believe the guru is always ready to give what can be given, if the disciple can receive. If he refuses to receive or behaves inwardly or outwardly in such a way as to make reception impossible or if he is not sincere or takes up the wrong attitude, then things become: difficult, But if one is sincere and faithful and has the right attitude and if the guru is a true guru, then after whatever time, it will come.