I am confused between many spiritual paths. How can i know who is my true guru? Which is my true spiritual path? Please guide me.🙏🙏🙏❤️
—Mihir, India
Dear Mihir,
We find our spiritual path, and become ready for the guidance of a guru, by putting out continuous positive energy in our spiritual search. For most people, this begins with exploring various spiritual writings and spiritual practices from the great traditions.
You are probably aware that all of the great traditions have the same goal: union with the Divine. This goal, in the tradition Yogananda shares, is called Self-realization. Other traditions call it by other names. Think of the various spiritual paths like the various hiking trails to ascend to the peak of a mountain. All trails reach the same goal, but the paths have different starting points and appear to be separate on the way up. After spending some time looking at the various ways of ascent, the hiker needs to choose one and stick with it in order to reach the top.
It sounds like you are ready to get more serious about your search. I suggest that you choose a tradition that you feel in tune with and stick with it for a good length of time, taking the teachings and practices seriously.
Yogananda would sometimes tell seekers who came to him for advice to embrace the practices of the path of Self-realization — and if in fact, this was not their path that he would in time lead them to their guru. We build magnetism when we take spiritual practices seriously. In so doing, we draw what we need for our next spiritual step. All souls have a guru and are destined to meet their guru at some point in their spiritual journey — whether it be in this life or another. The guru comes when the disciple is ready. All your spiritual work now prepares you for the coming of your guru.
Have you read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda? He tells the story of his own spiritual search, finding his guru, the training her received under his guru, and bringing the teachings of Self-realization to the West. Yogananda wrote of his own search to encourage us in our search. You can read this book for free on our website here. I think you will find much in this book to help guide you to your next step. If you feel to explore the teachings available from Ananda further you will find abundant resources on the www.ananda.org site.
Many blessings on your spiritual search,
Nayaswami Mukti
