Secret of Karma Yoga - Swami Sivananda

Necessity of a Guru

An engineer-disciple asked the Master, "Is a spiritual Guru necessary?"

"As a teacher not necessary for your secular branches of learning?" the Master questioned back. "How did you learn reading, writing and engineering? Did you not need a teacher, instructor or helper? If you needed them, then how much more would you need to spiritual teacher on the path of Yoga, which is described as the ‘razor’s edge’?"

"How can I believe the truth of the sayings of the saints and the Guru?" put in the engineer.

"Experiment personally," advised the Master. "Take the trouble of going through the disciplines and then draw your conclusions. An armchair philosophy will not help."

"How can the mechanical repetition of a Mantra help us?" came the engineer’s next query.

© "The Divine Life " (August 2000) published by The Divine Life Society, The Sivananda Publication League, Shivanandanagar 249 192, Tehri-Garhwal Dist. Website: www.divinelifesociety.org. Reprinted with permission.

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