bogus / cheating

Prthu Maharaja is therefore advised to take the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord to easily cross over all dangers. Dangerous elements in the universe are compared to sharks in the ocean. Even though one may be a very expert swimmer, he cannot possibly survive if he is attacked by sharks. One often sees that many so-called svamis and yogis sometimes advertise themselves as competent to cross the ocean of nescience and to help others cross, but in actuality they are found to be simply victims of their own senses. Instead of helping their followers to cross the ocean of nescience, such svamis and yogis fall prey to maya, represented by the fair sex, woman, and are thus devoured by the sharks in that ocean. (More...)

Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Visnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries. (More...)

The conditioned soul, being wrapped in ignorance and therefore not knowing the goal of life, accepts a guru who can juggle words and make some display of magic that is wonderful to a fool. Sometimes a foolish person accepts someone as a guru because he can manufacture a small quantity of gold by mystic yogic power. Because such a disciple has a poor fund of knowledge, he cannot judge whether the manufacture of gold is the criterion for a guru. Why should one not accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, from whom unlimited numbers of gold mines come into being? Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate. All the gold mines are created by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, why should one accept a magician who can manufacture only a small portion of gold? Such gurus are accepted by those who are blind, not knowing the goal of life. Maharaja Satyavrata, however, knew the goal of life. He knew the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he accepted the Lord as his guru. Either the Supreme Lord or His representative can become guru. The Lord says, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te: "One can get relief from the clutches of maya as soon as he surrenders unto Me." Therefore it is the guru's business to instruct his disciple to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he wants relief from the material clutches. This is the symptom of the guru. This same principle was instructed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa. In other words, one is advised not to accept a guru who does not follow the path of instruction given by Lord Krsna. (More...)

In India there are many so-called gurus, and they are limited to a certain district or a province. They do not even travel about India, yet they declare themselves to be jagad-guru, gurus of the whole world. Such cheating gurus should not be accepted. Anyone can see how the bona fide spiritual master accepts disciples from all over the world. The guru is a qualified brahmana; therefore he knows Brahman and Parabrahman. He thus devotes his life for the service of Parabrahman. The bona fide spiritual master who accepts disciples from all over the world is also worshiped all over the world because of his qualities. Lokanam asau pujyo yatha harih: the people of the world worship him just as they worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All these honors are offered to him because he strictly follows the brahminical principles and teaches these principles to his disciples. Such a person is called an acarya because he knows the principles of devotional service, he behaves in that way himself, and he teaches his disciples to follow in his footsteps. Thus he is an acarya or jagad-guru. Even though a person is born in a brahminical family and is very expert in performing sacrifices, he cannot be accepted as a guru if he is not a strict Vaisnava. A guru is a brahmana by qualification, and he can turn others into brahmanas according to the sastric principles and brahminical qualifications. Brahmanism is not a question of heredity. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.32.11) Sri Narada Muni tells Maharaja Yudhisthira what a brahmana is. He states that if brahminical qualifications are observed in ksatriyas, vaisyas or even sudras, one should accept them as brahmanas. In this regard, Srila Sridhara Svami has commented: samadibhir eva brahmanadi-vyavaharo mukhyah, na jati-matradity aha-yasyeti. yad yadi anyatra varnantare 'pi drsyeta, tad-varnantaram tenaiva laksana-nimittenaiva varnena vinirdiset, na tu jati-nimittenety arthah. (More...)

The Lord states that as soon as one reaches Him by devotional service-which is the one and only way to approach the Personality of Godhead-there is complete freedom from the bondage of birth and death. In other words, the path of salvation, or getting out of the material clutches, fully depends on the principles of knowledge and detachment. And the pseudo religionists have neither knowledge nor detachment from material affairs. Most of them want to continue in the golden shackles of material bondage, under the shadow of altruistic and philanthropic activities, and in the name of religious principles. By false religious sentiments they present a make-show of devotional service, indulging in all sorts of immoral principles, and still pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative acaryas, the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession; and to mislead the people in general they themselves become so-called acaryas, without even following the principles of the acaryas. (More...)

These rogues in human society are the most dangerous elements and, for want of religious government, they pass on without being punished by the law of the state. They cannot, however, avoid the law of the Supreme, Who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gita [16.19-20] that these envious demons, in the garb of religious propagandists, shall be thrown down into the darkest region of hell. It is confirmed in Sri Isopanisad that the pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after finishing with the spiritual mastership business, which is simply for the matter of sense gratification (More...)

But people are doing that. Without being followed by the acarya, without being followed by the sastras, they become guru, they become svami, they become yogi. It is useless. You cannot get... Here are the process. Process is given: tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama... [SB 1.2.19]. Tada means when you are fixed up in devotional service, then you can get out of these infection. These are infection. In... It is so dangerous infection. Infection, anyone can understand nowadays, scientific days. If you infect some disease, you have to suffer. You cannot escape. You infect today somehow or other-not today, not tomorrow, but some day it will come out. It is called kutastha, phalonmukha, prarabdha, papa-bija. Papa-bija remains as seed, kutastha. Then it is fructifying, phalonmukha. Then you suffer, prarabdha. This is called prarabdha-karma, infection. (More...)

And what is the real thing? That is explained by Krsna: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg 18.66]. You take this mission, "My dear sir, you give up everything nonsense. You simply surrender to Krsna." Then you become guru. Is it very difficult to become guru? No. But we shall not take this business. We shall talk all nonsense and become guru and incarnation and God and so on, so on, and cheat others and cheat oneself. This is going on. Otherwise, to become guru is not at all difficult. Simply you surrender yourself to Krsna. You become abhayam sattva-suddhih. You become fearless: "Yes, I am now under the protection of Krsna. I have no more fear. I don't care for anyone. I simply take to Krsna." Akuto-bhayam. Akuto-bhayam. This is said by Kapiladeva also. All sastra says like that, and Krsna also says the same thing in the Bhagavad-gita, bhaktya mam abhijanati [Bg 18.55]: "If you want to know Me, then it is through bhakti, not your so-called jnana and karma and yoga." You will never be able to understand. You will never be able to understand. Naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya [Bg 7.25]. You will be simply covered by yoga-maya. This is not possible. Bhakti means surrender. (More...)

First of all, it is said about guru, anyone who takes care of his subordinate, he is guru. The first charge is that you should not become a guru unless you are completely in awareness how to save your dependent from the path of birth and death. That is the first question. Not that "I am your guru. I can cure some colic pain in your belly." They go to guru also for that purpose. People generally go to guru, rascals go to guru, to another rascal. What is that? "Sir, I have got some pain. Give me some asirvad so that my pain may be cured." "But why you have come here, rascal, here for curing your pain? In the village you can go to some doctor, or you can take some tablet. Is it the purpose of coming to visit guru?" But generally they come to guru and ask for blessing for some material benefit. So they are rascals, and therefore Krsna also gives them a rascal guru. They want to be cheated. They do not know what is the purpose of going to guru. They do not know. They do not know, "What is the problem of my life and why shall I go to guru?" They do not know. And the so-called gurus also take advantage of this ignorance of the public, and they become a guru. This is going on. The guru does not know what is his responsibility, and the rascal public, they do not know what for one should go to guru. This is the difficulty. Who requires a guru? Everything is there in the sastra. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. (More...)

One who knows what is Paramatma, what is Brahman, what is Bhagavan, he is tattva-darsi. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam . So these are the qualification of guru. Why one should go to a guru to see some magic? One who can make some gold, one who can make some... So many magicians who are becoming guru. This is going on. The public, they do not know what is the meaning of guru, and the cheaters, they get the opportunity of becoming false gurus. In the Western countries we are seeing so many so-called rascal gurus go there and cheat the public, because the Europeans, Americans, they have got some conviction that India has got some spiritual knowledge, so anyone goes as a sannyasi, as a svami, they expect to get something from them. So they gather round them. But these rascals cheat them. Somebody says, "I am incarnation of God, and I can make my secretary, woman, pregnant, and marry and get some money." This is going on. And somebody is Transcendental Meditation. What is the result of prana...? He'll will get strong. He will get money. Your health will be right. These things are going on. (More...)

But sastra says that you should not..., you are rascal. You should not become a guru because you have no power to save your disciple from the clutches of imminent death. We will not cheat others. Gurur na sa syat, this is Bhagavatam. You are rascal if you are not confident that you can save him from the clutches of birth and... This is my problem. But they do not know what is the problem. They think that little pain in my belly or in the head, if the guru can give me a little dust and it is cured. You will find that there are so many cheaters. In some..., about forty years ago, I know near Lucknow, some guru came, he was curing all disease by giving little dust. All cheating. Later on it was detected. Thousands, thousands men came to him, even big, big capitalists, they also. Everyone has got some disease, and they want to see the miracle: by giving little dust, and he is curing disease, "Oh! Such a guru!" These things are going on. But Bhagavata says that both the public must know what for one should go to guru. Not that it is a fashion to keep a guru, just like to keep a dog. No. He must know what is the purpose of guru. (More...)

That is uttamam. Here, so long we are in the tama, tamasi ma: "Don't remain in tama, envious." Tamasi ma jyotir gama. So bhakti is uttama. When you are transcendental, above this darkness of material world, then you can accept the... If you are actually interested in the uttama, something beyond this darkness of ignorance, then you accept one guru. Don't keep a guru as a fashion to satisfy your senses: "My dear guru, can you make some gold?" "Yes." "Oh, first-class guru." No. That is not guru. That is your flatterer. You want something according to your order-"Guru, cure my disease," "Guru, give me some gold," "Guru, give me this. Show me some wonderful mystic power"-that is order supplier. No, guru is not order supplier. Guru can give you the way how to have mercy of Krsna. That is guru. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. Bhagavat-prasada. If you want mercy of Krsna, then you have to satisfy the devotee of Krsna. Acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit [SB 11.17.27]. "Never become envious of guru." Yasya deve para bhaktir yatha-deve tatha gurau [ 6.23]. (More...)

So Sukadeva Gosvami said that "Whatever punishment I have described in the Fifth Canto on account of different sinful activities, one has to suffer that, unless he commits..., unless he performs atonement." This is the... Na ced ihaivapacitim yathamhasah krtasya kuryan mana-ukta-panibhih. We can commit sinful activities in different ways. Mana, even by mind, we can commit sinful activities. If I contemplate something sinful by my mind, then we become affected. Therefore we must keep always sinless. Kaya-mana-vakya. This sannyasa tridanda... There are three rods within the stick, what is called? Three dandas. Not three-four. Three is kaya-body; mind; kaya, mana, and words; and one he is personally. Therefore there are four sticks within the danda. Those who have taken sannyasa, they know it. The idea is that "I surrender to my spiritual master or Krsna." Spiritual master is identical with Krsna because he gives true knowledge. Therefore he is as good as God. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair uktas tatha bhavyata. A spiritual master is considered directly as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Saksad. Saksad means "directly." Why? Because he is jnana-prada. He gives knowledge, real knowledge. That is the qualification of spiritual master. Nobody can become spiritual master if he has no knowledge. If he's a speculator, he cannot become a spiritual master. He must give the right knowledge. Then he is bona fide spiritual master. Otherwise he's a bogus. Jnana-prada. And without real knowledge, our life is useless. (More...)

Prabhupada: But this is the duty of everyone. One should not... That is enjoined in the... Gurur na sa syat [SB 5.5.18]: "One should not become a guru if he cannot do that." Otherwise he is cheating. Why he should become guru? Why he should accept service from so many people if he cannot rightly direct them? Then he becomes bound up by the karma laws. If I take one paisa from you without any service, I have to pay you four paisa. (More...)

Prabhupada: That is the difficulty. Everyone sees that "Some way or other, I become guru. Then so many persons will offer me respect. Somehow or other, create some situation. Then I become guru." This is going on. Not bona fide guru. Bona fide guru is indicated by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, amara ajnaya guru hana: "Become guru." Why ambition? Actually become guru. But how to become guru? Yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna-upadesa' [Cc Madhya 7.128]. (More...)

Prabhupada: All rascals. Now that Ravi Shankar has become George's guru. Somebody... You were telling me? That this boy has been taught to take the dust of the feet of Ravi Shankar in the stage, and people did not like it. So he has become unpopular accepting a goru. [end] (More...)

Krsna said to Arjuna, "My dear Arjuna, this Bhagavad-gita philosophy, or yoga system, first of all I spoke to the sun-god. And then he spoke to his son, Manu. Then Manu spoke to his son Iksvaku." In this way the knowledge comes down from the spiritual master to the disciple or from the father to the son. So unless one comes in this disciplic succession, he cannot become guru. Therefore... I do not know all of them. All the svamis and yogis who came here, they do not belong to this parampara system, so therefore they are not bona fide guru. They are presenting themselves as guru, but they are not guru. Therefore people are misled. People are misled. And this is the first time that we presented India's traditional philosophy and life as it is understood by the parampara system. Therefore it is being so well received. Vivekananda came here, as you said, 1893, before my birth. I was born in 1896. But they have worked for, say, eighty-five years. What they have done? But I have worked here for seven or eight years, and it is now worldwide movement. Why? Because we presented the things as they are. Evam parampara-praptam [Bg 4.2]. Therefore it is effective. So if the things are presented as they are, the customers will automatically come. (More...)

"Simply you repeat what Krsna has said, you'll become guru." That's all. Everyone can do that. Gita is there. You sit down in your place and preach Bhagavad-gita and try to induce them to take it. You become guru. But these rascals, they are becoming guru and showing magic and so many jugglery, not Gita-upadesa, and spoil the whole country. Anyway, whatever is done is done. Now Krsna has sent you. You have got all arrangement. I am prepared. I am asking my secretary to make arrangement. Let us cooperate. It will be very nice. Mr. Dwivedi is very nice man. (More...)

Everyone is born a rascal and a fool. If we are born learned, why do we need to go to school? If we do not cultivate knowledge, we are no better than animals. An animal may say that there is no need of books and that he has become a guru, but how can anyone obtain knowledge without the study of authoritative books on science and philosophy? Rascal gurus try to avoid these things. We must understand that we are all born rascals and fools and that we have to be enlightened. We have to receive knowledge to make our lives perfect. If we do not perfect our lives, we are defeated. What is this defeat? The struggle for existence. We are trying to obtain a better life, to attain a superior position, and for this we are struggling very hard. But we do not know what a superior position actually is. (More...)

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Of course, to search out a guru is very nice, but if you want a cheap guru, or if you want to be cheated, then you will find many cheating gurus. But if you are sincere, you will find a sincere guru. Because people want everything very cheaply, they are cheated. We ask our students to refrain from illicit sex, meat eating, gambling, and intoxication. People think that this is all very difficult-a botheration. But if someone else says, "You may do whatever nonsense you like, simply take my mantra," then people will like him. The point is that people want to be cheated, and therefore cheaters come. No one wants to undergo any austerity. Human life is meant for austerity, but no one is prepared to undergo austerity. Consequently, cheaters come and say, "No austerity. Whatever you like, you do. Simply pay me and I'll give you some mantra and you'll become God in six months." All this is going on. If you want to be cheated like this, the cheaters will come. (More...)

Srila Prabhupada: Well, if he is bad, how can be become a guru? [Laughter.] How can iron become gold? Actually, a guru cannot be bad, for if someone is bad, he cannot be a guru. You cannot say "bad guru." That is a contradiction. What you have to do is simply try to understand what a genuine guru is. The definition of a genuine guru is that he is simply talking about God-that's all. If he's talking about some other nonsense, then he is not a guru. A guru cannot be bad. There is no question of a bad guru, any more than a red guru or a white guru. Guru means "genuine guru." All we have to know is that the genuine guru is simply talking about God and trying to get people to become God's devotees. If he does this, he is genuine. (More...)

Srila Prabhupada: Millions. Millions have been cheated, because they want to be cheated. God is omniscient. He can understand your desires. He is within your heart, and if you want to be cheated, God sends you a cheater. (More...)

One must be confident about the qualifications of his teacher; one should not approach a layman for replies to specific spiritual inquiries.

Vidura asked all relevant questions of Maitreya because he knew well that Maitreya was the right person to reply to all the points of his inquiries. One must be confident about the qualifications of his teacher; one should not approach a layman for replies to specific spiritual inquiries. Such inquiries, when replied to with imaginative answers by the teacher, are a program for wasting time. (More...)