Of Gurus and Channels in This Yoga

Many if not most of us still live in the outward nature and feel as real only that which we can see and know through our external senses and do visibly and tangibly. When such a humanity is sometimes drawn by the yoga, it seeks some kind of outer support and an external practice. Such outer practices exist and we can find them abundantly in the vast literature of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. But the outer man is not satisfied with this. He wants someone to prescribe it for him, give him the yoga externally, perhaps even make him sit and do the practice almost as a ritual. It is here that one runs the risk of falling straight into the hands of those who come imitating the Master or claim to intercede between Him and us as a special channel or manifestation of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. While the need in an intermediary has its own reasons to exist, the way to satisfy it is not to run after some neo-Aurobindonian Guru who claims to be continuing His lineage or receiving transmissions from Him to guide humanity. Most such claimants are either imposters or are caught up in an Intermediate Zone where truth and falsehood are mixed inextricably. They may see visions and hear voices, some of which can be very engrossing and convincing. A display of lights of all kinds can impress the neophyte or cause an unchaste feeding upon the vanity and ego. The vital is capable of staging a super show and often not only those who follow such masters, but also the one claiming to be such a master is himself unwittingly caught up and becomes a victim of his own pretense. To get into their leading is actually to be misled; it is to be caught in a web of falsehood where ‘Death walks wearing a robe of deathless life.’ Unfortunately, those ‘masters’ seldom recognize the fatal error of their misgiving, and their disciples too often remain oblivious of this deep folly and refuse to recognise that they have actually gone astray.