What is the definition of a true Guru? He must be living. Otherwise there are so many pictures of Gurus around. Lord Krishna can only be of use to us if he was living today. A person must meditate on a living guru, and must be able to establish a relationship of guru-disciple over duration of time, only then can the Guru be considered a guru.

Questioner: Can a guru not give guidance to his disciple even though he is not present?
Dadashri: Only if he is living. Paroksha (non-living) guru can be of no use. A guru without a living body cannot help anyone. Nevertheless a non-living guru can be of help only if a disciple was able to establish a relationship with him for ten – fifteen years, when he was living. Otherwise a non-living guru cannot help at all.

Questioner: So a Guru whom we have never met cannot help at all?
Dadashri: The help is minimal. It can help a person in his meditative attention for which he will acquire some worldly happiness, but better than that would be a living guru, even if his spiritual attainment is lower than the one who is not living.

Even pictures of Lord Mahavir or Lord Krishna can be of no use. They have to be living in order to help you. People have worshipped Lord Mahavir and Lord Krishna for countless lives. They have become tired from their worship. They go to the temple and the derasars(Jain temple) everyday and still they cannot make any progress. There is a time limit for this too, just as we have an expiration date for medicines, this too has an expiration date. But even so people just continue to worship those who have departed without any understanding.

Questioner: Why is there so much expectation for a living guru?
Dadashri: Without a living guru, one cannot make any spiritual progress. One can only attain worldly happiness because his time is spent auspiciously. Only when a guru is present himself, can he help you see your faults and get rid of them. Once you are able to see your own mistakes, you will no longer need the guru. Otherwise, everyone needs a guru. But you will not gain anything if you worship those who are gone and are no longer living.

Questioner: So pictures or idols of a guru are of no help?
Dadashri: Nothing can help. Pictures cannot endorse anything. Today Indira Gandhi can be of no help to you, neither can Rajiv Gandhi nor Jawaharlal. Only the current reining prime minister has any power. Only the one that is present has the power to endorse can be of help.

Questioner: One saint has said that a person should not take the support of inanimate objects such as pictures or idols, but the support of a living guru in whose eyes one can look into.
Dadashri: It is true. You can find peace and contentment if you find a living guru who is good. But until a person finds the right guru, he should continue to worship idols. Worship of idols is a stepping-stone in one’s spiritual path. Do not abandon the one with a form (moorta-idol) until you acquire the experience of the formless (amoorta – soul), but the idols cannot give you the experience of the soul. The worship of idols cannot lead you to the living or the experience of the formless. Worship of idols is called indirect worship. Worship of gurus is also indirect worship, but a guru is also a vehicle in which one is likely to experience the formless quicker. A guru is considered a living idol. So look for the one who is living and present. You can worship idols of God also; there is no problem with that. By your worship you are instilling positive bhaav in the idol for which you will acquire punya. Idol worship can keep you sustained, but the idol will not talk to you. You need someone to talk to you and guide you, do you not?

That is why it is said that one should look for a living idol, go to him and stay with him. Go to someone who is even a little bit better than you. The ones who have departed this world do not return to show you your faults; only those living and present can do so.

That is why Krupadudev has said, ‘Anything done without the guidance of a living idol, is all bondage, this is my core conviction’. This sentence alone says it all, because anything one does without the guidance of a living guru is considered self-conceit (egotistical, svachaand). Only in the presence of a living guru can self-conceit depart, otherwise no one is able to control it. A person who follows his own wisdom cannot make any progress in his path to liberation, because he has no one to guide him. As long as he does not have a guru or an Avatar to guide him, everything he does is self-conceit (svachaand). Only the one whose self-conceit can be restrained, can achieve liberation. Liberation, otherwise is not possible. So you will need a living guru, living!