Who can act as our spiritual master?
Only that great personality who has been sent by the Lord from the spiritual world into this world to deliver fallen souls like us, who delivers people who are afflicted with the threefold miseries and sends them back to Godhead, who is most dear to the Supreme Lord and who represents Him, and who is the messenger of transcendental subject matter, is capable of acting as our spiritual master. He is an actual devotee and an actual spiritual master whose ax-like words remain always sharpened to sacrifice our propensities for material enjoyment and dry renunciation.
A spiritual master is that person who has no concept, duty, or business other than Krsna’s service, and who understand that Krsna is the only subject of service. He is not eager to hear anyone’s flattery and he is a brave preacher of the Absolute Truth.
One who does not speak anything other than Hari-katha, who does not instruct others to do anything but serve Hari, and who does not himself engage even for a moment in any activity other than such service, is qualified to be a spiritual master. An insincere hypocrite cannot be guru. One who aspires for mundane activities cannot become a spiritual master. Pseudo spiritual masters should be exposed. If a spiritual master utilizes the ingredients collected by his disciples the wealth, alms, etc, for his own enjoyment or simply to accumulate gold, women, and fame, his disciples should totally reject such a spiritual master, knowing him to be a cheater. We should not hear anything from such dishonest persons. A person who usurps the ingredients meant for Krsna’s service can never be called a spiritual master. The Naradiya Purana states, “A person acting in Krsna consciousness with his body, mind, intelligence, and words, is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” (quoted in Bhakti Rasa-amrit Sindhu 1.2.187)
We need not to associate with the atheists who have come to engage in social service rather than Krsna’s service. Such people can benefit neither themselves nor others. While performing social service, they fall into Maya’s pit and make others fall into that pit also. We do not associate with those who make a show of chanting the holy names on beads just to cheat the Lord, or who raise a great hue and cry yet do not see Krsna in every sound vibration and Gaurasundara in every utterance. The goal of all knowledge is to develop our relationship with Krsna. If we develop a propensity to serve the Lord under the spiritual master’s order, in the association of devotees, we will learn to see the entire world as made for the Lord’s service. We will then utilize everything we see for that service and thus attain auspiciousness.
If we associate and serve that great personality who sees the Lord everywhere, who sees everything in relation to the Lord, who sees his spiritual master everywhere, who thinks himself humbler than a blade of grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, who does not desire respect for himself, who is always ready to respect others, and who in this way constantly chants the Lord’s holy name, then the path to perfection will open. Simply out of good fortune, we obtain such a bonafide spiritual master. We cannot reach Gaurasundara’s shelter by accepting a servant of Maya as our spiritual master and thus maintaining our enjoying spirit. Although Sri Gaurasundara may not be exhibiting prakata-lila currently in this world, if we sincerely associate with guru and the vaishnvas, dovetailing our mentality with the mentality of such a vaishnavas - if we mix our desire with their desire - then we will by the mercy of Sri Guarasundara, certainly attain the auspiciousness. If we can take complete shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master who is conversant with the science of Krsna, then by his proper association, service, and subordination we will attain ultimate benefit.