It should be remembered there is only One in all, and all in One. So, the ultimate spiritual master is one’s own Self. As one develops in spiritual maturity, this Self takes the form of an external Guru. The ancient Avadhuta saint Dattatreya had more than twenty-four masters or Gurus, some were animate and some were inanimate objects. Master or Guru is someone from whom one learns anything at all. For a spiritually evolved person, the Self is nothing but God, or Truth.

God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, and therefore manifests in human form as the personal Guru. Later, by the grace of the Guru, a sadhak is able to recognise the own Self as the ultimate Reality. The problem arises when a spiritually immature disciple runs after many different spiritual masters, evaluating each one with limited logic and intelligence, discarding one for the other. The immature disciple behaves as if one is in a spiritual bazaar where it is required to evaluate and purchase the best Guru commodity.

So, it is important to understand that Guru is not a bargainable commodity. As you mature and evolve spiritually, though your bond with your ‘diksha’ Guru is eternal, you may continue your learnings from other enlightened spiritual masters, based on your level of spiritual maturity.