01/09/2026
Missionary and Guru....??? ।।।
Even though I could, I do not choose to formally accept a Guru, simply because I want to remain a missionary, rather than becoming a Guru. After becoming a Guru, the feeling of having become knowledgeable or of becoming a Guru oneself keeps the mind in a distorted state. Therefore, I do not want to become a Guru from any standpoint.
Besides, Gurus are everywhere. The whole world is filled with Gurus. But who is a missionary? How many are there? And how many of them are missionaries of Vedanta and spiritual understanding?
It is easy to become a Guru. Today, everyone is a Guru. There are great Vedanta Gurus and Mahagurus with impressive titles—one more knowledgeable than the other, learned scholars and experts in the deepest meanings. But I am talking about a true missionary, and I am talking about the present time.
To be a true missionary of Vedanta is extremely rare. A Vedanta missionary is a person with a nature of renunciation, sacrifice, and service. Discipline, self-restraint, dedication to duty, and obedience are his spiritual practice. Serving the one who is to be served with sincere devotion is his devotion, and continuously moving toward perfection with pure faith is his knowledge.
A missionary does not need to acquire separate knowledge of religion and spirituality. He himself becomes the living human embodiment of religion and spirituality. He becomes an ideal for those who truly accept the Vedic teaching, “Become a human being,” as the guiding principle of their lives.
A Vedanta missionary does what he says, because he says only as much as he actually lives. He does not deliver grand speeches about knowledge or give lofty sermons. His way of living, the quality of his life, and the height of his character naturally convey his teaching to the deserving person. For this, he does not need any special expression, publicity, or propagation.
Whatever the missionary says, he himself becomes its example. He works by presenting himself as the example.
(At present, we have not even properly understood what the word missionary truly means.)
Missionaries do not become Gurus. Even if the whole world calls them Gurus or Mahagurus, they still do not become one. They believe that becoming a Guru creates an obstacle—even despite one's best efforts—in developing and following the maturity that an awakened person needs in order to become truly liberated while living.
Gurus come and go with the world, but true missionaries appear on this earth only after centuries. Missionaries do not come again and again. They are rare, and Vedanta missionaries are even rarer—almost unattainable.
Forgive me, these are not my personal qualities. These are the qualities of a true missionary whose disciplined practice is still remaining for me, and whose practice is itself my religion and my spirituality.
Finally, let me mention that I am perhaps the first person to introduce the word-pair “Vedanta Missionary” into the spiritual world (this is not a claim). Someone may imitate this expression and call themselves a Vedanta missionary, but that alone cannot make them one. A missionary cannot be created through imitation. A Guru can be made through imitation, but not a missionary.
To become a missionary, one has to pay a very great price—and Nature itself has already reserved that price.
Article © Yogi Mahesh Ji, Vedanta Missionary
Copyright Code – S26ep1.