Majority of the ’spiritual gurus’ are quacks and one can easily recognize them...But there are people, a lot of them who are real healers, even if they are known by a few people around!

Spiritual gurus are the real healers. they do it for the masses and if in the process people start treating them God is peoples' lack of knowledge. i have seen people who come to gurus with no hope in their life but they start living it all again. why? because Gurus show the path they need to walk, gurus show them their inner self and ask them to explore what has been missing in their life and what had they been chasing. so this power of healing is something that is showered upon the chosen ones. Calling their ashrams as “show biz” is disgusting and also lacking in philosophy that of course gets better once we enter one of those ashrams and also there’s a reason for making it “big” coz the ones who can help the society in reality and the ones who give charity to these ashrams won’t follow any Guruji to his mud and grass hut in some peaceful place where even roads doesn’t exist.

@ jonty

Genuine saints and gurus, though their number may be few, do not ask for blind obedience. Quite the contrary, they demand individual responsibility and maturation in the face of one's real and eternal condition. Unlike their charlatan counterparts, sincere masters invite critical thinking. You are generalizing the Spiritual Gurus and to generalize spirituality and Gurus will be to disavow reasoning and its strengths is not a progressive way towards Self-Realization, but a regression into mental infancy.

Real Masters never used to charge for their services but in America there is a tendency to make a commodity out of anything, even spirituality. America has turned salvation into a marketable item.

The aim and object of all religions of the world is to take the soul, by one means or another, back to its source. there's no one perfect. Perfect is he who, by practice and meditation, lifts his soul to its real abode, freeing it from all bonds. but the Gurus themselves are stuck in making this world free from all evils and misery. So we should call them healers not the quacks.

Gurus are fountain of love and knowledge and so much so that it is difficult to explain this with human words.

I am grateful for the positive influence my guru Swami Ramdev had on people, including myself. These days this is very hard to find.

Some might be quacks not all the Gurus. In every profession (don't misjudge my statement that being Guru is a profession) bad elements are there everywhere.

And monsieur Jonty is waiting for another Christ to come. He’ll not believe anyone less than Christ, but mind you for that even, you need the eyes to reckon, which I am sure, you don’t have. :-)

@ David Indianapolis, United States

your real healer and real guru is just inside your dumb head. look in there for a while and you don't have to wait for another year.

I don't believe this is happening to our world. No preachers, no belief in god. Simple. Who will spread the Lord's message?

Believe it or not, none can replace religious gurus. I agree just a handful of gurus are there who practice what they preach and it’s also true that practicing what you say is the best sermon, one can provide to one’s followers. However, for a moment think there is a quack preaching over different facets of life, ask yourself are you grabbing something form that, working according to those sermons. I think a true consideration would reveal that most of us don’t. So, laying blame on these spiritual quacks is irrational. So, better if we keep in mind the gospel of Sant kabir according to which instead of scrutinizing scabbard its better to know the worth of the sword. In other words, instead of going deeper into the concept, whether preachers are fraud or real, it would be much better if we get through in having the kernel of their teachings, which one way or the other gush out from the scriptures, jotted down centuries ago and watering the very crop of humanity.

I admit there are some genuine gurus. But there are so many fakes that one has become wary of all of them.

@ Yashpal and Shameen...

yeah! ur right but if u look at it with a wider perspective, great that u know what to do, when to act and how to handle life...But u’ll find many out there, who don’t, I am sure all of has have come across many such people, who are low in self esteem, who lack self confidence...

You are right Yashpal, spiritual guru’s are indeed avatars but for those who don’t know how to deal with various aspects of life. Spiritual Guru (a truer one) not only let people gain a control over various aspects of psyche but even raise their self confidence and worth...

Another thing I’ll like to add is that the scope of a spiritual guru mustn’t be narrowed down to those who come on TV, teaching yoga, or giving lessons, or those whose books are being published...A spiritual guru can even be your next door man/woman who like everybody has a normal life but has helped you to get out of the toughest and the hardest times...