17 April 2015 - QA 8

Gurudev, what is the right basis or yardstick to decide for who can be a Guru to us? How can we maintain the honour and dignity of this relationship?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

This depends on that deep feeling of love and belongingness from within. You cannot ‘make’ or 'choose' someone as your Guru. You simply believe that someone is your Guru. We often say that "I have 'chosen' or ‘made’ someone my Guru". If a disciple thinks that he can ‘make’ someone his or her Guru, then that is not so.
See, whatever you make or create is always lesser or smaller as compared to what you are. You can only recognize the Guru in your life, that’s it. Now, when can you recognize that you have come to the Guru? It is when you realize that you are a traveler on the Spiritual path. When you become a traveler, it is easy to recognize the Guru.