Art of becoming a student : pointers for spiritual aspirants

1.The student can imbibe or draw from his teacher in proportion to his degree of faith. When the Guru comes to the aspirant to give spiritual instructions, if the aspirant does not pay any attention, if he is self-sufficient and heedless, if he bolts the door of his heart, he is not benefited. The Satguru communicates the secret knowledge of the Upanishads to his trusted disciples only after repeated entreaty and severe testing.The Guru tests the students in various ways. Some students misunderstand him and lose their faith in him. Hence they are not benefited. faith in the Guru and devotion to God are necessary equipment with which the aspirant has to approach the Guru.

2.Obedience to Guru is better than reverence. Obedience is a precious virtue, because if you try to develop the virtue of obedience, the ego, the arch-enemy on the path of Self-realisation, slowly gets rooted out.

3.The Guru only knows the spiritual needs of his disciples. He will give Upadesa according to the disciple’s temperament and evolution. This Upadesa( should be kept a secret. Discussion among disciples will lead to criticism of Guru and slackness in Sadhana. There will be no spiritual progress. Follow the Guru’s Upadesa to the very letter. Remember it is meant for you only. The other disciples have received Guru-Upadesa, too. Let them follow it. Do not impose the Upadesa you have received on others.

4.Serve your Guru humbly, willingly, unquestioningly, unassumingly, ungrudgingly, untiringly and lovingly. The more you spend your energy in serving your Guru, the more divine energy will flow into you. He who serves the Guru serves the whole world. Serve the Guru without selfish ends. Scrutinise your inner motives while doing service to Guru. Service must be done to Guru without expectation of name, fame, power, wealth, etc.

Only the disciple who obeys his Guru can have command over his lower self. Obedience should be very practical, wholehearted and actively persevering. True obedience to Guru neither procrastinates nor questions. A hypocritical disciple obeys his Guru from fear. The true disciple obeys his Guru with pure love for love’s sake.
Taken from writings of Swami sivananda,

Word of caution; The faith and surrender will be fruitful only when offered to a genuine and self realized GURU.