I have visited Japan many times on invitation. Once while giving a religious discourse there, I wanted to test the quality of the audience. I said to them, “;Please consider a living room which has only one chair in it. Now let us suppose that Sri Krishna, Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad have entered that living room together. Please tell me who among them will sit in that chair.”;

One lady stood up and said, “;The chair will remain empty because, I am sure, each of those prophets will offer the chair to others.”;

Her answer was correct because all saints and prophets are humble.

A genuine saint is not even aware of his or her saintliness; the natural humility of saints does not allow them to think of themselves as saints.

Genuine saints don't crave name, fame, power, position and money. They teach without the vanity of a teacher. They don't look upon themselves as gurus, nor can they think that they have disciples. They look upon themselves as so many conduits or channels through which God's grace flows to his devotees.

After Jesus' crucifixion, his disciples were hiding in a house for fear of being arrested by the authorities since they were closely associated with Jesus. After his resurrection, while referring to his disciples, Jesus said to Mary Magdalene and her companion, the mother of James, “;Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”; Please note that he didn't use the word “;disciples.”;

Sri Ramakrishna, considered the greatest Hindu spiritual teacher of the 19th century, could never look upon himself as a guru, nor could he ever think that he had any disciples. He played the role of a guru without having the vanity of a guru.

Once someone came to him and said, “;Your disciple Ram has said this to me.”; Immediately Sri Ramakrishna said, “;No, no, he is not my disciple.”;

From our point of view, however, Ram indeed was one of his disciples, but Sri Ramakrishna's lack of vanity wouldn't allow him to think that way. He used to say that God was the real spiritual teacher or guru, and he was only an instrument in the hand of God.

Sri Chaitanya, considered a divine incarnation in Hinduism, said that a true lover of God is so humble that he considers himself even lowlier than a blade of grass. He doesn't want any respect or honor from others, and yet he always gives honor and respect to others. Besides that, he always remembers the holy name of God.

No genuine saint or spiritual teacher ever writes an autobiography for self-glorification. If at all he has to write a book, he does so in a humble spirit of service to God.

A genuine saint's life is established in unselfishness, lack of egotism, truthfulness, purity, humility, nonviolence and unconditional love and compassion for all living beings.

Swami Bhaskarananda is leader of the Vedanta Society of Western Washington in Seattle. He has written seven books on Hinduism and is founding editor of Global Vedanta magazine. He will speak at 11 a.m. tomorrow on the Hindu spiritual practice of chanting holy names, beginning a four-week series at the Oahu YWCA, 1040 Richards St.