Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in his KARMA AND REINCARNATION writes that a Guru is needed to help resolve one's karma.
"The Guru helps the devotee to hold his mind in focus, to become pointedly conscious of thought, word and deed. Without the guidance and grace of the Guru, the devotee’s mind will be splintered between instinctive and intellectual forces, making it very difficult to resolve karma. Only when karma is wisely harnessed can the mind become still enough to experience its own super conscious depths."Agathiyar explains who a guru is, in simple terms. A Guru is one who removes darkness (ignorance) and shows a way to end this cycle of death and birth. He would not have his disciples stand in front of him with hands folded, and in waiting to serve on him, and be of service to him. Instead a true Guru will groom another man to a state similar or at par with him. This is the identity of a Gnani too. The Gnani is forever on the look out, hoping to spot one man among the many or at other times will himself seek out the right candidate from among the masses, who they could groom and mold into an equally creditable Gnani. The Gnani identifies and works on him to bring the 'yogi' out of him.
Agathiyar points out that although all true gurus want their disciples to advance spiritually and rise to their caliber, sadly only a handful of disciples make it since the disciples lack strong yearning, determination and effort.
Occasionally the saints create miracles to re-establish faith and belief in people that there is indeed a force above them that can bring them out of their sufferings just as Suresh Srinivasan left a comment on this blog, "Whenever our faith weakens and doubts creep in, we can refer to these photos (of Agathiyar opening his eyes in a bronze statue of his at Agathiyar Vanam), to get back on track again."
Nabha Cosley says that his spiritual interest was "fanned by the movie Ghandi and books by Ram Dass such as BE HERE NOW" at at http://www.ananda.org/a-place-called-ananda/nabha/6574/found-guru/. He "re-discovered Yogananda’s AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI"and later took Yogananda as his master. Nabha eventually met up with Ram Dass, "the yogi who had done so much to inspire the start of his search", at a public lecture. Nabha describes the moment with Ram Dass in his own words,
"After the talk, I went up to him and thanked him sincerely for his impact on my life. What happened after this was rather startling. He didn’t say anything. After a moment, I turned to go, but instead he grabbed my hand and we looked into each other’s eyes. I felt the presence of Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda emanating to me from his heart. What is my guru doing in Ram Dass!?, I wondered. His guru is Neem Karoli Baba! Murmuring thanks, I left, weeping with emotion."Even after their demise, these gurus work miracles on their disciples and believers.