One of the requirements in Sant Mat is to be initiated by a competent Master; a Saint, Satguru. It is belived, that Saints and Satgurus are beings of the highest attainment, they have attained God realisation are fully enlightened supreme conscious beings, devoid of ego, reflect the peace, humility and purity of a devout life, though perfectly liberated, may outwardly appear ordinary, we worship the divine within them, not their personality or humanness, as Guru is not the name of the Physical body but of the embodied Truth and knowledge. It is stated, that there is always at least one Satguru physically alive in this world at all times in a continuous succession; seperate from before and after the life of Jesus as well.

      The followers of some of these Saints founded the world's major religions, usually altering the teachings in the process. Christians, for example, added threats of damnation in Hell, but more importantly, after a Master physically dies and leaves this world, there is nothing, that He/She can do for anybody except for the relatively few people that He initiated.

      People who continue following only orthodox religions with a physically dead Master, are denying themselves the opportunity to reach the higher regions, until they accept Initiation from a living Saint. Masters who appeared in the past bestowed their spiritual benefit only on those who came in contact with them; they cannot do anything for the present generation. As a great doctor of the past cannot help a patient of today.

       It is not possible to recognize a competent Master at the level of intellect and mind, but through intense longing for him, he comes into our life. The competency of the Master can be verified by the initiate in meditation, at the level of soul.