The Universal Principle of Guru

By the will of the Lord, pure devotees may differ with each other, but they always emphasize the same siddhanta. According to our siddhanta the guru or acarya position is a post which can be occupied by any pure transparent devotee. In case any doubt arises, only guru, sastra and sadhu can clear the way. In an institution there may be a successor acarya, who inherits the particular mandir and government registration from his guru, but never can anybody inherit the transparency or capacity to represent the highest bhakti sidhanta. That will depend on his realization alone. But for the sake of sanity in vaisnava relationships we have to admit that the disciples of different gurus will all see their guru as the expressive representative of God sent to them and thus the most merciful one for them. Whoever cannot agree to that and tries to overemphasize his own guru to the degree of deriding someone else's guru, claiming that his guru has some extraordinary claim or institution to monopolize the guru position, is really far away from the siddhanta. Gurus, or their disciples who teach that type of sectarianism rather give a bad name to their own guru and will eventually be rejected. Therefore it is wrong to consider the body or the past life of any contributing agent of our sampradaya to resolve our problems. Truth must be the only consideration. This is valid in mathematics as well as in defining the purity of gold. A superior mathematician is recognized by his ability to resolve problems others could not resolve and a jeweler will have to prove his capacity to recognize the types of gold to avoid going broke.
When we face problems we need a superior guide, a guide who can resolve the conflicts by his wisdom and sidhanta. We don't need screaming authorities who's credentials are vaisnava aparadhas, gossip, smokescreening, diplomacy or distorted and misrepresented quotes of our gurudeva.