Q. Some people pretend to be good before their gurus, but affect others with their negative actions. Are they not letting down their guru’s name? How do we deal with such people who cheat us and how do we protect ourselves from getting cheated further? Life is a game, what are the rules?

 If the pretext is to please the guru, the guru is capable enough to know that it is a facade. So, leave aside the angle of guru. A Guru, in the true sense of the word, is capable of discerning the false from the genuine.    

Then it is a question of the person who is masquerading. If the person really wants to grow spiritually, he must be able to look on everyone as a manifestation of his Guru. Then he will not come to any harm. Even if he is not able to perceive everyone as a form of Divinity, he must start believing that his guru has taken on some form to test his interaction with others. This is for the spiritual growth of a person who has not yet been able to drop his pretence. 

And then the third party involved, that is the person who is the target for the cheating; if he is capable of understanding whether it is a pretense or genuine case, he needs no guidelines. 

That is the substance of the question, is it not? How do we deal with persons who cheat us? Since you know the person is trying to deceive you, do not allow yourself to be taken for a ride. A commonsense approach is required. 

I have heard: A king had gone hunting with his soldiers. Feeling hungry, he told a soldier to fetch a fruit seen at some distance. A blind person who was seated nearby told the king, ‘that is not a fruit.’ The king was astonished to find that what the stranger said was indeed true. Feeling thirsty, he asked the soldier to fetch water from the southern side of the forest. To which the mendicant said, ‘Water is available in the Eastern side not the southern side’. The soldiers found his words were true. 

The king was astonished at the insight the person had gathered despite being blind. The person explained, ‘If that was a fruit, someone would have consumed it by now. The very fact no one has touched it goes to prove that it is not a fruit. Secondly, though I am blind, I can feel coolness in the breeze coming from the eastern side of the forest and not in the southern side and so I inferred there is a water source in the eastern side’.

Feeling thrilled with this approach, the king took the beggar along with him to his palace and ordered the royal kitchen to feed the beggar with a helping of curd rice daily. The story does not end here. 

A few days later, a diamond merchant displayed his goods at the court. The king was unable to find whether the diamonds were genuine. He called upon the blind mendicant to help him make the choice. To his surprise, the blind beggar was able to distinguish the originals from the fakes. The person replied that by feeling the warmth of the diamonds, he was able to find the genuine ones. As a reward, the king ordered that the mendicant be given a plate of sambar rice daily. The blind man laughed and told the king, ‘You were a beggar earlier, weren’t you?’. Astounded, the king replied that he had been garlanded by the royal elephant to ascend the throne and asked the person how he knew. To which our hero replied, ‘If you were a king by birth, you would have presented me with your pearl necklace the first day I impressed you. The qualities you had inherited by birth have made you reward me in beggarly fashion instead of according me royal treatment’.

You need not be a man of letters for using the common sense God has gifted you. Just observe around you, filter the impressions in your mind and act on your intuitions. 

Do not get deceived when you know very well someone is out to get at you.