Holy Company Is Hard to Attain and Wholly Transforming
Narada teaches that the company of the truly holy is rare and difficult to gain, yet its effect is certain and complete.
The company of the great souls is hard to obtain, difficult to fathom, and unfailing in its effect (Narada Bhakti Sutra 39-40). Narada notes that such association is rare because realized lovers of God are few, and because the worldly mind resists the very company that would transform it. Yet once gained and embraced, its power is sure: it works invisibly and infallibly, like a seed planted in good soil. This is why the tradition counts the meeting with a true saint as a turning point granted by grace. The aspirant is urged to value and seek such company above worldly advantage. What is rare and difficult to attain is precisely what most transforms the soul.
That holy company is hard to gain, hard to comprehend, and never fails in its effect.
The conviction that an encounter with a realized teacher is a rare, grace-given turning point echoes across contemplative traditions, from the Tibetan Buddhist reverence for meeting an authentic guru to the Hasidic devotion to the rebbe.
Narada Bhakti Sutras