Many devotees have asked, "If a guru has initiated a disciple, will that disciple receive the same guru in the next birth, or some other guru?" If the guru is not bona fide, if he has not realized his constitutional form, and if he is not an uttama-adhikari, then the guru may change. Krsna will arrange for that.
If he is a kanistha-adhikari, like a vartma-pradarsaka-guru, not realized, he will be changed. On the contrary, a bona fide guru will not be changed. He will help his sincere disciples anywhere and in any way, birth after birth.
A bona fide guru has so many 'sets of clothing.' He may sometimes change his garments, but his personality stays the same. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, but He was Lord Krsna. Sri Gadadhara Pandita was in that form, but he was Srimati Radhika. Similarly, guru is the same. Sri Guru is one. He may change—sometimes shaving, sometimes in a white garment, sometimes in a sannyasa garment, but the personality is the same.
Murwillumbah, Australia: January 24, 2001