Somebody asked me, ‘Swamiji, can dead Masters teach us like Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji etc.? If I pray to them, can they show me the path?’ I told him: dead masters are not dead as you think. When they are alive, their presence had a body. When they are dead, their presence has no body, that’s all. Having a body or not having a body is in no way going to affect their presence. They are eternally alive and available to you. All you need to do is just turn towards them. When normal human beings die, the soul leaves the body. In the case of masters, they leave the body! The very wording is different. So having a body or not having a body is in no way connected to their presence. They are available to the planet always, to the whole of humanity.

source: chapter 4, Bhagavadgita Decoded verses, 4.4 – 4.8