Habit Is Second Nature

His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
24 December 2010, part 3

When devotees went back to their homes, Prabhupad used to cry. Now you are also going back to your homes, and I feel pain. All these people who came here for Gurudev's festival, are now going back home and they are going to fall into illusory bondage. But if you practise from morning to evening, you will not fall into the illusory bondage.

Mahaprabhu said,

যদি আমা'-প্রতি স্নেহ থাকে সবাকার ।
তবে কৃষ্ণ-ব্যতিরিক্ত না গাইবে আর ॥

yadi ama'-prati sneha thake sabakara
tabe krsna-vyatirikta na gaibe ara

"If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.'"

Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 28.27

When you are here you wake up for the mangal arati, do you not wake up when you are at home? "Manusa abhyasera das" (মানুষ অভ্যাসের দাস): habit is second nature (lit. a man is a slave of his habit). Is it not so? It is necessary to practise regularly, it is necessary to make it your habit. Wake up early in the morning, do mangal arati, chant kirtans. The kirtans (Samsara-davanala and others) are so beautiful, and how beautiful practising life is. If you can practise in this way in your house in the morning, you will get energy.

নিদ্রলস্য-হত সুকার্য্যে বিরত
অকার্য্যে উদ্যোগী আমি
প্রতিষ্ঠা লাগিয়া শাঠ্য-আচরণ
লোভ-হত সদা কামী ।

nidralasya hata sukarya
virata akarya udyogi ami
pratistha lagiya sathya-acharana
lobha-hata sada kami

"I am ruined by laziness and sleep. I do not like to do what is good, I like to do what is bad. I always do bad things for my own name and fame. I am ruined by greed and I am always full of desires."

এ হেন দুর্জ্জন সজ্জন-বর্জ্জিত
অপরাধী নিরন্তর ॥

e hena durjana sajjana-varjita
aparadhi nirantara

Devotees avoid such a sinner as I am. I am a constant offender.

How beautifully Bhakti Vinod Thakur wrote it.

Nidralasya hata sukarya virata (always sleepy and lazy we do not want to do what is good for us). Chanting the Holy Name, taking about the Lord, glorifying out Guru, glorifying the Name of the Lord—we do not do anything!

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

One by one, days are passing... How many hours do we have? Gurudev said that if you are alive for thirty years, it means that fifteen of these years are day, the other fifteen years are night—you sleep fifteen years and you live fifteen years, and out of these fifteen years that you live how many days and years do you spend on going to the bathroom, eating, talking, etc.? How many hours do you give to Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord? How many days' time do you have? Wake up from sleep early in the morning, practise.

উদিল অরুণ পূরব-ভাগে
দ্বিজমণি গোরা অমনি জাগে ।

udila aruna purava-bhage
dvija-mani gora amani jage

The sun arises in the east, and the jewel of the brahmans, Sri Gorachand, awakes.

This is a very beautiful kirtan.

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

It is not necessary to give up your work. You are doing some job, but you must do this job for the Lord, for your Guru. When you cook, you must cook for your Guru, for your Lord. It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "If somebody eats something without offering it to Me, they actually steal it and enjoy sin."

Wake up early in the morning, do mangal arati, chant kirtans, then go to work; offer some bhog at midday, take prasad, rest; in the evening you can chant the kirtans again. You have got time now, and you must think about it now.

ভজিব বলিয়া এসে সংসার-ভিতরে ।
ভুলিয়া রহিলে তুমি অবিদ্যার ভরে ॥

bhajibo boliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rohile tumi avidyara bhare

"You came into this world saying, 'O Lord, I will serve You', but, having forgotten this promise, you have remained in ignorance."

You have promised to the Lord, "I will worship You! I will see Your divine form with these eyes, I will hear Your glorification with these ears, etc." Gurudev said, "If you do not use this life for the service to the Guru, for the service to Krishna, then this life is nothing, it is not necessary to keep such life."

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

Soon after Sanatan Goswami took initiation, he wanted to commit suicide, but Mahaprabhu said to him, "How can you do this? Why are you going to destroy My property?! When you took initiation from Me, you have given everything to Me—you have given your mind, your body, everything to Me—so this body is not your body. Why are you going to spoil My property? You are cheating Me! You surrender to Me and now you say you want to destroy your body! What is this?! Are you shameless? You are going to destroy others' property—do you have no shame?" Then Sanatan Goswami understood everything.

That was the teachings of Mahaprabhu—through His devotee (Sanatan Goswami), Mahaprabhu was showing and teaching it to all of us, fallen souls.

When you have given everything to Gurudev, why are you now thinking about your own enjoyment? In this world people can worship the Lord or live for their own enjoyment...

নিজ সুখ লাগি' পাপে নাহি ডরি
দয়াহীন স্বার্থপর ।
পর সুখে দুঃখী সদা মিথ্যাভাষী
পরদুঃখ সুখকর ॥

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari
daya-hina svartha-para
para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi
para-duhkha sukha-kara

I am never afraid to engage in sinful activities for the sake of my own happiness. I am unkind and selfish. I always tell lies. I am unhappy when others are happy and happy when others are unhappy.

For our own enjoyment we are not afraid to commit sin. We eat, sleep and live at leisure...

অশেষ কামনা হৃদি মাঝে মোর
ক্রোধী দম্ভপরায়ণ ।
মদমত্ত সদা বিষয়ে মোহিত
হিংসা-গর্ব্ব বিভূষণ ॥

asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora
krodhi, dambha-parayana
mada-matta sada visaye mohita
himsa-garva vibhusana

There are unlimited sinful desires within the core of my heart. I am angry and arrogant, always maddened with vanity, infatuated with mundanity, and malice and pride are my ornaments.

We are so proud thinking, "I know it, I understand it," but we must always think, "I know that I have actually not been able to do anything," "I have not been able to do anything for my Gurudev, for the Lord." It is simple to understand this. What can I do? Who is He and who am I?

'কে আমি', 'কেনে আমায় জারে তাপত্রয়' ।
ইহা নাহি জানি—'কেমনে হিত হয়' ॥

'ke ami', 'kene amaya jare tapa-traya'
iha nahi jani—'kemane hita haya'

Who am I? Why do I suffer so much? How can I get relief?

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.102

জীবের 'স্বরূপ' হয়—কৃষ্ণের 'নিত্যদাস' ।
কৃষ্ণের 'তটস্থা-শক্তি', 'ভেদাভেদ-প্রকাশ' ॥

jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dasa'
krsnera 'tatastha-sakti' 'bhedabheda-prakasa'

"By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna; souls come from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.108)

If you take a tip of a hair and divide it into 10,000 parts, one of these parts will be our position. We think, "I know so much," "I understand so much," "I know everything," but even Brahma said, "Those who say they know, they may know, but I know that I do not know anything..."

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