Do Not Follow Your Mind:
Surrender to Your Guru

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
16 June 2010

Actually, how can we understand that we are doing bhajan, that we are proceeding, we are practising and developing our Krishna consciousness life? We do not realise this.

We cannot avoid rain, or some bad weather, but as soon as we can avoid it, we should immediately join the Krishna consciousness program. If you are getting pleasure [from your practice], then you should think that something is happening, that you are practising Krishna consciousness, that is some bhajan is happening. And what is good for us, what is bad for us, what will happen to us—that we do not know. Gurudev knows everything, the Lord knows. We cannot decide anything for ourselves: Krishna will decide everything for me, Gurudev will decide everything for me, but we ourselves cannot decide what should happen and what should not happen.

Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu tried to come to Mahaprabhu many times, so many obstacles came to him through practising Krishna consciousness, but Mahaprabhu sent him back, "Go back to your house." Who would have thought? Mahaprabhu said to him again and again, "বাতুল হও না, পাগল হও না, batul hao na, pagal hao na. Do not become crazy, do not become crazy. You go back to your home and serve your family, and internally, in your heart, you can remember Me. That is sufficient for you." And what happened to him later? Finally, he got shelter of Mahaprabhu's lotus feet, you all know that.

Another way you can see Srila Sanatan Goswami also. Sanatan Goswami thought, "I will commit suicide. I will throw my body under the chariot of Jagannathdev during the Ratha-yatra." But Mahaprabhu chastised him so much: "What are you doing? You think this body is your body??" দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ, diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpan: when a devotee takes shelter, takes initiation, at that time he gives his body and his everything to Gurudev. So, Mahaprabhu said to him, "You have taken My shelter, you have given everything, even your body, to Me, then why do you want to spoil and destroy My things, My property?!" After that Mahaprabhu reassured Sanatan Goswami, "I will use this body for so much service. You think it is your body, but it is not. It is My property, and I will use this property in many ways. I have so many things to do through this property."

So you think about it. Even Sanatan Goswami is showing that he wanted to follow his mind, but what did the Lord Himself say? He changed everything. Later, Mahaprabhu sent him to Vrindavan to preach His conception. He instructed him, "Serve the Vaishnavs, print books, and when from Gaura Mandal some old Vaishnavs come to Vrindavan, take care of them." That kind of service Mahaprabhu gave to Sanatan Goswami...

We cannot follow our mind. We do not know what will be good for us, so what instructions Gurudev gives, what Gurudev's desire is, and what will happen—depend on him, give up everything to him. Do you understand?

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