Practise Carefully

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bengali class on the eve of Srila Gurudev's
Appearance Day, 11 December 2011

You are all very fortunate to have come to the Math.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

How many times have we come, how many times have we gone? But now we have got this human birth:

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."

('Jiva Jago Jiva Jago' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

You have got this bhakti-lata-bij (the seed of the devotional creeper), but you do not take care of it properly, you do not take medicine... That is why we have fallen into the illusory environment—we forget the Lord, we forget the real thing and run here and there... Remember this. It is my prayer to you all—you have all had darshan of Gurudev, but now it is necessary to practise. This is my desire, and this is Gurudev's desire as well.

We want to stay wherever Gurudev is. This is called "loving search for the lost servant"—we are searching for the Lord, we are the Lord's lost children who have lost their father, and our father is also searching for us ("কবে আমা' মাধব আসিবে, কবে আমা' করিবে সেবান, kabe Ama' Madhava asibe, kabe Ama' karibe sevan? When will Madhava come to Me, when will he come to serve Me?). We want to return back to our father, but we have fallen into the clutches of Maya, we are drowning, stuck in the Maya's net. We are waiting for Maya Devi's mercy because when Maya Devi is merciful that net will be cut and we will come out of it, and once we come out of it we can serve the Lord.

I am telling you: always engage yourself in the service of the Lord (Hari-bhajan). Hari-bhajan means bhaj-datu seva, it means seva of the Lord, seva of the Guru and Vaishnavs. Karma and seva look the same; to do seva, you do not have to stay in the temple—you can maintain your family, but maintain it as a family of Krishna ("Kariya Krsnera samsara chhadi' anachar, করিয়া কৃষ্ণের সংসার ছাড়ি' অনাচার"). Anachar means bad habits, unwanted habits—you must give them up. Always remember it: engage yourself in sravan and kirtan, if you practise in this way, you will see one day you will go back to the abode of the Lord. Otherwise, as Guru Maharaj said, you may have one leg already in Vaikuntha, and one leg still outside, but even that leg inside Vaikuntha can come outside—you can climb a mountain, you can be almost there on top but you can slide back at any time. Seva-aparadh, Nama-aparadh, Vaishnav-aparadh, you must always remember it and think about it.

Do not only come to the Math, stay here for a few days and then go back and forget everything. When you go back to your house, you must practise. Practise at your house properly, bring your children up well. You do not have to give up your job or give up anything else, you can stay at your house and worship the Lord on your own. If you do not do it, then what is the use of this human life?...

— : • : —

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