Q&A: Friendship, Offences,
Chastity, Dependence

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to Venezuela & Colombia
Caracas Deity installation anniversary,
23 June 2013

Question: Is friendship possible in this material world?

Yes, but friendship with Krishna. What is friendship? One is not your friend if they only use you. Who is your greatest friend? It is the one who can show me the great path—the great way to Krishna consciousness; it is the one who can take me to the Guru.

তব নিজ-জন কোন মহাজনে
পাঠাইয়া দিলে তুমি

tava nija-jan kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

My friend is the one who is sent to me—my Guru is my friend because he gives me shelter and engages me in service to the Lord.

Question: I feel I always lose my enthusiasm...

If you want to do more service, come and practise. Also, be careful you do not make any offence. There are four types of Vaishnav aparadh.

If a great Vaishnav unknowingly did something wrong before and now they are all right, but you think about it, it is one kind of offence. Do not think about it, you must always remove it from your heart.

Sometimes a Vaishnav uses harsh language and you think, "Why is he saying like this?" This is another kind of Vaishnav aparadh. Do not think like that, always forget it, always ignore it.

Another type is for example when you saw the Guru as a child—he was running naked, playing with other boys—and you think, "Oh, now he is a big Guru! I saw him naked!" It is not good to think like this.

Question: How can we, so low and fallen, feel affection and want to be at your service, want to follow your direction? We are so much distracted by Maya...

It is a test. Gurudev said to me, "Get out!" and he said to another person, "I am thinking, 'How much love and affection does he have for me?' I want to see it."

So, first, the Guru will test you: "OK, leave my service! Get out from my service!" If you leave, then you can understand that you have no love and affection for your Guru. Sometimes Gurudev will chastise you, but you must go to him again, then he will think, "Oh, I always chastise him, but he does not leave me." Then love and affection will immediately come.

Question: What must we do to please you?

Protect Gurudev's mission, serve Gurudev's mission. Through Gurudev I made a relation with you, do not forget me, do not forget your service. Do not cheat me. If you forget Krishna, if you forget your Guru, it is similar to cheating me.

Question: When we preach outside, what is more important: to speak to people or to just give them a book?

Preach, talk to them and give a book. Sometimes invite them to the temple and give them some prasadam, and sometimes when there is a skype program on Sunday you can bring them to the temple and I can give a lecture for them. It will be good if they can hear from me, it will be more useful for them. Before, in Gurudev's time, I also did like that—I think I am a fallen soul, I have no quality to preach to them, that is why I bring the people to my Guru, "I have my bona fide Guru, come to him." I would take all devotees to my Guru.

Question: How can we awake the feeling of surrender and chastity?

If you do service, practise, and listen to your Guru, it will come.

In my case I understood that sometimes I did not do what Gurudev wanted and he would chastise me, but I tolerated. It means you must have patience and tolerance, then gradually chastity will come—you must have patience (ধৈর্য, dairya) and tolerance.

Krishna always arranges everything. I depend upon Gurudev, depend upon Krishna, and I always have no problem.

Actually, I have no quality to serve Guru Maharaj, to serve Gurudev, but they both are taking care of me now, and I am surprised to see it. I did not have a cook, I did not have anything, but all of a sudden they arranged a cook for me, they arranged everything for me...

Today I am at Gurudev's veranda here in Dum Dum Park. After so many days I came here—I did not want to come here and remember everything. I live in this building, but I do not come here, it is too painful, but today I came here to give a class to the devotees, and I am getting some relief through that...

I would come to this veranda when Gurudev called me, otherwise I did not come—I did not come here to disturb him, I did not come here to use him. I am thinking I have no quality to serve him, I did not do anything for him and I could not do anything for him, but still he is arranging everything for me now, he is solving all problems for me...

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