Rescue, Recruit, and Retain

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to devotees in Italy
1 August 2015

Now Govinda Kunda is full, and the water is coming to the temple compound, but we are ready to protect the devotees, the cows, and all the animals. We are all here.

I heard you are all going for preaching by bus, it is very nice. I am very happy. "প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার, pran achhe yar, sei hetu prachar: as long as you have your jiva soul in the body, you must continue preaching." This is our life: jive daya (জীবে দয়া)... Preaching Harinam sankirtan on the street, as you are going to do, is Mahaprabhu's style.

We joined Krishna's family and we must now increase our family. We should follow the process recommended for that. By hook or by crook, we must make new devotees and show them the right path, teach them the proper devotional activities, then they can easily go to their own home. This is what our spiritual life is about.

Krishna came Himself in this world as Mahaprabhu to rescue all of us, and we are very fortunate that we were born in a human body in this Age of Kali and that we got a bona fide Guru. If we can become a servant of our Guru, we can stay in Krishna's family permanently...

Just as sometimes we have to renew our visa or passport, sometimes we must renew our membership in Krishna's family. If we take initiation from Gurudev but for many years do not practise properly, then we will eventually be disconnected—we will lose our membership in Krishna's family. We come from the mundane family to Krishna's family, and we must not lose that membership.

I remember somebody asked me, "Your mother died (or your father died), why did you not do their sraddha ceremony? Why are you not following any Hindu customs?" I told them, "Nobody died in my family. My gotra is Achyuta-gotra: my family is Krishna's family. When I took initiation, I left my previous gotra and became a member of Achyuta-gotra. So, if somebody from that family dies, I will make a ceremony, or a festival, for them; but if my 'father' dies, my 'mother' dies, why should I make a ceremony for them? They are not members of my family. Why should I follow these customs? This is not our practice, not our rules and regulations."

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