Odds and Ends (5)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Compiled on 31 March 2016

Several excerpts that were not included in the main posts:

"He will arrange" | 13 November 2011

No one can stop service. If the cook runs away, if the pujari runs away, it is not a problem—Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra will arrange devotees for Their service. We have ego and say, "Oh, without me the service cannot run," "Oh, without me, the puja cannot run." We have this kind of ego, but Krishna always breaks this ego—Krishna always eats our ego...

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Initiation & Sisya's karma | 17 September 2012

Yesterday fifty people came to Ekachakra to take initiation, but I only gave one initiation. I told them, "First cultivate your land, make your land fertile, then come." After one-two months, I will come and choose among them—I will see who is practising and who is not. When Gurudev gave initiations, he said, "My health is not good today because I have been giving initiations." Gurudev takes all previous karma of the sisya and so many problems come—if the disciple does not follow properly, does not practise properly, then all burden, all bad karma comes to the Guru.

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No Beads in the bathroom | 24 February 2013

While you are constantly busy with your service, you can also chant with your mouth—always chant with your mouth, and you can chant anywhere, even in the bathroom, even in the toilet. You cannot take your beads to the bathroom, but you can chant with your mouth in any place. If you chant in this way, Krishna will reveal in your heart and you will be successful in your spiritual life. Also there are ten offences of the Name, you must read these offences and avoid them—if you chant without offences, you will get the result quickly.

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Prerequisite for initiation | 10 August 2013

Question: If a person is two-faced, not honest, can they take initiation?

Yes, that is not a problem, but they must surrender first. They can come to good association and surrender. Krishna says in Gita ("Api chet suduracharo...", 9.30) if somebody is dishonest, if somebody is very bad, the worst person, but they surrender, Krishna will remove all their offences and again use them for the service to the Lord.

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Acharya Board's function | 10 August 2013

Question: Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted his mission to be ruled by a board of acharyas. What is your vision regarding this matter?

Yes, there are the acharyas. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made those who can preach Krishna consciousness acharyas, and our Gurudev also made an acharya board and made me his successor. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made the power transmission to Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj (transmitted the main Rupanuga sampradaya power to him) and he also had many sannyasis whom he made acharyas and who followed him. This is how the Gaudiya line is going properly—it is good and it is more preaching. What is the problem? Srila Sridhar Maharaj also explained his vision of the acharya board as that of "a group of exemplary devotees who meet to clarify siddhanta and organise the publication of scriptures."

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"I am not doing anything" | 29 February 2016

When you do service, you must always think, "I do not do anything—Guru, Vaishnavs, Bhagavan do everything." Such thinking must always come to you. If somebody says, "I am doing it," when this sometimes comes to their mind, it leads to seva aparadh. The Lord does everything through me. It is not necessary to become an acharya, it is not necessary to become a Guru, and it is not necessary to become a manager. It is those who do service that can get the Lord.

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Prasadam like nectar | 1 March 2016

Do you like jackfruit subji? I do not know if they can cook it or not... You must boil it first, but here they first fry it. What is this? If you fry it first, it becomes like chip stones. They think, "I am cooking for the Deities and the Deities are like dolls—They cannot tell me anything."

I always pray to Gurudev, "Gurudev, send me one man for cooking who will listen to my advice..." I know how to cook, but I have no time to cook every day for a hundred people. If I tell somebody how to cook and they follow my instruction, if they think, "Radharani, You are doing everything. You are cooking, I am only an instrument," then automatically the cooking will be very nice, then all kinds of prasadam will be like nectar.

They think, "I am cooking," "I am cooking for cats and dogs..." The man goes to the tea shop, goes to watch TV—that is why I do not have any inspiration to take his food. I take prasadam at all other temples I go to, but I do not take prasadam from them...

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Deceit-free service | 1 March 2016

Serve devotees without any deceit and Krishna will come and serve you. Whether a devotee cooks or steals, they do everything for Me [the Lord]. "Yat karosi yad asnasi...: you can do karma, but do it for Me; you can practise meditation, but do it for Me; you can do yoga, but do it for Me—whatever you do, do it for Me." Do everything for Me [the Lord].

bhukti-mukti-sprha bihina ye bhakta
labhaite tan'ka sanga anurakta

"I yearn for the company of that devotee who is completely devoid of all desire for worldly enjoyment or liberation."

("Manasa deha, geha...", Saranagati)

Who knows Gurudev? "Aham vedmi, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va." "Suddha bhakta-palana suska jnana-tadana, chala bhakti-dusana-rama: He drives away dry empiric knowledge which obscures the beauty of pure devotion. He is the protector, maintainer and constant guardian of His pure devotees." Give up deceitful devotion. "Sarala hale gorara siksa bujhiya la-ibe" (Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.3): it is necessary to be simple-hearted, then you can understand the teachings of Gora.

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A change of dress | 1 March 2016

I have seen some sannyasis change their sannyas dress and get "suited-booted," wearing a coat, a tie, etc... Since I joined the temple, I have never changed my dress—only after one month I changed my colour, from white to saffron.

I remember when I worked as a teacher, I changed my clothes three times every day. You can imagine what fancy clothes I used to wear, but I left everything when I came to Gurudev, without much thinking.

When Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's cloth tore, he did not throw it away—he would patch it with a needle and thread. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said about him, "Sridhar Maharaj will never change his style."

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No tilak—burning ghat | 3 March 2016

When Mahaprabhu was giving a lecture, a small boy came there without the tilak. Mahaprabhu said, "Your forehead is like a burning ghat." The boy went back home, put the tilak on and came back.

This is not my teaching, it is Mahaprabhu's teaching, and I must preach that. We are only messengers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we do not tell other things what our mind says. We tell the examples.

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Depend upon your Guru | 3 March 2016

I was sitting today in the staircase and thinking, "Oh maybe the next court date will be on a parikrama day. What can I do? One parikrama day will be lost, I will not be able to go... There will be disturbance." But suddenly I remembered, "Why am I thinking about this? My Guru is doing everything. No, no, I must not think about this." They did not tell me the next date, so I went away to settle some other matters. Later in the afternoon I got a phone call, "Maharaj, the next date is 29 March." It means after Gaura Purnima. Do you see how much Gurudev helps me? Every time the court tells to come every three-five days (for example, last date was 29 February, and next one was today, on 3 March)...

If you depend upon your Guru, if you depend upon Krishna, He will take care of you. I have told it many times: if you think about Krishna, think about your Guru, then Krishna will think about you. It is not your job to worry about this. Whatever deficiency you have—food, lodging, etc.—He will take care of all your necessities. He will.

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