In Earnest

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Talking to devotees in Colombia
1 December 2018, Dum Dum Park, part 2

I have told it many times that you must avoid kanak, kamini, pratistha. You can tell me, "Maharaj, but money is necessary for Krishna consciousness too—to maintain the temple, to run the Mission, etc. Money is necessary everywhere." The thing is that if you do not use money for the service to the Lord, for the service to devotees, then that money can make problems in your life.

A poor man who has no money thinks, "Oh, this rich man has some money, and I do not have any. My life is nothing." But you can ask those who have much money, high position, who have much name and fame in their life, how much pleasure they get in their spiritual life, how much pleasure they get even in their family life or any other life. What kind of pleasure do they get with their money, with their kamini and pratistha? All this is temporary. You can get some relief through that, but it is all temporary. We need proper guidance, proper association of great Vaishnavs...

'Sadhu' means 'sad', honest. You must be honest. Whatever problem comes, be honest and continue your life, maintain your life properly, honestly. Proper honesty is necessary—"honesty is the best policy," actually. That is the main thing.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes, "Nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari (নিজ সুখ লাগি' পাপে নাহি ডরি): for our own happiness we are not afraid to commit sin. We have no kindness, we are always selfish, we always think about ourselves."

How much have we sacrificed? Ask your heart sincerely—how much of your life have you sacrificed for your Guru, for the Mission, for Krishna consciousness? Can you sacrifice 100% or even 50% of your life? That is the main question. You must read the description of the life of Jiva Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami. How much did they serve their Guru? I told when we were in Vrindavan that every day Jiva Goswami Prabhu spent twenty-two and a half hours of his life on the service to his Guru and the Deities of the temple. Our life is just the opposite—we spend twenty-two and a half hours of our day on just taking our food and sleeping. How many hours do we spend on Krishna consciousness, Krishna-katha?

"Prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara (প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার): you have life, you are alive, then you must preach." Jive daya: be kind to the jiva souls. How much kindness, how much of your life you must give to make just one devotee!

From time to time, some good devotees come to you, they preach, they talk Hari-katha; some sannyasis also come to you to preach Krishna consciousness. They are coming to you—they are giving their life to serve you all! Be alert, always be careful with your spiritual life, with your Krishna consciousness life. You must practise Krishna consciousness with caution. So many problems will come in your life, but you must have patience, you must tolerate, and you must be humble. These are the main things.

How much of their lives did Gurudev and Guru Maharaj give to serve the Mission? Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj left Chaitanya Math after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's demise. He left Mayapur and went to Vrindavan. Having stayed there for a few months, he got a message from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and after that he left Vrindavan—he left his own mind, he did not follow what his mind was telling. He understood that he had made a mistake, and he came back and stayed in a very simple way. His godbrother gave him only ten rupees a month and he maintained his life with just those ten rupees. This is how he spent his life. I heard also that there was a time when he punished his tongue. He thought, "Tongue, you always take this, this, you always want something!" and he decided to take fried neem leaves with rice for six months. He ate only neem leaves for six months!

So, when devotees come, it is necessary to help them in any way possible. Whichever way you can help the mission, it is necessary to help. You must understand what is necessary for the service to your Guru. You should have some good brain to understand how to serve the Guru and Guru-varga.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Download (2.1 Mb)