New Year Message

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
31 December 2018, Dum Dum Park, Kolkata

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!
Vishva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-chudamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay!
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay!
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
All the assembled devotees of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura Bhakta Vrinda ki jay!
Harinam sankirtan ki jay!
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighnar vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol!

Today is the last day of 2018 and tomorrow is the first of January of 2019. We are going to start a new year and I am praying to Gurudev, I am praying to everybody that next year everyone will continue their life and days for the service of Gurudev, for service of Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. These are the main things in our spiritual life, and in any other life also.

If somebody follows mundane life, they should understand that they must follow Krishna consciousness, that they must join Krishna's family for their own benefit, and Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives that opportunity. This is the message that we want to give to everybody. Those who are still not following Krishna consciousness, who are not following Mahaprabhu's conception, should take up this process for the real benefit in their life.

This life is not only a hundred years or so in this human body—it is ananta-kal, it lasts eternally and will never finish. How much is a hundred years of this life? It is nothing, it is only a little bit. Just as we change our clothes every day, in the same way we change our body every birth. We always think about our body and material things, but we must think about ourselves, about our spiritual benefit—we must think what will bring benefit to our soul (atma-kalyan). That is the main thing that you must understand.

As for the devotees who follow Krishna consciousness, they should understand how they will realise next year. From tomorrow we must promise that we will not waste our time.

Param vijayate Sri Krsna sankirtanam: may the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krishna be ever victorious. We must think about what Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told: what have we got this human body for if we do not use it for the service of the Lord? We will not stay in this world for a long time: we must leave our body with Hari-kirtan, Krishna-kirtan, chanting the Holy Name, chanting and chanting. That is the real benefit for our spiritual life. Why do we chant the Holy Name? To get service, real service to Gurudev, to Guru Maharaj. That is the main thing. Service is necessary.

If we waste our time, it is very bad for us. If we think that somebody is protecting us, that is good for us, that is surrender, but as soon as we think that we have no protector, so many enemies will come and attack us that very moment. Hearing Hari-katha from a real sadhu is our protector—sravanam, kirtanam is our protector in spiritual life.

As soon as you become Krishna-vismrita—forget your Lord, forget your service—Maya will come to attack you that same very moment and she will use you for herself. Maya gets her power from the Lord, so you must understand how to overcome her. If you feel Maya is attacking you, you must surrender to Krishna, remember Krishna and chant the Holy Name—then, seeing that this jiva soul is chanting the Holy Name, remembering service, remembering Gurudev, Maya will get out from there. That is our message.

Another thing is that we always search others' fault, it is very bad for our spiritual life. We do not think that we are guilty, we always search for fault in others. Why? Because we cannot purify our mind. We must avoid criticising others. This is Vaishnav-ninda, a Nama-aparadh (offence to the Holy Name). Avoid it and it will give real benefit to your spiritual life.

Sometimes your mind may disturb you, your mind can give you so many problems. When you feel that some problem or anartha (something inauspicious, unwanted) is coming, you must chant the Holy Name loudly at that time and that anartha will be removed. Always think about Krishna, always chant Krishna's Name, do everything for Krishna, do everything for the service of Gurudev.

We think that we do everything and we use everything for our own selves, but actually we are enjoying Krishna's things—we are making a mistake and doing wrong. Everything in this world exists for the Lord, for His service, but because of our ego we are using and enjoying with everything for ourselves—we enjoy the things that belong to Krishna. Everything should be offered to Krishna, after that you can enjoy with Krishna's prasad, it is not a problem. The main thing that we should understand is that whatever things Krishna gives us in this world, we must use them for His service, for the service of Gurudev.

I am telling to all members of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math: Chaitanya Saraswat Math is not only some building in Nabadwip Dham. Chaitanya Saraswat Math is Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's heart, Gurudev's heart! Some bricks, some building is not what Chaitanya Saraswat Math is. Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that we must preach Krishna consciousness—we are not builders, we are not construction contractors. We have not come to this world to make buildings. We have come to this world to distribute the message that Sriman Mahaprabhu, Guru Maharaj, Gurudev have given us—like peons (পিয়ন, messenger, postman) we must go door to door and distribute this message to every jiva soul's heart.

Srila Prabhupad told his disciples: I will not keep a single coin for you! You can take out a loan to preach Krishna consciousness—to preach Mahaprabhu's message, Gurudev's message—and when you take out a loan you will have to pay it back. How will you do it? You will have to go door to door and send the message of Krishna consciousness to everybody. Otherwise, if I give you money, you will become lazy and your mind will be disturbed. This is what Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told. So, we do not come to this world for any buildings or houses, this is not our main thing—we come to preach Krishna consciousness to everybody, to everybody's heart. This is our main thing.

I am telling all the devotees: in this world, we are not honest workers (karmi), or even bad workers, we are not educated scholars (jnani), our only identity is that we are servants of those who worship the Lord, worship Gurudev, who serve Gurudev—even if it is a one-year brahmachari or sannyasi, or a (pure) grihastha devotee (Gurudev actually said that if someone's heart always thinks about Gurudev, about service, they are not a grihastha, they are a sannyasi). So, if we can be a servant, a particle of dust at the feet of those who chant the Holy Name, who glorify Gurudev, who glorify our Guru Maharaj, that is sufficient for us. We have not come to be a big acharya, a big Vaishnav, we do not need that.

This is the message I want to send to everybody all over the world. These are the main things for our spiritual life.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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