(15/22) Watch for Milestones

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, noon, 20 January 2019, part 15
Translated from Bengali

I have spoken a lot already, it is almost time to finish now. If you have any sincere questions, you can ask them now, it will be easier for me also to speak. After that, we will finish and do the bhoga-arati.

Devotee: What is the soul like?

The soul is very small. It is said that if you divide the tip of a hair ten thousand times, one of such parts is the size of the soul. All living entities' souls are the same, be it a mosquito, a tiny bug or a human.

Devotee: Some say that the soul has no form (it is nirakar).

No, it is wrong. The soul has a form, it is not formless.

Devotee: What about Paramatma?

No! Paramatma is not formless! You have read Bhagavad-gita – is the Lord formless? He is not! He has a form. Those who say that the Lord has no form are atheists. I have told you before also that the Lord has a form. Lord Krishna explained this to Arjuna, and you have all seen depictions of Krishna – He does have a form. Those who are very fortunate worship Lord Krishna in santa-rasa, dasya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa and madhura-rasa – you also worship Krishna, you know about Krishna, about Mahaprabhu, you worship Mahaprabhu, then how can Krishna be formless? Only atheists say that the Lord is formless.

Devotee: If we follow this path and practise, how do we know that we reach the right place?

You will know it. I am telling you to go down this road, and when you go down this road (suppose you are going from Bolpur to Kolkata), you will see some milestones on the way – when you walk some distance, you will see that the number on those milestones will be decreasing as you come closer to Kolkata. So, if you progress down the path of spiritual life, you will be able to understand how long there is left for you to go to reach the Lord. How will you understand it? Do you like hearing about the Lord or not? Do you like chanting the Holy Name or not? Do you like watching TV or do you like hearing about the Lord? Do you like hearing about the Lord or about other things? Do you feel love and joy serving the Lord? This is how you can understand it. If a boy studies at school, he has to take exams, then he can progress to the next grade. But here, you yourself can examine yourself. You can examine yourself: Do you like serving the Lord? There are many unwanted elements – rupa (eye-enjoyment), rasa (tongue-enjoyemnt), gandha (nose-enjoyment), sabda (ear-enjoyment), sparsa (tactile enjoyment); there are six enemies – lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), illusion (moha), envy (matsarya). Does your mind go to all these things or not? Do you feel attracted to money (kanak), women (kamini) or prestige (pratistha)?

Who is called a Vaishnav? 'Kanaka, kamini, pratistha-baghini chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava (কনক-কামিনী প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী ছাড়িয়াছে যারে সেই ত বৈষ্ণব). Vaishnavs are those who give up money, women and fame the tigress' (Vaisnav Ke?, Srila Saraswati Thakur). We must leave money, women and fame. Those who can do it are Vaishnavs.

So, you can ask yourself: do you feel attracted and pulled towards all these things? Do you feel taste when chanting the Holy Name or not? Do you like serving the Lord or not? Do you like listening to outside talks? We are told not to talk village talks and not to hear village news, but if you keep doing it, you will feel taste for it. So, you can understand yourself if you are going forward in your service or not.

Are there any other questions?

Devotee: Is it possible to feel the Lord?

Of course. You can not only feel the Lord, you can also see Him. If you stay in this line, you can see the Lord! If you come to this line and genuinely practise Krishna consciousness, if you surrender genuinely, the Lord will no doubt arrange everything for you. It is necessary to rely on Him. He will protect. I have told you about the six limbs of surrender. Surrender means (1) being humble (considering yourself lowly), (2) completely submitting yourself to the Lord, (3) knowing that the Lord is the maintainer, (4) having faith that the Lord is the protector, (5) doing what is favourable to devotion and (6) giving up what is unfavourable to devotion. Remember this.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 83.1 Mb
Length: 168 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Course of Life
2) Special Arrangement for Kali-Yuga
3) Beyond Religious Bigotry
4) Innermost Desires
5) Fortune, Faith and Frauds
6) Think about Your Real Self
7) Come to Krishna's Family
8) Seek Out Eternal Shelter
9) Proper Surrender
10) Misdirected Worship
11) Deepest Faith
12) Beyond Illusory World
13) Turn Home
14) Gross and Subtle Cheating
15) Watch for Milestones
16) Come Home with Me
17) All That Glitters Is Not Gold
18) Do Not Cheat Yourself
19) Soul's Plight
20) Eternal Transformations
21) Origin of Hinduism
22) Pig's Life, God's Life, Devotee's Life