(1/6) Spiritual Rules Are Not Rituals

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 11 February 2019, evening, part 1
Translated from Bengali

When you offer bhog to the Lord, you must place a Tulasi leaf on the offering. As for planting Tulasi outside for parikrama, that is another matter. If you have place, you can do that, but you should keep separate Tulasi for offering bhog. When you offer bhog, you should keep her inside, and at night, you can keep her outside. One Tulasi tree can live for a long time like this. You must serve Tulasi. When you offer bhog to Gurudev, you automatically offer bhog to Tulasi also. Always do this.

When I come to somebody's house, I see how they live, and it sometimes makes me very sad. What can I say? People worship Kali's Deities, and when they make and put Deities of Radha-Krishna there as well, they take Tulasi out. This is not devotion. This is service to Maya, not devotion. They take the Name of the Lord but use everything for their own purpose.

Others say, 'Oh, we are making a temple for Tulasi, can you come and install Tulasi there?' Tulasi and Vaishnavs are always self-manifest. So, it is not necessary to 'install' Tulasi and Vaishnavs or make any special ceremony for that. When you see a Vaishnav, you must offer your obeisance to them – you must say, 'Hare Krishna' and offer obeisance. As for Tulasi, wherever you see Tulasi, you must offer obeisance to her, even if she is growing wild somewhere on the side of a street. Sometimes, when I am going in the car, I see some Tulasi trees growing on the street – I cannot get out of the car to offer my obeisance, but I offer my obeisance to her by folding palms and taking her name. It is not necessary to 'install' Tulasi. Tulasi and Vaishnavs are always self-manifest. People spend a lot of money to make installation festivals, but it is useless. It is not necessary to do anything. You must know these things.

Outside people make up many rules – they offer malsa-bhog (মাতৃমুর্তি; a large earthen pot filled with soaked flat rice, fruit and sweets or some similar items), chida-bhog (flat ice). It is not necessary to do all this. Those who serve daily (who do service every day, who do parikrama every day, who water Tulasi every day, etc.) do not need do all this. It is necessary to serve Tulasi every day, regularly. People in this world make up their own rules and live following their own ideas. Srila Prabhupad said that a hundred out of a hundred people live like that, but seeing that, you must not be disheartened: you have your service, so carry on doing your service.

Vaishnavs and devotees always think about others. They feel pain to see others' misery (para duhkhe duhkhi) and they feel happy to see others happy (para sukhe sukhi). Envious people cannot stand it when others are happy because they cannot understand who they are and who others are (they do not understand the atma-tattva jnana). Such are the people in this world. Devotees of the world are situated beyond the world of common customs and rituals; they live serving the Lord according to viddhi-marga (scriptural rules and regulations).

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Spiritual Rules Are Not Rituals
2) Join Service Activities
3) Wise Up
4) Hear, Chant and Remember
5) Surrendered Service
6) Service Disturbances