(3/9) Align Yourself with Your Soul

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
24 February 2019, evening, part 3
Translated from Bengali

We must help others, but what help is that? Giving people clothes and money? It is not! This is all temporary, bodily help. Srila Prabhupad's help was like that.

Because of our ego and pride (because we are always busy with our egos), we think that we control and manage this world, that we are doing everything. In fact, we enjoy the light and the air in this world – we enjoy the Sun's light, the Moon's light, the wind, the air; we think that everything exists for us. On top of that, we think that we are the ones who work and maintain our families. We think that we are cooking so that we can eat it (or so that our children can eat it). We always think like this: I do everything, I manage everything, I enjoy everything. With our material, temporary eyes we see things like that, but it is the Lord who does everything and who makes everybody do what He likes. If it is His wish, we can leave this world this instant. Nothing is possible without His wish. We are sitting here now, but without His will, we will not even be able to get up. In this world, not even a single leaf moves without His wish. But because of our egos, we think that we are doing everything, we are managing everything.

We must remember that we do not do anything. There is a person who runs this world – He is the manager, He is the controller. We do not do anything. We must understand it that we are not masters, and it is not up to us to control anything. Who is the person who runs and controls everything? Lord Brahma who, by Krishna's wish, has created this entire world says:

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

'Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.'

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

He is the cause of all causes. He looks after everything. So, He is the one who does everything in this world. But, lo and behold, we forget Him!

Whatever we have (wives, sons, daughters, friends, etc.) in this world, we have got everything by the wish of the Lord. In other words, the Lord has given us all these things. Even whatever happiness or sadness we may feel, everything we have or go through comes to us from God: if somebody is happy, it is ordained by the Lord; if somebody is said, it is also ordained by the Lord. Everything happens by His will alone – nothing in this world can happen or stir without His will.

Therefore, it is my prayer to you all – do not forget this. Do not forget about the Lord's will, then you will realise whether you can do anything or not. Because we forget the Lord, we are suffering so many austerities and pain in the agony of the threefold miseries. Those who have no money always think about money, but even those who have a lot of money suffer mentally.

In this world, people only worry, 'What will I eat?', 'What will I wear?', 'When will I go to sleep?', 'What room will I get?', 'What arrangements will I get?' We are busy with all this all the time, at every moment of our lives. We only always think about our bodies, but we never think about our souls. We never think about that which we actually are; we never wonder, 'What does my soul need?', 'What does my soul want?'

We always think about our minds, but the mind lives the external world. We always run behind the wicked desires of our minds, but the soul does not want anything bad – it is created by the Lord and exists for the Lord. This is how we should try to live.

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

'Know that the main thing is that life is temporary and filled with all sorts of danger. Continue your life trying your best to take shelter of the Name.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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Length: 48 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Cherish Tulasi Seva
2) Know Thyself
3) Align Yourself with Your Soul
4) Appealing to Intelligence
5) Turn Karma Into Seva
6) Mental Hunger
7) No Cheating
8) Kali's Poison
9) A Taste of Sadhu-Sanga