(6/9) Mental Hunger

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
24 February 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

What do people in this world do? They come to worship gods, but what do they say when they worship them? 'Dhanam dehi. Make me rich', 'Vidyam dehi. Give me knowledge', 'Rupam dehi. Make me beautiful', 'Bharyam dehi. Give me a nice wife and children', and so on. We always want to get something from gods, which means that we expect them to serve us. We turn worshippable gods into our menial servants. We come to them to ask them to do some service for us and in lieu of that we give them something (some rice, bananas, money, and other things) – this is how we turn them not only into our servants but also into bribe-takers! We turn gods, who are meant to be worshipped, into bribe-takers! We give them a bribe and expect them to give us some knowledge, money, wealth, medicine and other things. This is not devotion. This is karma-marga (the path of selfish activities): service to Maya within Maya Dham. We actually live subservient to Maya.

There are one–two people who actually serve the Lord; other than that, 100% people come to serve the Lord (offer bhoga, etc.), but what they actually do is serve Maya instead – they do everything for their own interests. Why are they like that? If somebody is able to sincerely serve God, it means that their soul has turned to service (sevonmukha); and if somebody is unable to sincerely serve God, it means that their soul is still in material bondage (in the bondage of the illusory environment).

Maya, the illusory environment, is also created by the Lord. Remember this. I will tell you how Maya works and plays. For example, if you put a piece of iron into fire, the iron will turn red-hot. After that, if you take that iron with a cloth or touch it with your hand, it will burn everything it touches. Where does iron get this power to burn? From the fire. In the same way, getting her power from the Supreme Lord, Maya Devi takes us away from the Lord and turns us into her own servants – she makes us follow her orders. As the result of that, we can neither serve the Lord nor know the Lord.

There is a solution, though. If a fortunate conditioned soul keeps listening and listening to Hari-katha and shows attraction to Lord Krishna and desire to serve Him, then their soul re-emerges. Taking shelter of a bona fide guru, such souls can then start serving the Lord.

I keep telling you again and again with folded palms: you live your material lives, but please do not forget the Lord. All you need to do is give up some small, trifle things. If you want to get something great, you cannot but have to give up smaller, trifle things. Because your tongues are greedy, you listen to all kinds of wrong things. In many places, there are gurus who will tell you, 'Eat whatever you soul wishes.' The soul does not want to eat anything! It is your naughty minds that crave food. You know, you can feed your small son well at home, you know that his stomach is full, but if you then go to a fair with him and he sees something he likes very much, he will start begging you, 'Mother, please buy it for me! I want to eat it!' You know that his stomach is not hungry, but his eyes and mind are. He sees something and he wants to eat it, and if he is already full, he will not even be able to eat it – he will only nibble at it and leave it. Such hunger comes from the mind. We are like that, too.

So, what I am trying to say is that most of you cannot come to this line because of just one thing. I cannot cheat you and tell you to do whatever you want, to eat whatever you want, that you do not have to follow any rules and regulations. There are four things that are the dwelling places of Kali, so we prohibit these four things and we always live avoiding these four things. Remember what they are – if you avoid these things, it will do good not only to you but to others also...

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Size: 23 Mb
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